"Lost Egypt" - St. Louis Science Center

To cap off our study of the ancient world, we visited Lost Egypt, St. Louis Science Center's current featured exhibit. While there, we also watched Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs, an Omnimax film. Tessa enjoyed the many hands-on displays. There were also several small, but interesting artifacts...mostly amulets, shabtis and sculptures of various Egyptian gods. A replica of the Rosetta Stone too. (To see real mummies, visit the St. Louis Art Museum.)

May 25 - September 2, 2013

Tessa thought about what kind of things from today's world she would want to take with her to an Egyptian afterlife. Using a magnetic board and picture tiles designed after artwork commonly found on the walls of Egyptian tombs, she placed those items in the hands of servants who would bring them to her in the afterlife.

Broken pottery is a common find for archaeologists. Tessa tried her hand at piecing together the fragments of an "Egyptian bowl." 

Tessa tested how the Ancient Egyptians may have pulled massive stone blocks up ramps to build their pyramids. She found the block on a sled and pulled over wooden slats beneath it was much easier to move than the one without any such device.

On our way home from the Science Center, we stopped by Culver's in Eureka where Lollypop the Balloon Artist was twisting balloons. After patiently waiting almost an hour, Tessa finally got her balloon butterfly. There were over 80 kids that day!

Ancient History, Week 35

Ancient History - Final Days

At ten months almost to the day, we have officially completed our first-round study of ancient history. Yeah!

In this final very short week, we covered the spread of Christianity and the fall of the Roman Empire to the Barbarians. History Odyssey both ends Ancients and begins Middle Ages with the Byzantine Empire. Since the Byzantines are not included in Usborne: Ancient World, I have opted to cover them during our study of the Middle Ages. We will set off on that adventure at the end of August.

Monday

• Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 88-89).

Tuesday

• Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 90-91).

* HO = History Odyssey

Ancient History, Week 34

Ancient Rome - Daily Life

Tessa learned all about the daily life of the Ancient Romans, including the importance of Pompeii, Mount Vesuvius, gladiators and aqueducts.

Monday

• Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 84-87).
• Completed Evan-Moor History Pockets: Ancient Civilizations, Grades 1-3 "Ancient Rome -Roman Puppets" and "Triumphal Arch" (or eBook).

Tessa drew a picture of her driving a chariot for her "Triumphal Arch" project. She was so proud of it that she asked me to take a picture of it to post on our blog.

Tuesday

• Read The Romans: Life in Ancient Rome by Liz Sonneborn.
• Watched Ancient Civilizations for Children: Ancient Rome DVD by Schlessinger Media.

Wednesday

• Read Pompeii: Lost and Found by Mary Pope Osborne.
• Listened to Magic Tree House #13: Vacation Under the Volcano audiobook by Mary Pope Osborne.

Thursday

• Read Gladiators by Michael Martin.

Friday

• Completed "Ancient Rome: Vesuvius  Erupts" (pages 10-11) from Look, Find & Learn: World History by Jerry Tiritilli.
• Completed "It's All Downhill: Build An Aqueduct" (page 155-156) from Classical Kids: An Activity Guide to Life in Ancient Greece and Rome by Laurie Carlson.

To create a model of a Roman aqueduct, Tessa first cut a paper towel tube in half, taped it together at the ends and then covered it with aluminum foil (to waterproof it). Then, she built a series of sloping archways with wooden blocks. After setting the aqueduct on top of the arches, it was ready to test. And, test she did! Over and over again. I liked this project because Tessa was able to complete it with very little help from me.

Tessa greatly enjoyed this simple project. She tested her Roman aqueduct many times. 

* HO = History Odyssey

OpenLibrary.org

I recently stumbled across OpenLibrary.org, an awesome resource for free eBooks. I find it especially helpful when searching for out-of-print books, which are often recommended within our history and science curriculum. Or, for when I discover at the last minute that I've forgotten to order something from our local library.

Check it out! You can borrow up to five titles at a time for two weeks.

Ancient History, Week 33

The Celts, Early Rome & the Roman Army

I couldn't come up with anything more for the Ancient Celts than the quick synopsis in Usborne, so we finished the week by beginning our study of the Ancient Romans. Tessa also learned about the cleverness of the Roman army, which lead to their immense success.

