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


Story of the World, Vol. 1, Chapter 21

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The Medes and the Persians brought a sigh of relief over all of us. With Cyrus, we finally could say, “Here is a great king, who loved and respected his people!” We talked about how the Bible mentions Cyrus as the Anointed of the Lord. My son exclaimed how nice a king Cyrus was.

Six brown paper bags

Six bags for six puppets

The first story, of course, was a bit tricky. A grandfather who plans to kill his grandchild? Rather cruel and unusual. But we soldiered through. I noticed that if I don’t make a big deal out of it, they just move on.

Girl with paper bag puppet

Showing off Cyrus, the paper bag puppet version

I prepared six brown bags for puppets to act out the story. They decorated one and decided they would decorate five more for the next five days. Well, I don’t like projects that stretch for days. Besides, I cannot imagine myself directing a puppet show with lines like, “Take my grandson and kill him!” or “Shepherd, the king sent me to kill this baby out here, but I will not. I will let you do it. And if you don’t, you will be punished…” Last but not least, I asked myself at what point a craft project becomes busy work. One brown paper bag puppet is a great craft. Two may be stretching it. But six? Even if each child made three each, it would be busy work in my book.

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Story of the World, Vol. 1, Chapter 15

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The Ancient Phoenicians, chapter 15, has been a convoluted chapter for us. First off, I remembered Carthage from when I studied Ancient History in the fifth grade and I looked forward to it. But we went skiing instead, as a family, the day we were supposed to cover this chapter.We called it a P.E. day.

Secondly, every time I tried to play the chapter in the car, to make up for lost time, the kids did not show an interest. I did not have the energy to enforce learning time (car schooling). It does take energy, at least for me, and some days I have it in limited supplies.

Thirdly, the weather has made the roads so bad, the library has had irregular hours and they have not been able to procure my ILL titles to read about this chapter this week.

Stack of history books

Our stack of 12 books from the library, to catch up on our history reading

But we persevered, despite more seeming setbacks.

The other day I got a screw in one of my car tires, and spent two hours in a mechanic’s waiting room. They were super busy because, as fate would have it, two of their guys quit that day. They did not charge me anything for patching the tire, because of my wait. I insisted I wanted to at least pay for their expenses. I told the shop owner I understand “overhead” and that I feel bad for not paying for something. He said he felt bad I had to wait for two hours.

Well, I had brought my knitting with me and it was not a total loss of my time. Of course, I was there with the kids. My son had brought a LEGO magazine to read and my daughter had her Hello Kitty coloring book and crayons.

Something happened inside of me while waiting there. On the way home, despite their protests, I told them gently that we would listen to Chapter 15 after all; that it was a short chapter and, afterwards, we would listen to Wizzy Gizmo, which was their initial request. They love Wizzy Gizmo… but we need to do our history lessons as well. And we did. I have said it before, these CDs are worth it.

When the library finally called me that they had my ILL titles, I drove over there and brought home 12 titles from our previous lessons. We are catching up with reading from previous chapters.

One project I want to do for the Phoenician chapter is the bread recipe, but there is no way I can do it this week. I have to prepare my daughter’s birthday party on Sunday.


Story of the World, Vol. 1, Chapter 14

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Chapter 14 deals with the life of Moses and the Exodus from Egypt. The kids knew the story from their Bible lessons. This was very good reinforcement though.

I read while they colored. We made a Moses basket. Well, I made it. They painted it. Team effort, right?

It was not exactly easy, but I persevered. I know what you are thinking, that I have too much time on my hands. The thing is, I take time for things that matter. And the story of Moses is very dear to my heart – God used this story to speak to me about homeschooling a few years ago.

For some reason, gold paint really appeals to my children. Continue reading »


Chinese New Year Books

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In the past, the kids and I have marked the Chinese New Year with a paper craft. This year, I came across a series of books about Chinese history and thought we might just change the pace a bit. One in particular interested me because it talked about how the Great Wall of China came to be. “The Emperor Who Built The Great Wall” tells the story of the first emperor of China, who not only built the Great Wall, but is also famous for the terracotta warriors in his tomb, and for unifying China when it previously consisted of seven states.

To celebrate Chinese New Year, the author, Jillian Lin, has made this book available for free on Amazon, on February 19-20, 2015. Here’s the link. I hope you use it and download it, especially if you are studying ancient history this year. We found the book informative and easy to read and understand. The illustrations are Chinese-style, so it will be a total immersion in all things China.

The Emperor Who Built The Great Wall

For Chinese New Year, we read some books on ancient Chinese history

The kids actually asked me to read it again. At the end of the story, there is a very informative section called “Did You Know?” which contains even more historical facts presented in a short and sweet way. Then, you get to test their knowledge with a series of multiple-choice questions based on the book. You only have three choices: a, b, and c, which I think is better for younger children.  Continue reading »


Story of the World, Vol. 1, Chapter 13

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Chapter 13 deals with The New Kingdom of Egypt. The kids colored the map and the mask of Tut while I read the first two stories. I asked if they could handle two more stories and they said yes. So I finished the chapter in that one sitting. The following day, my son brought his coloring pages to Daddy and told him about the Valley of the Kings and how it is full of tombs etc. I praised him for his narration, which I had not even requested.

