Story of the World, Vol. 2, Chapter 24

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The Ottoman Empire or Chapter 24 hit home with me, as I grew up in Romania, and our medieval history was riddled with battles against the Turks. In fact, as late as 1878, Romania was fighting the Ottoman Empire or what had remained of it. It’s always interesting to read history from an English source, a source that would not be as biased as a Romanian historian, for instance.

Dancing bear crafts

Dancing bear crafts

My children did not appreciate the fact that Muslims took over Constantinople and called it Istanbul. My daughter, who loves art and would color anything, refused to color the page I had printed out from our history curriculum – a page depicting the fall of Constantinople. I then offered the portrait of Suleiman. She took one glance at him and said, “No, I don’t want to color him either.”  Continue reading »


Story of the World, Vol. 2, Chapter 10

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The Bottom of the World or Chapter 10 deals with the first people of Australia and New Zealand. The coincidences in our homeschool keep on coming. When we went to the Pigeon Forge Library last week for Meet Mr. Lincoln, my daughter picked up a packet containing a book about McGillyCuddy, a kangaroo stuffed animal with a joey in its pouch, and an activity page based on kangaroos. The next history lesson dealt with Australia and New Zealand. Hmmm…

Mock moths (peanuts) and popcorn, held together by honey

Mock moths (peanuts) and popcorn, held together by honey

The children thought the coloring page looked strange – it is a Maori with all his war or decorative paint. The map was fun. We sang the continent song and I reminded them Australia is also a continent, not just a country.  Continue reading »


Story of the World, Vol. 2, Chapter 4

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Chapter 4 dealt with the Byzantine Empire, Justinian, Theodora, and St. Nicholas. It was a long chapter: four different stories. Lots of coloring, cutting and pasting fun with paper dolls and pictures of Empress Theodora, Hagia Sophia, and Theodora’s crown happened today.

The kids were ready to color though. It’s like we can go a few days without history and then they miss it and are so ready for it. I was a bit nervous about the story of St. Nicholas, a.k.a. St. Nick and then the connection with Santa Claus. But it was done well in the book and I had nothing to worry about.

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Story of the World, Vol. 1, Chapter 33

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Chapter 33 deals with Confucius, tangrams and tea. We drank tea. Not green tea, because we stay away from caffeine, nor mint tea, as suggested in the activity book, because we did not have any on hand. I started a tea pot and placed three Bigelow Orange and Spice tea bags (affiliate link) in our respective tea cups.

Tea Cups

Our tea bags steeping in the cups

They remembered how we used to drink tea with cake or cookies or scones in the winter and at our recent afternoon tea at Buckhorn Inn, so they decided they wanted some pumpkin pie with their tea. (We made pumpkin pie yesterday so they knew we had some in the fridge.) It was a lot of fun and we talked about how tea originated in China, but it is now the national drink in the United Kingdom, India and many other countries.  Continue reading »


Story of the World, Vol. 1, Chapter 29

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Rome’s War with Carthage introduced the children to Hannibal and his elephants. Also, to drinking poison as a form of suicide. I briefly told them that suicide is the ultimate form of self-destruction and it hurts God very much, not to mention the family you leave behind. I said they should never, ever take life for granted because it is a gift from God. We moved on.

Elephant Ear Donuts

Hanibal’s elephant ears were delicious

They liked the maze with Hannibal crossing the Alps and the elephant story. So we made donuts shaped as big elephant ears. Continue reading »


Story of the World, Vol. 1, Chapter 28

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The Roman Empire was fascinating for the children. I liked it, too, as I have always liked any stories about ancient Rome. Can we all agree that the Roman soldiers should be worthy of our admiration? They and their bracelets and their bracelet inscription, SPQR, which stands for Senatus Populus que Romanus, which translates to “The Senate and the Roman People.”