Monday

• Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 78-79).
• Completed draw and color.

Tuesday

• Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 80-81).
• Read "Romulus & Remus" from Roman Myths and Legends by Andrew Masters.
• Completed HO map work for Lesson 30, Main Lesson, Part 1.

Wednesday

• Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 82-83).
• Completed HO map work for Lesson 30, Main Lesson, Part 2.
• Completed "Ancient Rome" history pocket (student booklet and words to know).

I knew Tessa wouldn't want to sit and cut leaf after leaf for the Laurel-Wreath Crown featured in the "Ancient Rome" history pocket, so we skipped it in favor of crafting a simple catapult on Thursday.

Thursday

• Completed "Make a Catapult" (page 132) from Classical Kids: An Activity Guide to Life in Ancient Greece and Rome by Laurie Carlson.
• Completed "Airplane Catapult" from Little Paper Dog: All Things Lovely.

The plastic-spoon-and-shoe-box catapult from Classical Kids: An Activity Guide to Life in Ancient Greece and Rome was a teetotal bust. We used old lima bean seeds as ammunition and they just shot straight up (or backward) in the air so fast you couldn't even see them. The shoe box was not strong enough either. After messing with it for a bit, I searched Pinterest for a quick-and-simple replacement. That is where I came up with the "Airplane Catapult" fashioned from craft sticks from Little Paper Dog: All Things Lovely's blog. It works MUCH better.

Tessa prepared her craft stick catapult for launch by filling it with lima bean seeds.

Friday

• Read "Roman Town" (pages 20-21) and "Built to Last" (22-23) from How People Lived by Jim Pipe.

* HO = History Odyssey

Ancient History, Week 32

Ancient Americas

Although there isn't a lot of information about the earliest people who lived in the ancient Americas, Tessa greatly enjoyed the little there was. She was totally enthralled by the Nazca Lines, giant stone heads of the Olmecs and the discovery of Machu Picchu.

Monday

• Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 72-73).
• Completed HO map work for Lesson 28, Main Lesson (North America part only).
• Completed draw and color.

Wednesday

• Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 74).
• Looked at pictures of Nazca Lines and read related excerpts from Seven Wonders of Ancient Central and South America by Michael Woods.
• Read Lost City: The Discovery of Machu Picchu by Ted Lewin.
• Completed HO map work for Lesson 28, Main Lesson (South America part only).
• Watched Ancient Civilizations for Children: Ancient Inca DVD by Schlessinger Media.

Seven Wonders of Ancient Central and South America also has chapters on Machu Picchu, Tikal and more.

Friday

• Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 75-77).
• Read The Ancient Maya by Jackie Maloy.
• Completed all remaining HO map work for Lesson 28, Main Lesson.
• Read Rain Player by David Wisniewski.
• Watched Ancient Civilizations for Children: Ancient Maya DVD by Schlessinger Media.

I really liked Rain Player because it included so many tidbits of Ancient Mayan culture...tidbits that Tessa had already learned from other resources. Reading it last was a nice way to tie everything together.

* HO = History Odyssey

Ancient History, Week 31

Ancient India

When I think of India, I think Hinduism. When I think of China, I think Buddhism. So, I found it interesting that the majority of the books I was able to unearth (and those recommended in our curriculum) for Ancient India revolve around Buddhism. Surely, there are more Hindu picture books out there that I missed. Ah, well. I have to keep reminding myself that history during the grammar years is really about dipping toes and creating pegs to build future knowledge upon. Maybe I'll search our library's catalog by Hindu god, see what I can churn up for bedtime reading.

Monday

• Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 70-71).
• Completed HO map work for Lesson 27, Main Lesson.

Tuesday

• Read The Prince Who Ran Away: The Story Of Gautama Buddha by Anne Rockwell.

Buddha by Demi is a good alternative to the title above. Since both are quite lengthy and pretty much cover the same material, I chose to read only one. Although I'm a big fan of Demi, I felt the colorful illustrations and the more casual flow of text in Rockwell's version was more engaging.

Wednesday

• Listened to Magic Tree House #19: Tigers at Twilight audiobook by Mary Pope Osborne.

Thursday

• Read Savitri: A Tale of Ancient India by Judith Mathews.
• Read How Ganesh Got His Elephant Head by Harish Johari.

