Age of Exploration / Renaissance & Reformation
updated July 10, 2022
Recorded here is my own personal collection of articles, resources, favorite links, teaching ideas, and lesson plans. It encompasses many years, from the very beginning of my experience studying and learning about Waldorf to the present time. People from all around the world visit my site and recommend it to others. Welcome!
This site records my journey. I hope my honesty is encouraging and helps break down some barriers that may prevent people from trying Waldorf methods. Because this is an ongoing site documenting my curriculum planning and ideas, some materials are more Waldorf-y than others. Please feel free to take what you like and leave the rest.
Mission Statement - Consulting Services - Lending Library
Age of Exploration / Renaissance & Reformation
for Class 7
Main Text
There are two main choices of books for this block, depending on whose style you prefer. Charles Kovacs wrote an excellent book
called The Age of
Discovery; Polly Schoyer Brooks and Nancy Zinsser Walwroth wrote a follow-up volume to their
highly-recommended The World of Walls: The Middle Ages in Western Europe ,
called The World Awakes: The Renaissance in Western Europe.
I now own both of these books and, when I go to teach this block again next year, I will be sure to explain which one I used
and to share all of my lesson plans.
However, in the spirit of honesty, when I taught this block last year I simply used the history book I already had on the shelf -- and it was
my absolute VERY FAVORITE book as a child -- which was A Child's History
of the World by V.M. Hillyer (1951 edition).
The notes below, therefore, are for that book.
I have several blog posts to share which may be helpful. The first is for the chapters I used, one chapter
per day, and what is covered in each. I've also taken photographs of the main lesson book pages which my
daughter created. Being new to Waldorf, the artwork is not up to the "Waldorf standard," but she learned
a lot nevertheless and I'm more than happy to share what we did.
August 7, 2015 - A Child's History of the World (this post is also shared below)
My 8th grader has not yet done the 7th grade Age of Exploration/ Renaissance/Reformation block, so we are beginning the year with that. We will have 11 stories. I've chosen to use V.M. Hillyer's EXCELLENT book, A Child's History of the World, Revised, with New Material (1951)
We have the 1951 edition, pictured. This is a controversial book, with many people objecting to some of the language which would now be considered not politically correct. It is also very Eurocentric, with lots of ancient civilizations from around the world ignored completely. However, I find it well written and engaging and I prefer to omit or supplement then try to replace it. As far as I am concerned, no other book (including newly revised versions of this one) is better.
Even if you don't like Hillyer (that's Harvard graduate Virgil Hillyer, one of the earliest headmasters of the Calvert School, which also sells its own homeschool curriculum nowadays), you may like how he paces out these 11 chapters -- perfect fit with our time frame, Virgil, thank you -- and so I offer their contents to you. I am starting with the year 1300 and the chapter about Genghis Khan and Marco Polo because the invention of the compass, and Polo supposedly bringing it to Europe, was key to the Age of Exploration.
Chapter 55 - A Great Story-Teller
Cathay, Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, 1300, Venice, Marco Polo
 
a sample MLB page for Marco Polo
the second page of the two page spread
Chapter 56 - "Thing-a-ma-jigger" and "What-cher-may-call-it" or a Magic Needle and a Magic Powder
compass, gunpowder, Roger Bacon, Schwarz
sample MLB page for Ibn Battuta
SHEG lesson plan for Ibn Battuta
Chapter 57 - Thelon Gest Wart Hate Verwas
1338, Edward III, Hundred Years' War between England and France, Crecy, longbow, cannons, the Black Death, Joan of Arc
SHEG lesson plan for the Black Death
Chapter 58 - Print and Powder or Off with the Old, On with the New
1440, invention of the printing press, Gutenberg, first printed Bible, Caxton, 1453, fall of Constantinople, end of all that was left of the old Roman Empire, end of the Middle Ages, start of the New Ages
 
 
Chapter 59 - A Sailor Who Found a New World
Genoa, Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand and Isabella, discovery of South America
 
sample MLB page for Christopher Columbus
 
another fantastic resource for this part of the story is Ship by David Macaulay; highly recommended!
 
