Tag Archives: story sunday

Oct 12 2014

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 »

Sep 28 2014

Story of the World, Vol. 1, Chapter 6

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Chapter six deals with the Jewish People. It fits nicely with our devotional (Through the Bible with Felts – Betty Lukens), as we are still in the Old Testament, right around the time of Exodus and the story of Joseph. Another coincidence: we have started listening to the MP3 Bible in the car. As I type this post, we are in Genesis Chapter 28. So the SOTW chapter was a nice recap of the story of Terah, Abraham, Moses and Joseph for us.

I chose Alexander Scourby’s reading of the King James Version. A bit boring for the kids, but we are slowly making progress. I tell them, “One chapter only,” so they don’t have room to protest. But we go somewhere by car several times a week, so we have the potential of listening to at least six chapters in three trips, for instance (one chapter each way per trip).

From Dance, Sing, Remember, one of the recommended readings, we made Harvest Muffins. We loved these.

Harvest muffins with a glass of rice milk

Harvest muffins with a glass of rice milk

I scanned the recipe and printed it out for future reference. And by “future” I mean “next week.” They were that good.

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Sep 7 2014

Story of the World, Vol. 1, Chapter 5

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The First Sumerian Dictator, Chapter 5, – we listened to it in the car. It was a rather uneventful chapter.

Besides, we were still busy finishing up some of our Egyptian inter-library loan books which came a bit late. BTW, I have added the new activities to the post about Chapter 4.

We read the recommended stories from The Read-Aloud Classics to expose the kids to some vocabulary typical of the Arab world. The story of the merchant who hides 1,000 coins in a pot was very interesting. So was Aladdin, naturally.

The Three Princes Cover

The Three Princes was a really enjoyable story, with a great moral – sacrificial love. I made the parallel to God’s sacrificial love for us, in giving His Son to die for our sins.

It was neat to see my four-year-old search for words on the worksheet. She knows the letters and can read short words. I don’t expect her to read before she is ready. So the approach I took was quite relaxed.  Continue reading »

Jul 6 2014

Story of the World, Volume 1, Chapter 1

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Last week we started Chapter 1 in our history curriculum, Story of the World. I read to the kids the first section about the first nomads. Then, we read “It’s Disgusting and We Ate It” – one of the recommended books. The kids (and I) can only take so many pages of that book. They groan and moan at almost every sentence. It truly is disgusting. 🙂

“Ancient Agriculture” is rather dry for a living book. It feels like a textbook. I tried reading it to the kids and they interrupted me, asking for another book. I must say, this is where I don’t follow SOTW to the letter. I know Susan Wise Bauer, the author, recommends doing different activities if they work for our families. This is where I have to learn to watch for their reaction and not feel bad if we cannot complete a certain reading assignment.  Continue reading »