How Ganesh Got His Elephant Head has a nice line art picture of the cover illustration at the back of the book that you can photocopy for your child to color. Tessa really liked that.

Friday

• Read The Monkey and the Crocodile: A Jataka Tale from India by Paul Galdone.
• Read Nine Animals and the Well by James Rumford.

Other Books of Interest

• Buddha Stories - Demi
• The Fantastic Adventures of Krishna - Demi
• Tales from India - Jamila Gavin
• How Parvati Won the Heart of Shiva - Harish Johari
• I Once Was a Monkey: Stories Buddha Told - Jeanne M. Lee
• Monkey: A Trickster Tale from India - Gerald McDermott
• Manu's Ark: India's Tale of the Great Flood - Emma V. Moore
• Elephant Prince: The Story of Ganesh - Amy Novesky
• Ganesha's Sweet Tooth - Sanjay Patel
• The Elephant's Friend and Other Tales from Ancient India - Marcia Williams

Darn it! I knew there were more Hindu stories. Just needed to be a bit more strategic in searching our library's catalog.

* HO = History Odyssey

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

Ancient History, Week 29

Ancient China - The First Emperor & the Han Dynasty

I have to chuckle at Tessa. She falls head-over-heels in love with one great ancient civilization and then the next. Just when I thought there was no way to douse the flames of her infatuation with Ancient Greece, they dissipated and then flared again for Ancient China. She has created and played with paper dragons, lions and lanterns for the past two weeks, pretending it to be Chinese New Year. From notebook to sidewalk to random scrap of paper, calligraphic numbers dot every possible surface. The sponge that she is absorbed all that was available of the first emperor, Great Wall, terracotta army, Silk Road, Chinese tales and myths. As I busied myself with those menial tasks that all parents must do, I stepped in drips and small puddles of new-found knowledge that pooled around the house. I suspect I'll continue to do so until our road ends in Ancient Rome.

Monday

• Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 62-65).
• Looked at pictures in Great Wall of China: Ancient Wonders of the World by Adele Richardson.
• Completed HO map work for Lesson 25, Main Lesson.
• Read "Dongfang & the Festival of Lanterns" (page 23) from Moonbeams, Dumplings & Dragon Boats: A Treasury of Chinese Holiday Tales, Activities & Recipes by Nina Simonds.
• Completed "Ancient China" history pocket ('Chinese Puppets' and 'Chinese Lanterns').

Tuesday

• Read The Chinese: Life in China's Golden Age by Matt Doeden.
• Read The Seven Chinese Brothers by Margaret Mahy.
• Watched Ancient Civilizations for Children: Ancient China DVD by Schlessinger Media.

Wednesday

• Read Hidden Army: Clay Soldiers of Ancient China by Jane O'Connor.
• Looked at pictures in The Emperor's Silent Army: Terracotta Warriors of Ancient China by Jane O'Connor.
• Read Ten Suns: A Chinese Legend by Eric A. Kimmel.

Thursday

• Read Da Wei's Treasure: A Chinese Tale by Margaret Scrogin Chang.
• Read The Lost Horse: A Chinese Folktale by Ed Young.
• Listened to Magic Tree House #14: Day of the Dragon King audiobook by Mary Pope Osborne.

Friday

• Read The Silk Route: 7,000 Miles of History by John S. Major.
• Read "Dunhuang - The City of Sands" (page 28) and "White Cloud Fairy" (page 30) from Stories From The Silk Road by Cherry Gilchrist.

I didn't pre-read Stories From The Silk Road, so I didn't realize how good of a book it is and how well it fits with The Silk Route: 7,000 Miles of History before reading it to Tessa. I had planned to read only a couple of random stories from it, but Tessa wants me to read all of them. The stories are in order of how the Silk Road was traveled. The book also provides historical information for the major stops along the way. There is a corresponding story for each stop. Next week, we will start from the beginning.

Other Books of Interest

• The Great Race: The Story of the Chinese Zodiac - Dawn Casey
• "Great Wall of China: The Sleeping Dragon" (pages 6-7) from Look, Find & Learn: World History - Jerry Tiritilli
• King Pom and the Fox - Jessica Souhami
• The Dragon Prince: A Chinese Beauty & the Beast Tale - Laurence Yep

* HO = History Odyssey

Ancient History, Week 28

Ancient China - The Shang Dynasty

There are so many wonderful picture books available about Ancient China that I wish we could take more time to read them all. In order to wrap up our school year in a somewhat timely fashion, I have limited our studies to two short weeks. In an attempt to squeeze a few more in, we will be reading some books as bedtime stories.

