In August we began "Volume 2: The Middle Ages" (from the fall of Rome to the rise of the Renaissance) from the Story of the World series by Susan Wise Bauer and published by Peace Hill Press. We started by learning more about the Roman Empire. One of the activities I thought was really cute for the week was coloring a picture of a flying carpet and adding the girl's faces. Then we reviewed what we had learned about the Roman Empire (from the end of last year as well) by pretending to fly around Europe and Northern Africa.
We also made a Roman Legion signum or standard during the week. Each legion in the Roman Army carried its own signum, or standard, into battle. While they began simply over time they became more and more elaborate and important. If the legion's standard was lost during a battle, the entire legion was shamed by being disbanded. Most standards were decorated with gold or silver eagles mounted on the top, ribbons, and metal disks with depictions of fierce animals or the emperor. Reagan decided to use three metal disks which included depictions of the emperor and lions. Kennedy chose two disks for her standard which included bears and spiders. The kids really enjoyed this activity as well as parading around with their standards afterwards. I would definitely recommend this project!
Like last year, I find the reading suggestions provided in the Story of the World Activity Book to be extremely useful. I don't know that I have any strong recommendations from the first week to share, but our favorite was probably "I Wonder Why the Romans Wore Togas and Other Questions About Ancient Rome" by Fiona MacDonald (Kingfisher, 1997).
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