Greetings Families,
As we start our journey through the Middle Ages, we already came to a religious conversation about Pope Leo I standing up to Atilla the Hun.
In order for the students to better understand the history of the Middle Ages, they must understand the role religion played in the lives of kings, nobles, and peasants. Today, we talked about how people called Christians believed (past tense because we are talking about people who lived back then) that Jesus was the Son of God and that his original disciples were really important. Eventually, Roman Christians believed their bishop, the leader of the church in Rome, was the most important because he succeeded from Peter, who appeared to be the leader of the disciples. That is why Pope Leo I, the bishop of Rome, went out to meet Atilla.
Throughout this unit, other religious conversations will happen as it relates to the religious believes of Western Europe, which was predominantly Catholic. For examples, surfs had to work every day except holidays, and the holidays were determined by the church.
For families who are Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Eastern Orthodox, Mormon, something else, or who are not religious at all, there may be some unease about these conversations happening at school. Please know that when I speak of these things, I am doing my best to not give religious instruction but am simply saying what people believed back then, just as I would if I were talking about the religious beliefs of Romans when they predominantly believed in the Greek Pantheon. Even though I am a Christian, when speaking about Christians, I do so in the third person so as to not influence your child. I believe religious instruction is reserved for the home and place of worship.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. I know as my children reach the upper grades and start having these conversations in the classroom, I will want to have important conversations at home about our family's beliefs.
Best,
Michael Naaktgeboren
As we start our journey through the Middle Ages, we already came to a religious conversation about Pope Leo I standing up to Atilla the Hun.
In order for the students to better understand the history of the Middle Ages, they must understand the role religion played in the lives of kings, nobles, and peasants. Today, we talked about how people called Christians believed (past tense because we are talking about people who lived back then) that Jesus was the Son of God and that his original disciples were really important. Eventually, Roman Christians believed their bishop, the leader of the church in Rome, was the most important because he succeeded from Peter, who appeared to be the leader of the disciples. That is why Pope Leo I, the bishop of Rome, went out to meet Atilla.
Throughout this unit, other religious conversations will happen as it relates to the religious believes of Western Europe, which was predominantly Catholic. For examples, surfs had to work every day except holidays, and the holidays were determined by the church.
For families who are Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Eastern Orthodox, Mormon, something else, or who are not religious at all, there may be some unease about these conversations happening at school. Please know that when I speak of these things, I am doing my best to not give religious instruction but am simply saying what people believed back then, just as I would if I were talking about the religious beliefs of Romans when they predominantly believed in the Greek Pantheon. Even though I am a Christian, when speaking about Christians, I do so in the third person so as to not influence your child. I believe religious instruction is reserved for the home and place of worship.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. I know as my children reach the upper grades and start having these conversations in the classroom, I will want to have important conversations at home about our family's beliefs.
Best,
Michael Naaktgeboren