Welcome all Classical Conversation families! Additionally, welcome to homeschooling families that use this list to supplement their medieval history study!
A few notes about the arrangement of books in this post:
-
- This booklist is a tool and not a checklist! Please use it to supplement your morning time routines or studies of CC memory work.
- My family will not read all these books listed each week. Instead, this will be a reference list for me to utilize in weekly book selections and in chapter book read alouds or read alones.
- The pictured links in the twenty-four week lists are arranged by picture books first followed by chapter book selections.
- Additional chapter books, audio books, missionary studies, and fine arts books, including a poetry section, are listed after the twenty-four week suggestions.Ā
- I will not be providing a download of this list, but encourage you to write these suggestions in under the Memoria section of your Foundations Guides.
It is my hope that this list proves to be a wonderful resource for your family enabling you to make memories around the shared experience of reading great books. Enjoy!
*All links below are affiliate links.
Week 1:
What Really Happened In Medieval Times is a wonderful resource filled with 8 biographical short stories on figures such as: 
Week 2:
Ā
Geography: English Channel
Week 3:
Geography Selections: France
I Juan de Pareja isĀ a chapter book set in Spain and based on a true story. This is one you will want to read to the entire family ages 8/9 and up! A personal favorite of mine.
Week 4:
Ā
Week 5:
The Book of Boy holds some religious beliefs that you may want to clarify or discuss. Perhaps it is a good one to read like a book club with your older students such as 5th and 6th grade. Check out this review over at Redeemed Reader.Ā
Timeline:
Week 6:
Week 7:
Week 8:
Week 9:
Geography Selections:
Week 10:
Geography Selections:
Week 11:
I was unable to find many resources on the French Revolution, with the exception of the two chapter books listed above (one of which was suggested by a reader), so I have opted to provide more books featuring France instead.Ā PleaseĀ leaveĀ yourĀ suggestionsĀ inĀ theĀ commentsĀ section. I welcome them!
Ā
Week 12:
Week 13:
Week 14:
Week 15:
Week 16:
Week 17:
Week 18:
Week 19:
Week 20:
Inside Out and Back Again is a book written in prose. The protagonist is based on the author’s real life experience moving to Alabama as a refugee after Vietnam. This book will provide many good discussion points about the treatment of people who are different from us in nationality, traditions, and religion. Check out Redeemed Reader’s post for discussion questions!Ā
I suggest these two incredible books by Gary Schdmidt for read alouds. The Wednesday Wars for upper elementary and middle school, and the second for middle school due to sensitive content. These are two of my very favorite books!Ā The Wednesday WarsĀ ties in Shakespeare as well which is a bonus!
Week 21:
My Brigadista YearĀ is a coming of age story set in Cuba just before the Bay of Pigs. Probably a good fit for 5th or 6th graders knowing that propaganda is woven in the story as a reality of the time and setting. However, I loved this story because it tells how Cuba became a literate nation in such a short amount of time. You can read more about this book over at Common Sense Media.Ā
Week 22:
Week 23:
Week 24:
Ā
Audio Resources:
Additional chapter books to read aloud or to read alone:
Ā
Ā
Supplemental Geography:
Books about our Great Artists:
Ā
Music for Composers Study:
Poetry:
Thank you for sharing this wonderful list! I look forward to finding some new favorites in the coming year.
Thank you for the list! For the French Revolution, we always love Lamplighter’s audio drama of The Unexpected Return by Christoph von Schmid.
Thank you for sharing this collection. =)
Thank you so much for this list. I do wish it was on a list I could copy so that I could have it for the librarian. š I will just copy it down. This is our 4th son to go through CC from the start so I am thankful for the new ideas and reads. Thanks!
Did you happen to copy these down? I would love a list as well. I can type them, but, if you have already done that maybe you would share them with me? š Thanks. E
Hi Erin,
I actually only made the list on my blog as I went along. Thanks for stopping by!
Thank you so much for sharing! A couple of other suggestions for the French Revolution are an Usborne Bio of Marie Antionette by Katie Daynes, and then my daughter loved reading A Tale of Two Cities, retold for kids by Lucinda Dickens Hawksley ( the great-great-great granddaughter of Charles Dickens). It’s a pretty faithful retelling.
Dara, thank you for those recommendations. I was looking for an adaptation of a Tale of Two Cities. I read the original for the first time earlier this year and loved it!
Great recommendations, Brooke! Thanks for linking to Redeemed Reader. We use CC too, and I can never resist a corresponding book list. š
Megan, you are most welcome and I love the resources that Redeemed Reader provides! I hope it is a wonderful Cycle 2 for your family.
I just wanted to say thank you so very much for this booklist! I have been doing CC for a while and am just amazed at the moms out there like you who find time to post their info about how they do school at home on a blog. You are such a blessing.
Thanks Amanda!!!
I thought of a couple more for Week 11! The Scarlet Pimpernel (perhaps a bit advanced for the audience, but a funny and redemptive tale) and Hot Air, the (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot-Air Balloon Ride. It’s actually pre-revolution, but begins in the gardens of Versailles, I believe.
I was looking forward to browsing this list but all the listings were just broken-picture icons. š Has the link coding changed since you uploaded this page?
Hi,
Iām sorry you are having issues. It seems okay on my end. Maybe try a different web browser. Please let me know if this problem persists.
Thanks for replying! I’m using Google Chrome. Even Microsoft Internet Explorer is showing the broken icons. They’re all clickable, but no graphic is displaying so I don’t know what it’ll lead to until I click the link.
Will I be able to find any of these books at the library?
Yes! I am able to at our library.
Great resources! Thanks
I would like to start getting my booklist together for Cycle 3 since we often start reading for the next cycle as soon as the current cycle ends (which is soon). Do you have a cycle 3 reading list available yet and how do I find it? Thanks!
Hello Alicia! Thanks for stopping by! Yes, a full resource list is available for Cycle 3. Iām linking the second half here with the embedded link for weeks 1-12.
Enjoy!
https://thistemporaryhome.com/2020/12/12/classical-conversations-cycle-3-book-list-weeks-13-24/