Science should be engaging and exciting. Here are my ten favorite ways of teaching ecosystems with this ecosystems project.
The best educational board games of 2024. These learning board games focus on math, reading, STEAM, life skills, and more. Learn something new with your kids today.
Kids can learn about the ancient Phoenicians and the alphabet that they developed as well as creating their own clay tablet with Phoenician writing.
The easiest way to follow your favorite blogs
Students color, cut, and paste paper blocks to build their own ziggurats. Then, they draw desert scenes around their completed models. Afterward, they may write about ziggurats on themed writing paper. Includes: Build a ziggurat model pieces and assembly mat Completed ziggurat model sample Two Ziggurat of Ur photo reference cards "Write About Ziggurats" prompt Ziggurat writing paper in two line styles Features: Print & go Simple directions Black & white + color Please note: Although this easy cut-and-paste model comes with simple directions, students should not be expected to complete it without guidance. They will need help reading through the activity and following the directions. ⬆ Click the preview for a closer look. --------------------------------------------------------- Required Supplies: Pencils Crayons Colored pencils Scissors Glue sticks Color printer or electronic viewing device (for photo reference cards only) Related Resources: Ancient Mesopotamia 4-in-1 Bundle - Diagram, Word Searches & Writing Paper! --------------------------------------------------------- Did you know that by providing feedback for this product you will earn credits good toward a discount on future Curriculum Hound and other TPT product purchases? Simply scroll to the bottom of any purchased product page to leave positive feedback. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this product or another, please e-mail me at [email protected]. Happy teaching! Curriculum Hound
Learning about Norway for kids with these free printable Norway Mini Books to read, color, and learn for kids of all ages.
It's not hard to make history come alive by adding in activities, crafts, projects, and of course, history games! History is much better when it feels like play and not work. So I had to make a version of the Mesopotamian game that we call The Royal Game of Ur. What better way to connect
Week 3: We made Masks of Agamemnon. The Mycenaeans were the head of the Greek Empire after the Minoans. From 1900 bc to 1100 bc, this is the time period of the Odysseus and the Trojan War. The dead were buried in mounds with necessary items for the afterlife similarly to the Ancient Egyptians, Chinese and other ancient people. When this golden mask for a dead king was found, it was originally believed to have belonged to King Agamemnon. It was later proved to have come from a time period even before, but is still referred to as the Mask of Agamemnon. Mycenaeans: The Civilization of Heros - This 24 minute video explains the history, important cities and artifacts of the Mycenaeans. First the kids pressed a sheet of aluminum foil around their faces. Next a large clump of dough was placed on top of a bowl. The foil was put on top of the dough and bow. Then the kids used their fingers and smooth objects such as the rounded back end of a pen to further form the facial features into the foil. They further enhanced their masks with permanent marker.
Learning about Ancient Mesopotamia? Check out these fun activities to do- cuneiform writing, pottery making, mud houses and LEGO Chariots!
Welcome to my Blog! Especially Pinterest Users! Check out the labels on the right to find other great food and teaching ideas. Please leave a comment at the bottom of this post and let me know how you plan to use this idea to teach about God's wonderful creation! Every year after I teach the students about the days of creation, we eat a creation snack to review what God made on each day. For Day 1, we eat chocolate and vanilla pudding for light/dark and day/night. For Day 2, we eat blue jello and whipped cream for water and clouds. For Day 3, we eat oreos for the dirt/ dry land. For Day 4, we usually eat star sprinkles, but I couldn't find any, so we had yellow sprinkles for star dust. For Day 5, we eat goldfish crackers. And, for Day 6, we eat animal crackers. The kids always enjoy this snack and it is an excellent way to review. Check out my Days of Creation Book Idea HERE JOIN MY BLOG to see other great ideas.
10 Ancient History Card Games for Kids Who Love Hands-on Learning. If your child thrives on hands-on learning here are some ancient history card games that they will love. Also, look at my page Kids History Games for more fun history game ideas.
To review the various biomes on earth, I made biomes game cards for us to play with and to spark discussion.
Tutorial for creating an accordion timeline that folds flat. Video and written instructions.