That’s one thing I learned: when the chapter is long and we do it in one sitting, they do not want to answer review questions or to do a narration. They are ready to get away from the table and play! So I will have to work on reviewing this lesson later this week.

I asked if they wanted to make a monument and read the paragraph which explains it could be about somebody who died, a toy, an activity they enjoy or whatever. My son said he wanted to make a monument to Papaw – my husband’s father, who passed away one year ago. My children both were affected greatly by his passing and the concept of death became real to them then.

Bread and Glue

Bread and Glue

So we took bread and glue and proceeded to mix them together as indicated. It required white bread, which we never buy – we like whole wheat bread. My daughter, who is almost five, saw how messy and sticky this exercise was, and told me she did not want to build a monument.

Ball of glue and white bread

Ball of glue and white bread

Instead, she wanted to try the white bread. She ate a slice and loved it so much, she grabbed a second slice. Then, she asked for a third and a fourth, in a PBJ. I am always happy to see her eat, so I obliged, after we finished our monument and we washed our hands very well.  Continue reading »


Story of the World, Vol. 1, Chapter 12

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Chapter 12 deals with the Middle Kingdom of Egypt. I read to them while they colored the brooch pictures. To my surprise, it really worked. I thought maybe it was just a fluke last time. But it really works. Coloring keeps them focused and they listen while I read.

We worked through the review questions and tried our best to narrate. Let’s just say, it’s a work in progress. But we shall not give up…

For our craft, we made gold color bracelets. Big mess, but worth it. My son enjoyed it so much, he decided to paint his hand and do a hand print in gold paint.

Painting a gold bracelet

Painting a gold bracelet

 

Gold Hand Print

Gold Hand Print

I discovered that the tube of tissue paper is impossible to cut the way they recommended in the book (first in half, then lengthwise). At least, for me, it was impossible. I found it easier to cut it first lengthwise and then in half.  Continue reading »


Story of the World, Vol. 1, Chapter 11

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Eureka! I found a way to get my kids to do their mapwork AND their coloring sheet (especially my son). Have both worksheets ready on the desk, with markers and crayons nearby. While I read the lesson and the stories, they color. That’s it. They need something to do and look at to get a visual about what they hear, so the worksheets serve a brilliant purpose.

Chapter 11, dealing with Ancient Africa, seemed very interesting to my children, possibly because of the Anansi stories. Two stories were included in the chapter and I read them while the kids were coloring their Anansi and Turtle picture.

As I read the introduction, we looked at the map in the book and the one in their workbook. We chose to make Anansi the Spider out of styrofoam balls.

Anansi the Spider Craft

We each built an Anansi. My daughter wanted hers pink and blue.

The other stories recommended will have to come from the library. As I put in my requests through the library’s website, I even found a video book: Anansi and the Magic Stick, by Eric Kimmel. I looked it up on youtube and it’s there, but different. It is read by other people and, in my opinion, not as well done as this one. Since my library’s website is a membership site, I can’t share a link with you.  Continue reading »


Story of the World, Vol. 1, Chapter 10

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We studied Ancient China, chapter 10 of The Story of the World Volume 1 mostly in the car. I knew the Story of the World CDs would come in handy. The kids enjoyed the story of the silk worms. They had no idea about how silk is made. I feel so privileged – all over again – to be the one introducing them to such facts about the world.

They did their mapwork. My daughter colored the page with Chin and his dad, but my son put it off. Again, I do not insist on coloring if he does not want to.

We read some of the books recommended. My local library did not carry these particular titles, but they got them for us in about a week through the inter-library loan program. Meanwhile, the children’s librarian brought us similar books which they did have. One of them actually had the same title as the one recommended by Susan Wise Bauer, i.e. “Ancient China,” and it made it confusing later on as I was returning both titles.  Continue reading »


Story of the World, Vol. 1, Chapter 7

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Chapter 7 deals with “Hammurabi and the Babylonians,” with a section about Hammurabi’s code. We built a ziggurat by following the instructions in Ancient Egyptians and Their Neighbors. This book is recommended in several SOTW chapters and contains simple projects for kids to do. I am not sure that a first grader could do any of these projects without adult help, but that’s what teaching is all about, right? Leading and guiding a student through his work and hoping that some things will stick.

The book mentioned using corn meal to achieve the texture of a ziggurat and Tempera paint. I gathered all my materials, including the recommended measuring spoon and cup. They said to draw stairs with a black marker. This seemed easier than the ziggurat project in the SOTW Activity Book, which involved cutting stairs out of a cereal box and gluing them.

Cereal boxes, paint, glue, corn meal to make a ziggurat

Materials to make a ziggurat

As my husband walked by, you know, the principal of our school, he saw the gear and asked, “What you’re making, honey?” When I explained, he said, “Oh, I can spray paint your ziggurat and throw some sand on it. Just glue it for me first. Wouldn’t that be easier?”  Continue reading »