Roman soldier cuff bracelet

The famous Roman soldier cuff bracelet

The crafts (aqueducts, sand dough, Roman road model) were a 10 on a scale from 1 to 10, where 10 is the most difficult level. I decided to stay clear of glue and sand and little pebbles in a shoe box lid. We made the cuff bracelets from the next chapter instead. We cut up a cereal box, measured it around the kids’ wrists, stapled them, and then covered them in aluminium foil.

Craft bracelet

I stapled the cardboard bracelets first.

I did not show them the gladiator coloring page. Too raw for my taste, I suppose. It’s enough for them to hear that some gladiators preferred to commit suicide than to kill others for sport.


Story of the World, Vol. 1, Chapter 27

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The Rise of Rome, or Chapter 27, finally brought us to my favorite ancient kingdom. I have always loved Rome, its culture, language, art, and influence on the modern world.

Homemade fasces

Fasces

I brought them into the school room with the words, “Let’s do history! We finally get to learn about the babies on the cover of this book!”

My kids are interested in babies right now. They want stories of their baby years and they zoom in on anything about babies. So I took advantage and used it as an entering wedge into our history lesson today.  Continue reading »


Story of the World, Vol. 1, Chapter 26

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Chapter 26 finally introduced us to the ancient civilizations of the Americas. I showed them on a world map how we moved from the Fertile Crescent and the Mediterranean Sea across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. My daughter misunderstood. She thought we were done with Ancient History and we were going to now study more recent events. She was excited!

First off, I had no idea she had any feelings or opinions about what kind of historical period we were learning. I love these moments in our homeschool when I discover how my children feel about what we do.

Rabbit Shoots the Moon comic strip

Rabbit Shoots the Moon comic strip

I don’t necessarily change our routine or curriculum based on their likes or dislikes, but it’s good to keep my ear to the ground and be in touch with their true selves, their inner lives.

The Americas Coloring Page

Coloring page by my son

That is a major reason to homeschool. So many parents who send their children to school have no idea who their children really are, by virtue of the schedule which keeps them apart for most of the day.

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Story of the World, Vol. 1, Chapter 24

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We spread the study of The Wars of the Greeks or Chapter 24 over two weeks. It just happened that way. I read this chapter to them but we did not do the map work right away. We were reading recommended books from previous chapters at the time. I like reading the lesson and the extra books in an offset fashion. It keeps reminding us of previous chapters, where we came from. We also got busy with other projects and a week went by.

Soap Bar Sculpture Supplies

Soap Bar Sculpture Supplies

When we got back to it, it was all about the craft project: carving our first Greek “stone” sculpture… out of a soap bar.  Continue reading »


Story of the World, Vol. 1, Chapter 23

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The Greek Gods or Chapter 23 allowed me to introduce the kids to the neurotic gods who make up much of Antiquity’s myths and legends. I choose the word “introduce” for a reason. We are not going in depth. Maybe next time around. That is why we are not building a family tree for the Greek gods (Olympus Family Tree) or drawing a home for the gods. I am also staying away from most of the titles suggested.

To the Most Beautiful, the golden apple that started the Trojan War.

“To the Most Beautiful,” the words on the golden apple which started the Trojan War.

I really enjoyed those stories as a child, but I am pretty sure I was at least in fourth grade by the time I read about the gods and goddesses of Ancient Greece. Most of their stories contain adult themes and, besides, I don’t want to confuse my kids with all sorts of gods right now. We are still coming out of the concrete stage of thinking. When the lines between reality and fiction get blurry, it’s best to stay away from certain stories.

We chose the golden apple craft project to illustrate the reason why the Trojan war got started. The kids enjoyed the story. I read it to them twice, a few days apart, and they still did not get all the plot. A bit too many layers, I suppose. I don’t mind stretching their minds and challenging them.

It was only after we made the golden apple and I wrote “To the Most Beautiful” on it that it finally sank in with them why the gods were upset with each other. We had conversations about this for several days. I usually keep their crafts where we can see them, on the kitchen isle, so we can admire them for a few days before we go on to the next craft. They serve as conversation pieces and as an excuse to rehearse facts and new terminology