Introducing Bach to the youngest crowd can be fun! With Halloween in mind, I couldn't help but pick Bach as our new composer to explore. I always thought Toccata & Fugue was the perfect background music to a slightly spooky Halloween event and now that we have kids in the house, a spooky Halloween party is out of the question but hearing a classical piece without the decor is fine. Here's how we explored Bach during Halloween week. ENGAGE Surprising a child with a moment of slight confusion is always a good way to capture their attention upon beginning a class. Be it an awkward story or a strange picture that doesn't belong or even a funny teacher wearing a shirt wrong, if it's done on purpose, it can get major attention. To begin this music class, I brought in a book showing a big picture of spacecraft Voyager 1 and played in the background Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 First Movement. Somehow, Adrian was puzzled. Was this the right class? Why an astronomy picture instead of a composer? Turns out as I explained to them, the piece they were hearing was traveling in space as we speak aboard Voyager 1. The composer who wrote the piece, Bach, is so well known throughout Planet Earth that his music was chosen to represent all of us who live on the Blue Planet. Music Instruments Nomenclature EXPLORE Bach of course wrote more than concertos and wrote more music that also appears on the Voyager Golden Records flying through the Kuiper Belt right now. We watched a beautiful Cello Suite no.1 played by Misha Maisky and I asked the kids whether they knew the instrument of not. To help with the identification of the instrument, I placed down on the floor several instrument nomenclature cards featuring instruments we own and/or have seen before (nomenclature cards found on Counting Coconuts). Adrian eventually picked the cello card off the floor telling me it was the one playing and we learned it was called a "cello" (he initially went for "big violin"). We then watched/listened to Brandenburg Concerto No.3 and I invited the children to pick the cards of the instruments they were seeing in the video (piano, violin, cello, double bass). They loved finding the music instrument cards for each piece we listened to. We tried the same activity with Air on the G String and added the archlute and organ to our vocabulary (I skipped viola and violone but it was interesting to see "old" instruments from Bach's era) and closed the exploration time with Toccata & Fugue in D so the kids could hear and see a pipe organ and match it with its card. We also discussed the tempo of the piece as it's something we learned about earlier and tried to imagine the piece played with other instruments. Would it sound as "spooky" played with a flute? What if we added instruments like big drums? Would it be even "spookier"? How about the environment? Spooky with lights on or off? Water Goblets can Make be Used to Play Toccata and Fugue! CREATE Everyone is an artist and everyone loves to play music so I always let the children pick a music instrument from our bin and we then try to re-create the main piece of the day. In this case, it was Toccata & Fugue. To really reproduce the composition, the children quickly realized they needed more than just an instrument from our bin as the bin contained no piano, keyboard or anything else that would keep the melody. As such I showed them what someone did to keep that tune without any instruments...He used glasses filled to different levels (Glass Harp). We watched the entire video and the kids were amazed that the song could be made with just fingers, glasses and water. Of course, we don't own this many water goblets so we couldn't try the entire composition but the children loved sliding their finger on top of a water goblets to make them "sing". It was true magic to their ears. * * * Your comments make my day ! (...but won't be visible until after approval due to increased spam...) * * * This week, I'm happily linking up to Montessori Monday, The Kids Co-Op, Show-and-Share Saturday, Link & Learn, TGIF, Share it Saturday, Mom's Library, The Sunday Showcase, Tuesday Tots, Preschool Corner &5K, We Made That.
Try green stamping! It's fun for children and yourself. Make your own stamps from vegetables and make some fun veggie cards.
Learn about the most advanced ancient civilization in this fun, hands on Ancient Mesopotamia History Unit. This is fun for kids of all ages.
We are definitely a My Father's World Family, but that doesn't mean we don't tweak the curriculum every year to fit our family. Everyone has their own pros and cons, so my pros may be your cons. Please comment below how you tweaked CttG to work for your family! Bible/History Bible and History are VERY linked this year. You will have a thorough look into the Old Testament, and what was happening in the Ancient World during our most well known Bible Stories. This was extremely helpful, even to me as an adult. If you have done MFW 1st grade, there will feel like a lot of repeats, but it is more in depth, with world history added. PROS Journey through the Bible adds ESSENTIAL historical context to all the Bible Stories you read this. As you read about their every day lives, it makes the people in the stores real people, instead of a character in a book. This is a book that