We are currently reading about The Middle Ages in History. For our spine, we are using The Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer, which we love! For those of you who haven’t experienced this series, it takes you from Pre-Historic times through The Modern Era in story-like fashion. There are four volumes and separate activity guides that accompany each one, for those that like to include written activities, mapwork, crafts, and additional reading. At the end of this post, I am including a list of some living read-alouds for this time period.

We thought we would bring our reading to life by visiting our local annual Renaissance Festival!

Of course, we had to dress the part! Introducing my little Knight, King, and Lady! We were immediately greeted by jesters, knights, and other Medieval characters selling their food and wares. From costumes, wooden swords, jewelry, tapestries, clay pottery, drinking horns, turkey legs and more, it was like stepping back into a Medieval village!

We meandered through the crowded streets and came upon this…

An outdoor theater where Much Ado About Nothing, by William Shakespeare, was being performed! Stories become so much more meaningful when they are brought to life!

We also happened upon some acrobats and comedies being performed as well.

This was followed by more wandering, meeting interesting folks, and seeing the amazing sights and sounds of a real Medieval town.

And we even got to meet and chat with the King himself!

Imagine what imaginative places the kids will have now in their minds when we sit together and read about these interesting, colorful times! If only for a day, they have lived it themselves. They have been there. This is the closest thing we have to traveling through time…

These are some of our favorite living read-alouds for this time period. We have read and loved some and look forward to others as our studies progress:

(The following pictures contain links to Amazon.com. Should you decide to purchase any of the books, Thankfully Home will receive a small commission. This will not cost you anything at all! It helps us buy books for our family, so thank you!)

We as parents are well-intentioned. We want the best for our children. Every day. But I have to be honest. I am human. Sometimes I get tired (often, actually). Sometimes I get cranky. Sometimes I can be unkind and ungrateful. Sometimes I love my children but I forget to cherish them.

My family has been so doggone busy for the last couple of months. Between art classes, science center classes, piano lessons, musical theater classes, and visits with friends and family, I feel like I am being stretched in a medieval rack. I am not usually the type of person who books our schedule full. I don’t thrive in that way.  My kids don’t either. We like having things to do and people to see, but sometimes we just like staying home and having quiet time. We like the freedom that our homeschooling life affords us of being able to pick up and go where the wind blows us. We like to go down rabbit trails when we are beckoned.

I knew we reached a place of discomfort for everyone because the short tempers were flaring at the drop of a hat. We were not in a place of happiness or respect. We were not gracious. There was no peace. It was time to unplug and reconnect. It was time to remember and acknowledge the things we are thankful for. It was time for a reboot…

So, we put away the curriculum. We put away the books (well, not the poetry ones or the read-alouds, or the bed-time favorites – we could NEVER do that!), the worksheets, and the agenda. We dropped it all in favor of some impromptu fun. We piled into the car…

And headed out to the country. It is beautiful this time of year in South Central Pennsylvania. The leaves have changed and are vibrant hues of red, orange, yellow, burgundy, and gold. As we headed North-West, the rolling hills spread out before us. The drive was spectacular!

Finally, we arrived at Boyer’s in Bigglerville.

Is there a better way to appreciate the fall than to go apple picking in the country?

The fresh air, the rows and rows of beautiful trees, the smell of grass, the backdrop of rolling hills dotted with colorful leaves. It was nothing less than exhilarating!

The kids darted up and down the rows, in awe of all of the beautiful fruit hanging from the trees. They started filling their bags. My heart felt so thankful to have this time with them, watching them select, pluck, and admire their choices.

When the bags were full of beautiful Fuji and York Empire apples, they were dragged back to the car and proudly heaved into the back. Each child was very protective of their bag of apples!

Time to head back to the market to have our haul weighed…

This was our drive. Isn’t it exquisite? This photo doesn’t due justice to the beauty of this countryside…

The kids had their haul weighed proudly – 35 pounds of apples! Yes, 35!

We decided to stop for lunch on our hour-long way home. We spent the time reconnecting. Talking. Listening. Remembering what it is that we love about being a family.

When we got home, we peeled, boiled, and pureed our hearts out and made the most delicious applesauce! My daughter got out her Raddish kit and made us a scrumptious Dutch Apple Pancake! I have to say, the “fruits” of our labor were well worth it, both literally and figuratively.

Now I know that there will come a time when we need another reboot. That’s ok. For now, this is enough…