But once "school lets out", we are off and running, hither and yon, to the point that my boys seem to think we must be doing something special each and every day. And they're not far from correct.
We don't take off for the summer months, like most people. We are year-round educators. Our approach to lessons during the summer months, however, is radically different from the rest of the year. It's beautiful outside, and we don't like to be cooped up. So, we take a lot of field trips, and do a lot of family activities together. We also delve far more deeply into just a couple of favorite subjects, and allow ourselves time to really enjoy learning everything about them.
The particular favorite this year is Ancient Greek History. We began studying the Ancient Aegeans. I suppose we should have started with Egypt... but the boys wanted to learn about the Greeks and Romans. I will have to make time later to back up to the Egyptians. They are, indeed, interesting; they just didn't "fit us" right now.
We are primarily using stories. Since no study of ancient Greece could possibly be complete without learning about their myths, gods, and goddesses, they are included. The most interesting thing that I have learned so far was that, apparently, the Greeks were a primitive people, dwelling in caves, before the Egyptians came along and taught them how to build and farm. The Greeks, being highly intelligent, caught on easily, and improved greatly on what they had learned. A series of catastrophic events killed off so many of the Greeks that they no longer had the knowledge they had possessed previously, and so they forgot who had built the impressive walls and such, or how farming began. This, put together with their Egyptian-born tendency to worship a number of gods, led them to make up a large number of myths attributing their own ancestors' accomplishments to the creatures, gods, or goddesses of choice. (It appears that answering a question with "I don't know" was not an option for them.) Many of the Greek myths had at least a grain of truth to them. It is fascinating to explore the stories and try to figure out which parts were probably true.
We use one actual book: Famous Men of Greece by John H. Haaren and A. B. Poland, but you don't even need to buy it. Being a very old book (which, when it comes to teaching ancient history, is a very good thing) you can find it, complete, online - FREE!
So far, this is my favorite home-school resource: Heritage History - Putting the Story back into History. You probably won't find a better source for free history lessons. This is far better than any dry, "old", text-book history. It is a site devoted to making history interesting for children, by taking a story-based approach, which technically pre-dates the "textbook" approach. My favorite part of the site is the books, themselves. I knew about this site from having researched the history of Britain. Did you know that the history of Britain is "thrilling"?
My boys studied British history through this site alone. Imagine your children being so excited about studying history that they beg you to read a 3rd story after you just told them to go play. Imagine them abandoning video games in favor of acting out the history stories in the back yard after school. Imagine them telling all of their friends and relatives, and even a few strangers all about the thrilling things they learned in history this week. Imagine them learning truths such as "he, who does not learn from history, is doomed to repeat it", naturally, from observing history, as opposed to having to be "taught" it by rote. Imagine your children enjoying history so much that they remember everything you taught them. I say these things from experience.
So, when it came time to study Ancient Greece, I knew right where to look. We are currently reading Famous Men of Greece (mentioned above), along with "The Story of the Greeks" by Helene A. Guerber, and "The Story of Greece" by Mary Macgregor. We use all three because they are each written differently, each having its own strengths and weaknesses. If there are story overlaps, before each lesson I look over the three books and choose which one (or more) I will read from for that particular story.
In addition to these online books, we also borrow prodigiously from the library. I can't possibly list all that we've borrowed. But a few that really stood out were the "Primary Sources of Ancient Civilizations: Greece" series by Melanie Ann Apel. They cover Art and Religion, Economy and Industry, Home Life, Land and Resources, Politics and Government, and Technology in ancient Greece, all in an easy-to-read format (I'm guessing 3rd grade?) with bright photographs of artifacts. There is also "Kids in Ancient Greece" by Lisa Wroble. Its format is slightly easier, perhaps a 2nd grade level, and contains photos and lovely drawings. We also used a few books like the "Eyewitness" series, which contain a myriad of pictures and facts. Eight-year-old NJ is currently reading "Theras and His Town" by Caroline Dale Snedeker. I have been told it is a 5th grade + reading level, but NJ reads it rather easily, so perhaps other young ones could manage it too.