I honestly feel like all Christian families should have. My kids still remember SO much from this book. Ancient World was very kid friendly, with easy to read info and colorful illustrations. No matter the age, it works great. Usborne never disappoints. The Jewish feasts added a depth to the OT study, using the book Celebrating Biblical Feasts. We did end up staggering these throughout the year. Many of the feasts are right the beginning of the year, and felt overwhelming. My suggestion is 1.) look ahead and be OK with spreading out your feasts; you can do the Sabbath feast anytime throughout your year (not just the week it is scheduled) 2.)Read through the whole feast before buying supplies. We did only some parts of each feast, like challah bread and ceremony during Sabbath, but not traditional Sabbath meal. TEACHER'S MANUAL- Egyptian and Greek Studies were really fun, and added historical context again to the Bible Stories we all know. The activities were usually low key, without tons of extra items to be bought, but memorable enough to help the children really experience the concept. For example, we played the Egyptian game of Senet, and it was included in the student sheets. I will mention that Egypt felt like it lasted a very long time (almost the entire first half of the school year), and like the Jews wondering int he Wilderness, I was ready to leave Egypt when it as time. That said, my kids never got sick of Egypt. And since Egypt was so deeply influential to the Ancient World, I am thankful we have a solid foundation of their place in history. Student Sheets-Complete a timeline and create a history notebook, which includes a page for each major event or person, map work, and illustrations to color. The maps alone make understanding the ancient world so much easier. The timeline is also extremely similar to if you did MFW 1st grade, but with added historical events that were happening in the Ancient World. I highly recommend doing the timeline, so you can see when historical events happen in the biblical timeline. MIXED FEELINGS Streams of Civilization, while a very interesting read for me as an adult, sometimes went over the kids' head. It would be great if you have a history fanatic, or older elementary/middle schooler. Take the advice in the manual, and read before hand so that you may summarize if you have anyone in 3rd grade or younger tagging along. Also it is very important to be OK with not much retention of details in SoC. If my kids could recall what happened in Ancient World, then I felt that was appropriate for their age level (they are in 4th grade). SoC add great details and context, but it is OK if they don't memorize all that. You must remember they will be learning all of this in more depth in High School, and these years are to introduce to the bigger context of History. Student Sheets- The Maps and Timeline are well worth buying the students sheets, but I was frustrated with the amount of notebook pages you have to create on your own. Look ahead and be prepared each week. There were several weeks when I was caught off guard, and would quickly have to make and print a notebook page, or we would skip it all together because I am just that Mom. Book Basket- Book Basket is usually our absolute favorite part of the MFW, but this was one of the first time I can say we barely used the book basket lists. I think this is due to the year long heavy focus on Old testament stories. There were multiple weeks where I didn't use any of the books. When we would focus more on Egypt and Greeks, I was able to get more books, but even then the list was not the most helpful. I would recommend all moms doing this study to join the Facebook Group for CttG for several free booklists! Science PROS Pyramids- We REALLY enjoyed learning the science related to the pyramids using the book Pyramids. The book itself included simple to execute hands-on activities, like making a pyramid from play dough and straws. My kids still talk about how the pyramid is the strongest shape. CONS We were just not fans of the Creation based science this year, and almost skipped it entirely. I say this not because don't believe in Creation based science, but because many of the experiments were redundant from either years past, or information my children already knew because we are a very outdoorsy family that has visited every nature Center in a 200 miles radius of our home. We are a science loving family, and met that need naturally through other avenues. 7th and 8th graders, use Apologia science instead of the above (purchase separately). We are in 5th grade, so not applicable to us. Art and Music PROS There were several hands on art projects through the year schedule in the teacher's manual. We did most of these, with success and fun had by all. CONS We again skipped the Music appreciation lessons focus on Vivaldi, Bach, and Handel with easy-to-use CD's (in the Deluxe Package). I am sure they were good, we just never seem to fit them in. We again skipped the MFW Art, which was using God and the History of Art (in the Deluxe Package). We used Draw and Write Through History for Creation to The Greeks. Read-Alouds PROS We enjoyed The Children's Homer, as well as fables from Aesop's Fables for Children. That said, many became bedtime stories or audio books during lunch, because