Week 1: Twilight of the Western Roman Empire

• No links for this week.

Week 2: Byzantine Empire and the Eastern Orthodox Church

• Virtual field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art: view Byzantine works of art!
• Visit an Eastern Orthodox Church. Click here to find one near you.
• Greek Festival in Columbus, Ohio

Week 3: Byzantine Empire and Rise of Islam

• A user suggests taking a virtual tour of the Taj Mahal.

Week 4: The Making of Medieval Europe: Charlemagne

• Find a castle to visit near your home.
• Ravenwood Castle in New Plymouth, Ohio. A user recommends this bed and breakfast castle in which you can stay in one of the rooms (the King Arthur site was her favorite) or rent a smaller castle of your own in the village. A complimentary breakfast is served in the castle and you may pay extra for dinner and lunch as well. Jan's family actually stayed in a gypsy wagon in the woods across from the castle which fit in their budget nicely.

Week 5: Developments During the Viking Age

• A user recommends the Higgins Armory Museum in Worchester, Massachusetts. Worth the drive, residents of CT, MA, NH, and VT will find this to be a satisfying and interesting field trip. Here are a few reasons that Kristen encourages this trip:
  1. Young children to adults can try on and dress up in replica metal helmets and simple period costumes.
  2. Get close to the armor and weapons in the main hall, appreciating the details.
  3. Impressive authentic and replica chain mail displays and detailed descriptions of period curiosities.
  4. Several cultures are represented...the best being the Middle Ages.
  5. Great gift shop that offers items we can really use.

Week 6: Medieval Life: Feudalism

• A user recommends The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois. The Harding Collection of Arms and Armor is great to supplement this week's study. Oh -- and admission is free on Tuesdays!

Week 7: The High Middle Ages

• No links for this week.

Week 8: The Mongols, Marco Polo, and the Far East

• Medieval fair in the Northwest. "Ye Merrie Greenwood Players"

Week 9: The Reshaping of Medieval Europe

• Medieval Show: Make online reservations for your unit celebration: Buena Park, CA; Dallas, TX; Schaumburg, IL; Toronto, ON; Lyndhurst, NJ; Hanover, MD; Myrtle Beach, SC; Kissimmee, FL.
• Camlann Medieval Village in Carnation, Washington (near Seattle). A living-history-museum project portraying rural England in the year 1376.

Week 10: Early Lights of the Reformation

• Word Spring Discover Center in Orlando, Florida. Great place to learn about the art and science of translation and how God's word carries hope around the world to people in their own language.

Want to suggest a resource or link? Email us at links@tapestryofgrace.com.

Because these links are to websites not hosted by Lampstand Press, we have no control over them. If you find that one of the links on this page is broken (or no longer points to something relevant), email us at links@tapestryofgrace.com.

Week 11: Introduction to the Southern Renaissance

• Renaissance Festivals in Plantersville, Texas; Holly, Michigan; or Manheim, Pennsylvania. (School days available; check the links for dates.)
• National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. A user recommends a guided tour about Renaissance art. An educational tour can be arranged in advance. Of course, it is all FREE!

Week 12: The Southern Renaissance and the Early Explorers

• Visit the Nina, the most historically accurate replica of a Columbus ship ever built. Click here to see if this exhibit is near you.
• Corpus Christi has replicas of the Pinta and the Santa Maria.

Week 13: The Southern Renaissance and the Age of Exploration

• No links for this week.

Week 14: Spanish Dominion and the New World: Aztecs and Incas

• Cambridge, MA The Peabody Museum at Harvard. A large collection of Aztec items, carvings and replicas of wall paintings that was quite impressive. They also offer a 60 minute hands-on class for 4-7th graders

Week 15: The Northern Renaissance and Its Scholars

• No links for this week.

Week 16: The Reformation: Martin Luther and the German States

• No links for this week.

Week 17: The Reformation in Switzerland, England, and Scandinavia

• A field trip we have enjoyed several times is MennoHof. MennoHof is an interpretive center for the Amish and Mennonite faiths, located in Shipshewana, Indiana.

  The museum has several parts, including a history of the Reformation that is portrayed in a room made to look like a dungeon in which Anabaptists were imprisoned. Be sure to watch for the "Anabaptist Catcher" hanging on the wall. There are further exhibits which depict the church history and beliefs of several groups, particularly the Amish, Mennonite, and Hutterites.

  The museum is appealing to children, with a model of a ship that immigrants traveled on, a play area with Amish-made toys, and a "Tornado Room" (too scary for the littlest ones) explaining the Mennonite role in disaster relief today. You might want to browse their small bookstore area, too. One of my favorite cookbooks came from MennoHof.

  I specifically remember both Zwingli and Michael Sattler from the history portion of the museum. The exhibits do an excellent job of relating the church history to an understanding of the varying modern-day practices of the Amish, Mennonites, and Hutterites. If you wish to understand the faith basis for the lifestyles modeled by these groups, this is the place to be.

Week 18: The Counter Reformation, French Huguenots, and the Netherlands

• French Huguenot Church in Charleston, South Carolina

Week 19: Elizabethan England and the Scottish Reformation

• No links for this week.

Want to suggest a resource or link? Email us at links@tapestryofgrace.com.

