Ancient History, Week 30

Ancient Africa

While there aren't a whole lot of books about ancient African life and culture, there are quite a few folktales available, so that's what the majority of our studies revolved around this week. Tessa also learned to weave when we crafted African baskets from construction paper.

Monday

• Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 68-69).
• Looked at pictures and read captions from Look What Came From Africa by Miles Harvey.
• Completed HO map work for Lesson 26, Main Lesson.

Tuesday

• Read Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears: A West African Tale by Verna Aardema.
• Read Zomo the Rabbit: A Trickster Tale from West Africa by Gerald McDermott.
• Read This Is the Tree by Miriam Moss.

Wednesday

• Watched Ancient Civilizations for Children: Ancient Africa DVD by Schlessinger Media.
• Listened to Magic Tree House #11: Lions at Lunchtime audiobook by Mary Pope Osborne.

Thursday

• Read Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti by Gerald McDermott.
• Read Anansi Does The Impossible!: An Ashanti Tale by Verna Aardema.
• Read Anansi and the Magic Stick by Eric A. Kimmel.

Friday

• Completed "Make Your Own: Basket" (page 74) from Amazing Africa Projects You Can Build Yourself by Carla Mooney.

I wasn't keen on the Ancient Africa projects recommended in either History Odyssey or The Story of the World Activity Book, so I went out on my own for this one. Since Tessa had never weaved before, I liked that this craft also taught her the basics of a somewhat practical skill. I knew this project would be somewhat time-consuming, so I went ahead and cut all of the pieces the day before.

Tessa started her basket by gluing the pieces for the framework in a star pattern. 

Then, she glued a five-inch circle in the center of the framework. Afterward, she folded the arms inward. This created a skeleton of sorts for her to weave the remaining pieces through. 

Next, Tessa weaved contrasting paper strips through the framework.

After folding in the top of the arms and then gluing them down, Tessa's African basket was finally complete! I'm really proud of her. Tessa diligently worked on her basket for over an hour and completed the vast majority of it by herself. She asked questions about how ancient people weaved baskets throughout the project. Afterward, she commented that she really liked weaving and couldn't believe she made her very own basket.  

Other Books of Interest

• A Story, A Story - Gail E. Haley
• Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock - Eric A. Kimmel
• Anansi and the Talking Melon - Eric A. Kimmel
• Anansi Goes Fishing - Eric A. Kimmel
• Anansi's Party Time - Eric A. Kimmel

All of the Anansi books by Eric Kimmel are available as CD audiobooks. A Story, A Story is as well. You may wish to see whether your library carries these audiobooks, unless you fancy reading Ashanti folktales over and over. Anansi has been a big hit with Tessa. She has listened to each title no less than six times a piece so far.

* HO = History Odyssey