they were sometimes hard to fit in during school day. Each book added great context to the Greek Study. We all LOVED Books by Patricia St. John (The Tanglewoods' Secret, Treasures of the Snow, and Star of Light) inspire children to live the Christian life (in the Deluxe Package). I highly recommend getting these, either in paper book or audio form. Math We have never had great luck with MFW recommend Math. We use Math U See, you can see our review here. Language Arts These are based upon MFW recommendations. Foreign language is optional but highly recommended. We have not had time to really fit one in yet. PROS Roots Words- This might have been one of my favorite parts of this year's study. Root word were simple to learn, but so important to future vocabulary skills. My kids and I love learning entomology of words we use everyday. Language lessons for Today, Grade 4- We again enjoyed LLFT, because it is a gentle Charlotte Mason approach to language arts. Some years past have felt almost too light, but I think the 4th and 5th grade are beginning to pick up, at an age appropriate level. Writing Strand- Level 3. We had some mixed feelings about this book, but overall I would recommend. At first the instructions were confusing to all of us, but once we learned the flow of the book, we got the hang of it. We personally never did "Record of Progress" page at the end of each exercise. My kids can sometimes be reluctant writers, so I wanted this to be a fun time of exploring the beginnings of writing. I do recommend following the manual's advice and doing every other week. CONS Spelling- We have just never liked Spelling Power, it is very teacher driven and we wanted a more independent spelling curriculum that didn't require so much teacher presence. We use Spelling By Sound and Structure for Christian Schools Grade 4. This curriculum also works very well with our workbox system. Our Add-Ons and Supplements Art- Draw and Write Through History- My kids LOVE these independent art lessons, and their drawing shows it. They needed no extra instructions from me, and each week my kids were asking for more. We used Creation through Jonah, Volume 1 and Greece and Rome Volume 2. Free Online Piano Lessons- The curriculum provides music appreciation, but no actual music lessons. We remedy that with Free Piano lessons through Hoffman Academy YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN: Draw and Write Through History- Creation to The Greeks 4th Grade Workboxes- Creation to The Greeks
Week 5: We made a ziggurat, mud brick house and the Ishtar Gate. Babylon was an ancient Mesopotamian city and also an Empire. Actually it was an empire twice. We began our history lesson talking about Hammurabi. He was a Babylonian King and the first person in history who wrote down the laws of his land. We watched this 3 minute video about the Law Code Stele of Hammurabi. Nebuchadnezzar was the name given to two Kings of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar II ruled the second Babylonian empire. He exiled the Jews because they wouldn't worship him and built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. He called himself a favorite of the Gods. The Babylon Mystery tells the story of Babylon. Here is the first part of a five part video. The entire movie lasts around 50 minutes. In many European cities churches mark the center of town. Temples and amphitheaters marked the center of Roman towns and ziggurats marked the center of cities in Mesopotamia. A ziggurat is a stepped pyramid containing between two and seven layers built to honor the god of the city, and as an astronomical lookout. They were found all over the Mesopotamian region in what is today known as Iran and Iraq. Priests were the only members of society permitted in the ziggurats. All of our structures were built using sugar cubes, cardboard and icing glue. Icing Glue Recipe 6 egg whites 2 lb powdered sugar 1 tsp cream of tarter Ziggurat Zoning of land in many American locations is a common practice. In Mesopotamia, the wealthiest citizens had houses closest to the ziggurats and the servants lived in smaller homes farther away. The homes had flat roofs and were constructed of mud bricks. Here is a home of a middle income family. Each city in Mesopotamia had it's own God or Goddess. The Goddess of Babylon was Ishtar. Hence the Ishtar gate. The Ishtar gate existed during the second Babylonian Empire. It was one of the many gated entrances to the city and bright blue in color. The entrance was lined with pictures of lions, and other animals. This 7 minute video - Ishtar Gate and Processional Way explains the gate much better. It has been relocated to a museum in Berlin, Germany and we hope to visit it one day as it's only about ten hours away from where we live. To see our other history activities please visit our history page.
This mega post contains all the resources and activities we did for our Ancient Mesopotamia Unit Study. Lots of free printables to download!
Constellation Kids Craft on The Crafting Chicks. A fun craft for kids during Space week!
Learn about the Johann Sebastian Bach with your kids. Includes a FREE printable composer workbook!
Learn about Bach! These children's books, musical excerpts and hands-on activities will engage your students in learning about this great composer.