Because these links are to websites not hosted by Lampstand Press, we have no control over them. If you find that one of the links on this page is broken (or no longer points to something relevant), email us at links@tapestryofgrace.com.

Week 20: Early New World Colonies and Eastern Europe

• Field trip to Jamestown, Virginia
• Virtual Jamestown

Week 21: Puritans in New England

• Planning your (must do if you can) trip to Plimouth Plantation, Massachusetts!

Week 22: Charters, Creeds, and the English Civil War

• No links for this week.

Week 23: Restoration Colonies and the Age of Louis XIV

• No links for this week.

Week 24: Dissenters in America and the Age of Reason

• No links for this week.

Week 25: Colonists and Native Americans

• No links for this week.

Week 26: Empires at Odds

• No links for this week.

Week 27: Thirteen Established Colonies

• A user recommends the Spanish colonial field trip she and her family went on to El Rancho de las Golondrinas in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She said, "The date is 1820, but we used at the end of year 2 Unit 3. They have demonstrators for many colonial crafts like candle dipping, dying wool, a school house, sheep shearing, making tortillas, a mill, etc. Best time to go is special events because they have more demonstrators."

Want to suggest a resource or link? Email us at links@tapestryofgrace.com.

Because these links are to websites not hosted by Lampstand Press, we have no control over them. If you find that one of the links on this page is broken (or no longer points to something relevant), email us at links@tapestryofgrace.com.

Week 28: Shaping Influences on Colonial Culture

• No links for this week.

Week 29: French and Indian War

• No links for this week.

Week 30: Give Me Liberty!

• Paul Revere House in Boston.

Week 31: First Battles for Independence

• A great recommendation for a field trip to the Peabody Museum on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, MA. There is a great deal of history just on the campus alone. We bought a self guided tour book at the visitor center for $2.00 and then walked around. The tour points out buildings where George Washington's troops stayed during the Revolutionary war and other interesting facts. Then the Peabody Museum has a large exhibit on Native Americans; they break the tribes into different regions of the country. There are many real artifacts that made everything we have been studying come to life! Definitely worth the trip if you live in the area. (One warning though: there is a section of the museum that focuses on natural history and it is BIG into Darwinism. If necessary, you can talk about it/prepare ahead of time.)

Week 32: Waging the Revolutionary War

• A user in NH urges families to consider walking the Freedom Trail through Boston, Massachusetts. She shares this about her experiences there:

  This is a fool-proof hike taking participants to see some of the most well-known historical sites in Boston. It is a free, self-guided path from Boston Common out to the Bunker Hill Monument. See the Old North Church (one if by land, two if by sea) the graves, homes, and monuments of revolutionary leaders. Paul Revere's home, Boston Latin School, Fanuel Hall, Quincy Market and much more add opportunities to relax and/or eat along the way. Free maps of the trail are available at Boston Common Station.

  How do you walk the Freedom Trail? Well, we took the "T" (public rail system) to Boston Common. Once above ground there is a huge, can't-miss-it map erected for visitors that points the way clearly to the sidewalk adjacent to the "T" portal. One simply follows the red stripe and big, bronze medallions embedded on the sidewalks through Boston. Voila! You will pass other T stations in case you need to abandon the trek and don't want to go all the way back to the Common. (The "T" lines are all color coded and are extremely intuitive and user friendly to ride.)

  As we wove through the North End, we enjoyed spring flowerboxes on almost every home and shop. We sampled delicious goodies and took great historical photos along the way including our tour of the Old North Church (small fee) and Paul Revere's Home. If you are especially observant in graveyards and look for placards on buildings you will be rewarded with a lot of those "connected to history moments." I love that feeling, like when we stood on the very cobble stones that Paul Revere, John Adams, Benj. Franklin and others stood on- right outside Mr. Revere's doorstep!

  Ultimately, we crossed the Charles River to Bunker Hill. Along the shore of the Charles there is Old Ironsides and the Boston Tea Party Ship (replica) that you can tour. We chose to explore Old Ironsides and had a guide who explained the life of a naval man of the times in great detail. It was well worth the time, and little extra walking, to experience this facet of American History.

  All totaled, it was a pretty long day. But, to be fair, we walked at a comfortably slow pace, stopped frequently to explore, read, soak in the history, discuss relevant topics and eat. We checked out every nook and cranny while hiking, and relaxed on the Bunker Hill lawn watching children fly kites before heading back to North Station to be out of the city for dinnertime. It was an unforgettable day, and for our family, we plan NOT to make it a once in a lifetime experience, but hike the trail again!

Week 33: America under the Articles of the Confederation

• Go on a pilgrimage to INDEPENDENCE HALL HISTORIC PARK
• Paul Revere House in Boston, Massachusetts

Week 34: Writing the Constitution

• Revolutionary American Village in Montevallo, Alabama. This looks like a great place for a family field trip!

Week 35: Federal Republic & French Revolution

• No links for this week.

Week 36: Perilous Times: The Adams Administration

• Karl C. Harrison Museum of George Washington in Columbiana, Alabama

Want to suggest a resource or link? Email us at links@tapestryofgrace.com.

Because these links are to websites not hosted by Lampstand Press, we have no control over them. If you find that one of the links on this page is broken (or no longer points to something relevant), email us at links@tapestryofgrace.com.