Tuesday

• Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 60-61).
• Completed HO map work for Lesson 24, Main Lesson.

Wednesday

• Completed "Ancient China" history pocket (student booklet and words to know).
• Read Lion Dancer: Ernie Wan's Chinese New Year by Kate Waters.
• Read Bringing in the New Year by Grace Lin.
• Completed "Ancient China" history pocket ("Dancing Dragon").
• Read The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack at bedtime.

Tessa colored, pasted and then cut a tail from red construction paper for her "Dancing Dragon" paper craft.

Tessa's completed "Dancing Dragon" tells of Chinese New Year customs.

Friday

• Read The Empress and the Silkworm by Lily Toy Hong.
• Read The Empty Pot by Demi.
• Read Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China by Ai-Ling Louie.

* HO = History Odyssey

Ancient History, Week 27

Alexander the Great & The Scythians

We are starting to wrap up our year, so we combined two quick-and-easy lessons this week.

Tuesday

• Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 56-57).
• Completed HO map work for Lesson 22, Main Lesson.

Wednesday

• Read Alexander the Great by Demi.
• Listened to Magic Tree House #49: Stallion by Starlight audiobook by Mary Pope Osborne.

Friday

• Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 58-59).
• Completed draw and color.

Ancient History, Week 26

Greek Mythology

There are so many wonderful Greek myths that we added a week just to read and listen to as many as possible. We also read several of Aesop's Fables. As a result, Tessa has totally turned into a Greek mythology nut. I'm thrilled. We didn't learn any of this during my time in public school and it's good stuff. It doesn't make sense. So much from our modern American lives is derived from the ancient Greeks! I had no idea. More and more, I feel such injustice for my child self and all of America's youth who are currently in the public school system.

Monday - Friday

• Read The McElderry Book of Greek Myths by Eric A. Kimmel.
• Read The McElderry Book of Aesop's Fables by Michael Morpurgo.
• Listened to Greek Myths audiobook by Ann Turnbull. (Tessa also looked at the pictures from the print version as she listened.)
• Watched Hercules DVD by Disney from Netflix.

Other Resources of Interest

• Tales from the Odyssey: Audio Collection - Mary Pope Osborne

Tessa's working her way through these on her own time. She's currently on book four.

Ancient History, Week 25

Ancient Greece - Gods & Great Thinkers

Tessa is quickly falling in love with Greek mythology, just as I knew she would. She hasn't stopped talking about the various gods and goddesses we learned about this past Tuesday. So far, her favorite myth is of Persephone and Hades. She tends to favor the goddess Aphrodite as well...not so much for her story, but because Tessa thinks she's pretty! We also studied about a few great Greek thinkers. I was a little taken back when Tessa asked me to read the book about Socrates again. You would think such requests would no longer surprise me, but this one did. Who knew?

Monday

• Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 54-55).
• Read Life in a Greek Temple by Jane Shuter.
• Read "The Parthenon" (page 14) and "Greek Columns" (page 16) from Modern Rhymes About Ancient Times: Ancient Greece by Susan Altman.
• Completed "Ancient Greece" history pocket ("The Parthenon Shape Book").

Tuesday

• Read The Gods and Goddesses of Olympus by Aliki.
• Read "Zeus" (page 38) from Modern Rhymes About Ancient Times: Ancient Greece by Susan Altman.
• Completed draw and color.

Tessa was captivated by the Greek myth of Persephone and chose to illustrate it for her draw and color. Persephone, the beloved daughter of the goddess Dimeter, was stolen by Hades, god of the Underworld, to be his queen.

Wednesday

• Read Wise Guy: The Life and Philosophy of Socrates by Mark David Usher.
• Read "The Philosopher Socrates" (page 12) from Modern Rhymes About Ancient Times: Ancient Greece by Susan Altman.

Thursday

• Read The Librarian Who Measured the Earth by Kathryn Lasky.

Friday

• Read What's Your Angle, Pythagoras? by Julie Ellis.