Chapter 60 - Fortune-Hunters
spice road, Vasco da Gama, Cape of Good Hope, 1497, Cabot, Balboa, Magellan, Pacific Ocean
Chapter 61 - The Land of Enchantment or the Search for Gold and Adventure
Ponce de Leon, de Soto, Aztecs, Montezuma, Cortes, Incas, Pizarro
Chapter 62 - Born Again
Renaissance, Michelangelo, David, Moses, Sistine Chapel, Raphael, Sistine Madonna, Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper, Mona Lisa
Chapter 63 - Christians Quarrel
sixteenth century, Church of St. Peter, Martin Luther, 95 theses, Worms, Bible translated into German, Protestants, Henry VIII, church of England, divorce of his first wife, marriage to Anne Boleyn, the rest of Henry's wives
"Divorced. Beheaded. Died. Divorced. Beheaded. Survived."
Secrets of the Six Wives (PBS Masterpiece, 3 episodes, rated PG)
Tudor Monastery Farm (BBC, 6 episodes, rated 7+)
Lucy Worsley's 12 Days of Tudor Christmas (PBS Masterpieces, 1 episode, rated NR)
Chapter 64 - King Elizabeth
Mary Tudor, Bloody Mary, Philip II, Inquisition, William the Silent, Elizabeth Tudor, Mary Stuart, Spanish Armada, 1588
Chapter 65 - The Age of Elizabeth
Sir Walter Raleigh, Roanoke, Virginia Dare, tobacco, William Shakespeare, Anne Hathaway, Stratford, London, famous plays
August 20, 2015 - Pictures from the First Week of School
August 26, 2015 - Scribes and Ships
August 31, 2015 - Supplemental Historical Fiction in Chronological Order (also shared below)
August 31, 2015 - Age of Exploration Wish List (also shared below)
January 24, 2022 - When Captain Cook Landed on Hawai'i
Main Lesson Book Pages / Chalkboard Drawings
Pinterest - Renee Schwartz
My curated collection of visuals! Browse sample main lesson book pages, watercolor paintings, chalkboard drawings, etc. for
Renaissance & Reformation and Age of Exploration.
MLB Pages: Age of Exploration, Renaissance & Reformation - my blog post of Natalie's work
Supplemental Historical Fiction in Chronological Order
In preparation for the Renaissance I had my daughter read The Smile by Donna Jo Napoli. She didn't care for it, as her book review attests. She says it was "too romancy" and she didn't learn anything about the Renaissance. Tomorrow we will try to get The Second Mrs. Gioconda by E.L. Konigsburg instead.
Not every book can be a winner. We are heading into the Reformation and there are LOTS of young adult books featuring King Henry VIII and all of the drama surrounding the Tudors. (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/sixwives/meet/) So we will work our way through some options and then I'll decide my final recommendations for the website. Feel free to weigh in with suggestions! Here is my current chart:
Title
Author
Historical Figures/Time Period
Location
 
A Golden Web
Barbara Quick
Alessandra Giliani, 14th century
Bologna, Italy
 
Morning Girl
Michael Dorris
Christopher Columbus (this is kept from the reader until the Epilogue), 1492
the Bahamian Island of Guanahani (San Salvador)
 
Falling for Henry
Beverley Brenna
Catherine of Aragon, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, future first wife of Henry VIII (while still young; Henry is still a prince)
England
 
Mary, Bloody Mary
Carolyn Meyer
Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VIII with Catherine of Aragon,
age 11,
1527
England
 
The Redheaded Princess
Ann Rinaldi
Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry VIII with Anne Boleyn,
age 9,
1542
England
 
The Stolen One
Suzanne Crowley
Mary Seymour, the daughter of Katherine Parr (sixth wife of Henry VIII, later married to Thomas Seymour)
England
 
The Red Queen's Daughter
Jacqueline Kolosov
also Mary Seymour
England
 
Raven Queen
Pauline Francis
Lady Jane Grey, the Nine Days Queen, monarch of England at the age of 16, from July 10 - July 19, 1553 and then beheaded
England
 
A Sweet Disorder
Jacqueline Kolosov
1579
England
 
Daughter of Venice
Donna Jo Napoli
1592
Venice, Italy
Jepp, Who Defied the Stars
Katherine Marsh
Tycho Brahe (1546-1601)
 
King of Shadows
Susan Cooper
William Shakespeare, 1599
London, England
 
The Queen's Soprano
Carol Dines
Angelica Voglia,
Queen Christina,
Pope Innocent XI,
1670
Rome, Italy
Age of Exploration Wish List
This week Natalie and I will cover the Renaissance and the Reformation. We've spent two weeks on the Age of Exploration. Last night I discovered some resources I WISH I had known about and incorporated!!! But next year Leah will be in 7th grade and we can do it all over again. A teacher colleague recommended THE SHAPE OF THE WORLD and got me interested in Zheng He... and the book ideas just went forward from there.
My Age of Exploration Wish List:
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