I have been meaning to write a series of posts about the curriculum we're using for C's 9th grade year. And I keep meaning to write a lot about how I've set up her study of World History. It's going beautifully and we are both learning a lot. I've incorporated a lot of visual tools in our course, because I've seen how C responds so well to information presented visually. If there's humor involved, too, so much the better.
I'll get back to that topic soon. But today, I want to remember to report how excellent this video is. It's "Cathedral" by David Macaulay (of "The Way Things Work" fame), and it provides a terrific and enjoyable way to learn how and why gothic cathedrals were build they way they were. There are beautiful sequences in actual cathedrals, combined with animated sequences that explore a story of a fictional gothic cathedral being built. In a charming and totally accessible way, this video provides a lot of information about the historic period, the relations between the church and the community, and the architectural elements in cathedrals and why they are they way they are.
C enjoyed this so much that she has already watched it twice.
It's available on DVD, but if you're willing and able to watch a video, you can probably find it for far cheaper. I highly recommend this. (By the way, we watched "Castle" too, and though we liked it, we both liked "Cathedral" better.)
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