Other Resources of Interest

• "Ancient Greece: Ten Famous Greeks" (pages 8-9) from Look, Find & Learn: World History - Jerry Tiritilli
• 14 Greek Gods and Goddesses coloring sheets - Education.com (There are many other coloring sheets in various styles as well, but they aren't housed together. Run a search within worksheets for "Greek gods" and/or specific gods and mythical creatures by name.) 

Ancient History, Week 24

Ancient Greece - Daily Life

Tessa learned about daily life in ancient Greece, the origins of the Olympic Games and Greek theater.

Monday

• Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 52-53).
• Read "The Greek Alphabet" (page 6) from Modern Rhymes About Ancient Times: Ancient Greece by Susan Altman.
• Watched Ancient Civilizations for Children: Ancient Greece DVD by Schlessinger Media.

Tuesday

• Read The Greeks: Life in Ancient Greece by Michelle Levine.
• Read "The Agora" (page 26) and "Let's Eat!" (page 28) from Modern Rhymes About Ancient Times: Ancient Greece by Susan Altman.
• Completed "Ancient Greece" history pocket (Grecian puppets).

Wednesday

• Read Welcome to the Ancient Olympics by Jane Bingham.
• Read Sports Heroes of Ancient Greece by Paul Mason.
• Read "Olympic Games" (page 32) from Modern Rhymes About Ancient Times: Ancient Greece by Susan Altman.
• Listened to Magic Tree House #16: Hour of the Olympics audiobook by Mary Pope Osborne.

Reading the first two books together was overkill...way too much for a subject Tessa has minimal interest in. If I had it to do over, I would just read the first book. Also, Hour of the Olympics wasn't really about the Olympics...it touches on several different aspects of Greek life. It could be read/listened to any time.

Thursday

• Read Greek Theatre (pages 28-36) by Stewart Ross.
• Read "Aristophanes" (page 20) from Modern Rhymes About Ancient Times: Ancient Greece by Susan Altman.
• Completed "Ancient Greece" history pocket (theater masks).

Tessa thought these ancient Greek theater masks were a hoot. She was totally intrigue by the idea of comedy versus tragedy.

Friday

• Read King Midas: The Golden Touch by Demi.

* HO = History Odyssey

Ancient History, Week 23

Ancient Greece - Sparta & The Battle of Marathon

And, so begins our month-long study of Ancient Greece. History Odyssey schedules three weeks, but I am adding an extra week just to read Greek myths and other popular Greek literature. This week, we hit on Sparta, the Battle of Marathon and the history of the first marathon. Next week, we will study daily life. 

Monday

• Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 50-51).
• Completed HO map work for Lesson 20, Main Lesson.

Tuesday

• Read A True Book: Ancient Greece by Sandra Newman.
• Completed "Ancient Greece" history pocket (words to know).

Wednesday

• Read The First Marathon: The Legend of Pheidippides by Susan Reynolds.
• Read "The Battle of Marathon" (page 10) and "Childhood in Sparta" (page 30) from Modern Rhymes About Ancient Times: Ancient Greece by Susan Altman.

Thursday

• Read Pegasus by Marianna Mayer.

Friday

• Read Cupid and Psyche by M. Charlotte Craft.

* HO = History Odyssey

Ancient History, Week 22

The Persians

Just a quick dip of the toe into Persia this week. Then again, this was about all that I could churn up on the subject. Seems like there should be more, but I guess the great Persian empire didn't last all that long. No time at all really.

Wednesday

• Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 48-49).
• Completed HO map work for Lesson 19, Main Lesson.

Friday

• Read The Persian Cinderella by Shirley Climo.
• Read One Riddle, One Answer by Lauren Thompson.
• Read Ali and the Magic Stew by Shulamith Levey Oppenheim.

Other Books of Interest

• The Legend of the Persian Carpet - Tomie dePaola (Our library only has one copy and it was checked out, so we didn't get to read it. Bummer.)

* HO = History Odyssey

Ancient History, Week 21

The Babylonians (Again) & The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

I'm loving these short weeks in history. We really need the extra time in science right now.

Monday

• Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 46-47).
• Completed HO map work for Lesson 18, Main Lesson.

Tuesday

• Read "The Hanging Gardens of Babylon" and "The Splendors of Babylon" (pages 24-27) from Great Wonders of the World by Russell Ash.
• Completed draw and color.