Curriculum Organization: MFW Creation to the Greeks This year the kids will be doing the same curriculum is Creation to the Greeks, K has gone through it already so it will be a refresher for her. Looking forward to doing this curriculum with the kids, exploring, and learning all the new things. BIBLE Some of the books we will be using for our bible studies. LANGUAGE ARTS This time around we will be concentrating more on spelling, reading, writing, and comprehension. Want to definitely work more on spelling and writing. Besides learning some Greek and Latin words we will also learn Spanish, our native language. MATH Will continue using Singapore Math, kids really like it, and learn so much from it . HISTORY Lots of great books for our studies this semester, excited for this adventure. Studying in depth on Egypt, one of our favorite places to learn more about. TIMELINE Colored in and laminated the timeline pictures, then printed the scroll worksheets I got from Tasha Wiginton blog. Also laminated the scroll worksheets and taped them to look more like an accordion book, since we don't have the wall space to put the timeline up. Behind each picture for the timeline I wrote the week it corresponds with and then placed a velcro dot on it since that's how we will place it on the timeline. Used this same method for 1st and 2nd grade timeline. SCIENCE More in depth of God's creation and pyramids, probably adding more along the way. We all love Science and like exploring everything we can. READ ALONG Few books we will be using for out read-along this semester. ART Using God and the History of Art, which comes with postcards of different art pieces, and worksheets. Also will be adding more along the way to go with what we are studying for the week. OUR SCHOOL ROOM/GAME ROOM Here is a look of our basement which we use to use for our school room. Now it hold our library and some items we use for school, it also is the kids playroom, and music room. D is taking drum lessons so we moved the school room upstairs in our dining room. Library and a few of items we will use for school throughout the school year, located in the basement. Our new location in the dining room, it also helps with having the puppy now and being able to take him out whenever he needs to go potty. Closer look of our shelves, organization carts, and materials. Reorganized all of the art supplies, the kids have really shown an interest in art, so I wanted to make sure they had easy access to all the materials they would need. Also organized the paint drawers to make it easier for the kids to find what they need, and finally got all the office supplies in one location. CONCLUSION Messages like this keeps me motivated to continue our homeschool journey. I always ask the kids if they want to give public school a chance and they always say no. We love the freedom we have and really enjoy doing life together. Blessed that God has allowed me to be able to teach our kids, never thought I would of done this journey, I've really enjoyed learning right along with the kids. K is now going to 8th grade and D will be starting 4th. On to new adventures, loads of fun, and exploration. Will be adding each week below that we complete with our previous grades we've completed. GOD BLESS! PREVIOUS CURRICULUM POST MFW: God's Creation from A to Z (Kindergarten) MFW: Learning God's Word (1st Grade) MFW: Adventures in U.S. History (2nd Grade) MFW: Exploring Countries and Cultures (3rd Grade) MFW: Creations to Greek (4th Grade). MFW: Reformation to Rome (5th Grade) MFW: Exploration to 1850 (6th Grade) MFW: 1850 to Modern Times (7th Grade) WEEKLY POST MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade ) Week 1 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 2 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 3 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 4 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 5 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade ) Week 6 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 7 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 8 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 9 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 10 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 11MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 12 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 13 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 14 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 15 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 16 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 17 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 18 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 19 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 20 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 21 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 22 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 23 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 24 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 25 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 26 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 27 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 28 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 29 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 30 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 31 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 32 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 33 MFW: CTG (4th and 8th Grade) Week 34
This 3D model ziggurat is a great hands-on craft to make if you are studying Mesopotamia or Ancient Sumer. The craft is differentiated with two versions so you can use what suits your students best. The finished size is about 4in x 5in (10cm x 12cm). The simpler version has two main pieces to join, plus steps. The more complex version has four main pieces that make the four layers of the ziggurat, plus steps. If you're looking for more hands-on Ancient Mesopotamia activities, you may like this bundle, or this cuneiform writing activity. U.S. and U.K. versions included. I hope your students enjoy making this ziggurat model. You may also like: Ancient Greece Parthenon Model Ancient Egypt Pyramid Model
Happy Wednesday! Today I am linking up with my bud, Jivey, from Ideas by Jivey, for her Workshop Wednesday linky: Today's topic is about implementing science into reading. This is God-timing because this was a
Ancient Greece BINGO by Miss Middle School Teacher This is a bingo game that I created for my middle school social studies students to review key vocabulary at the end of our unit on ancient Greece. Students fill their card with any words from the list and I call out the definition. If they know the definition and have the word on their card, they mark it. They love playing and it's a fun way to reinforce topics/vocabulary from the unit. Included: Student bingo card with vocabulary choices and teacher key. Check out more ancient civilizations bingo sets OR buy the ancient civilizations BINGO bundled set (Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome) at a discounted rate at my TPT store: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Miss-Middle-School-Teacher
It's not hard to make history come alive by adding in activities, crafts, projects, and of course, history games! History is much better when it feels like play and not work. So I had to make a version of the Mesopotamian game that we call The Royal Game of Ur. What better way to connect
Thanks for visiting our weekly highlights using My Father’s World Creation to the Greeks curriculum! Don’t forget to share your ...
Thanks for visiting our weekly highlights using My Father’s World Creation to the Greeks curriculum! Don’t forget to share your ...
Week 2: We played The Royal Game of Ur. First we talked about the Legend of Gilgamesh and Sargon the Great King Sumerian King from the cit...
If you're planning to use My Father's World Creation to the Greeks homeschool curriculum you'll want to check out these extra books and resources!
A Happy Home friend of mine asked me to help her plan some fun games for her Happy Buddy’s End-of-Year Class party! I immediately thought Minute to Win It!Minute to Win It games are PERFECT for kids! They are fun, challenging, and obviously don’t last very long! A very accommodating quality for those short-attention-spanners! If […]
If you're planning to use My Father's World Creation to the Greeks homeschool curriculum you'll want to check out these extra books and resources!
