Do I need a spine?

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  • May 21, 2019 at 9:44 am
    MissusLeata
    Participant

    My plan for next school year is to focus on the time period of Rome to the Reformation.  Last year we did Creation to the Macabees and I had my older boys read “On The Shores of the Great Sea” for a spine. But I just am not sure if I want to do “Discovery of New Worlds” and “The Awakening in Europe” or if I should find something else or just have them read all the great living books I have for this time period.

    Do I need a spine? What are your favorites for this time period?

    If I don’t use a history spine, what are the best books covering Rome that don’t include mythology?  I don’t want to use August Caesar’s world because it explicitly accuses Scripture of being wrong. My kids will be 12, 10, 8 and 6 but this would just be for the older 2.  We already have The Mystery of the Roman Ransom, Detectives in Togas, Martyr of the Catacombs, City, The Living Tabernacle (destruction of Jerusalem). Is that enough?

    TIA!

    May 21, 2019 at 5:47 pm
    ErinD
    Participant

    You probably don’t need a spine. If you have a bunch of great books, I say that’s enough and probably more enjoyable than a textbook (at least some of them, and I’m not against textbooks or anything). Five books about Rome is probably lots. Our favourites for Ancient Rome are Traveling the Way, Forbidden Gates, and The Bronze Bow. We have City and Martyr of the Catacombs, too, and like both.

    May 21, 2019 at 9:33 pm
    alphabetika
    Participant

    I second The Bronze Bow. If I could read only one book of fiction for this time period, that would be it. In fact, I think it’s one of my top ten favorite historical fiction books that we’ve used in our education.  You might also look into the Rosemary Sutcliff fiction for this time period, to see if they appeal to you and you think your dc would enjoy them. Sutcliff’s historical fiction (about an era, not just Rome) is truly my favorite, not to be missed, and one of my dreams is to use all of her Roman era fiction as one hugely long, drawn out read-aloud when my daughter is older. The reason I put Bronze Bow in a different category as Ms. Sutcliff’s is that the writing is not only excellent and living but includes the main character’s reaction to Christ, which the Sutcliff books do not.  But I wouldn’t include a book just because of this if the writing weren’t as good as The Bronze Bow is.

    I hope I’m making sense….

    May 22, 2019 at 8:15 am
    Melanie32
    Participant

    I wouldn’t worry about a spine. I’d simply start reading through the books you have and when you begin to near the end of the stack, re-evaluate to see if you need to order more books.

    May 22, 2019 at 8:56 am
    MissusLeata
    Participant

    Oh, I have the Bronze Bow, too.  I’ll add that to the list. Someone had told me it wasn’t historically accurate, so I wasn’t sure if I should use it. Thanks for the recommendations.

    I’ll look into the Sutcliff books. I had seen a recommendation for the Eagle of the Ninth but wasn’t sure what it was about.

    May 22, 2019 at 11:21 am
    ErinD
    Participant

    Eagle of the Ninth is really good. It’s set in Britain when it was part of the Roman Empire. It has some parts that are a bit darker than the other books. I read it out loud to my kids when they were 12 and 10-ish so I could edit if needed, and I save it for high school before they read it independently. But it’s a really good book.

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