Tessa's version of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Ishtar Gate.

* HO = History Odyssey

Ancient History, Week 20

The Phoenicians & The Assyrians

There weren't many additional resources for either the Phoenicians or the Assyrians, so we took the opportunity to play catch-up and combined the two since we're a couple of weeks behind schedule.

I don't know why it has taken me this many months to notice, but History Odyssey's dictionary words don't align particularly well with Usborne: Ancient World, our chosen spine. Tessa has been dutifully looking up and copying definitions, but the words are rarely ever used within the text we read. I haven't been all that thrilled with our children's dictionary either, so we are scrapping the dictionary words for the remainder of the year. This small tweak will streamline our schedule too. We will essentially be able to shave off a day of history each week!


Monday

• Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 40-41).
• Completed HO map work for Lesson 16, Main Lesson.

Wednesday

• Read "Dido and Aeneas" from Roman Myths and Legends by Andrew Masters.
• Completed "Make Purple Dye" and "Use Phoenician Dye to Make a Colored Pasta Necklace" from the SOTW activity guide.

The Phoenicians crushed murex shells to create the purple dye they were famous for. I boiled down a head of red cabbage to achieve a similar effect. Tessa dyed pasta and a pair of socks. We were surprised how pretty the shade of purple turned out. Tessa was enthralled with the entire process and wanted to create more colors of dye from other vegetables.

Tessa modeled a completed purple pasta necklace while stringing another.

Thursday

• Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 42-45).
• Completed HO map work for Lesson 17, Main Lesson.

Friday

• Read Gilgamesh the King by Ludmila Zeman.
• Read The Last Quest of Gilgamesh by Ludmila Zeman.
• Completed draw and color.

There is a third book (the second of the series) in The Gilgamesh Trilogy entitled The Revenge of Ishtar. Sadly, our library doesn't have it. I kind of wish I would have bought a copy to round out the story. Tessa enjoyed them more than I thought she would.

* HO = History Odyssey

Ancient History, Week 19

The Hebrews

Studying the ancient Hebrews turned out to be more of a study of popular stories from the Old Testament. Although I was hoping for Tessa to learn more about the daily life of the ancient Hebrews, we still enjoyed these adaptations. Tessa particularly liked the detailed pictures, as the artwork in the children's Bibles we read from tend to be a little cliché.


Monday

• Looked up and defined HO dictionary word for Lesson 15, Main Lesson Part 2.
• Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 38-39).
• Read The Coat of Many Colors by Jenny Koralek.
• Completed draw and color.
• Watched Joseph: King of Dreams DVD by Dreamworks from Netflix.

Tuesday

• Read The Moses Basket by Jenny Koralek.
• Read Moses: The Long Road to Freedom by Ann Keay Beneduce.
• Watched The Prince of Egypt DVD by Dreamworks from Netflix.

Wednesday

• Read David and Goliath by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers.
• Read David and Goliath by Jean Marzollo.
• Completed "A Sling and Some Stones" from Old Testament Days: An Activity Guide by Nancy I. Sanders.

Tessa and I crafted a David and Goliath-style slingshot from a piece of felt and a shoestring. Tessa used cotton balls as stones.

Tessa tested out her new slingshot. She quickly realized she would need a lot more practice to be as good as David.

Thursday

• Read Solomon and the Trees by Matt Biers-Ariel.
• Read One City, Two Brothers by Chris Smith.

Other Resources of Interest

• Exodus from Egypt - Mary Auld

* HO = History Odyssey

Ancient History, Week 18

The Canaanites & the Sea Peoples

It's a long week for science this week and next, so we quickly sneaked in a one-day study of the Canaanites and the Sea Peoples to keep us moving forward in history. It worked out well enough, as I couldn't find any age-appropriate resources for either group. We could have read a version of David and Goliath for the Sea Peoples (part of whom later became the Philistines) but that seems to fit more appropriately with our future study of the Hebrews. Oddly enough, there are numerous crafts listed for the Philistines, but we skipped them since none fit well with our readings.


Thursday

• Looked up and defined HO dictionary word for Lesson 15, Main Lesson Part 1.
• Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 36-37).
• Completed draw and color.

* HO = History Odyssey