To round out our study of ancient Greece, we borrowed books on "The Buildings of Ancient Greece", including one with that very title, by Helen and Richard Leacroft. I particularly enjoyed the fact that it contained cut-aways and highly detailed drawings of how the buildings were constructed, rather than just an overview of the finished product. We also studied their art (couldn't leave that out, now could we?) by online studies, and a couple of delightful craft books. The website we used (aside from Google Images) is called Art History Resources on the Web, and it can be used just about any art history study. There is no "lesson plan" there, just a well-laid-out site filled with information and photos of art of all kinds, arranged according to time period and society. It is connected to "Wikimedia Commons" (off to the right side, once you choose a period or society to study) which contains a wide array of art, organized into easily navigable groups. Lovely things!
The craft books were a big hit with my sons. We have two, both borrowed, but I enjoyed one so much that I have purchase it from Amazon.com. The first book is called, "The Crafts and Culture of the Ancient Greeks", by Joann Jovinelly and Jason Netelkos. I haven't bought that one - yet. We are only using 3 of the 8 projects in the book... but it will still be worth the $5 or so it will cost to get it "used". The projects include a Trojan Horse, Tragedy/Comedy Masks, an Abacus, Jewelry, Black and Red Pottery and a box modeled after the Parthenon. It is arranged chronologically, which makes it handy for the study of Greek art history.
The second book is less sophisticated than the first, but it has so much that little children can do that it has become a favorite book in our house (at least while we study Greece). It is called"Crafts From the Past - The Greeks" by Gillian Chapman. (I wouldn't get the "Chik-fil-a" version... it was just the only one that had a picture.) Unfortunately it is not arranged chronologically, but that is the book's only shortcoming. Of the 14 projects featured, we are only doing 8... but they are really nice. The crafts are representative of not just the Greeks themselves, but also the Aegean peoples from whom they descended. There are Cycladic sculptures (oddly, the last project in the book, instead of the first), and Minoan bulls (oh, so adorable!). There is a "fresco" (ok, so you have to wait until it's dry to paint it, but it's close enough) modeled, quite nicely, after the real thing in the palace of Knossos. It has labyrinths and terra-cotta toys, masks, helmets, and "pottery", and so on. All will fit perfectly into our art history studies. All we need now is a Hellenistic sculpture a little kid can do, and we are set for the summer! Okay, yeah, that last one is a stretch... that's probably why it was not included in the books. I think I'll have them try their hands at soap sculpting. It's as close as we will be getting at this age.
As if all that wasn't enough... we do go on! We are also reading a book about modern Greece, just to get some perspective. It's called, "Welcome to Greece" by Meredith Costain and Paul Collins, And, we're trying some Greek food. No, it's probably not ancient Greek food... but much of that has gone bad or been eaten by now. :Snicker: So, we'll make do with Souvlakia (lamb kebob sandwiches on pita) and Spanakopita (spinach pie), and of course, Baklava. (Yum!) We tried greek yogurt this morning. I am in love! The boys... not so much. I will be eating a lot of that in the future. They will be making faces at me while I do.
Aaaaaand... we are also watching DVDs about Greek history. Schlessinger Media has a whole heap of completely awesome DVDs; we can't get enough. They are wholly out of our price range, but the library has plenty. The history ones are "Ancient Civilizations for Children". There is one on the Aegeans and one on the Greeks. There is also a set of physical science ones that we love... but that's for another post.
To top it all off... is a part my boys don't yet know about. I prefer that the things my children study mean something to them; that they have a connection to them in some way. In our study of Britain, we were studying our ancestors (Henry IV was a grandfather), and so the connection was automatic. With Greece, it's not so easy. So, I went onto eBay, and found some ancient greek coins, from 500-400 BC, to give them as gifts, or prizes, if you will. They weren't all that expensive, in the scheme of things; $20-30. If I had a classroom of 30 kids, there is no chance of doing this. But with only 2 children to buy for, it was a little thing that will mean a great deal to them. True, I'll have to oversee them to keep the 2500 year old coins from being lost or laundered, but I already have to do that with their shell and rock collections.
In total, our entire "history course" and "art history course" cost about $70, including the coins and art supplies... not bad for an entire year for 2 children.
I'd love to hear what you are doing to make your lessons exciting. Please comment. I'm always open to new ideas.
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