It finally happened! Last night we had a combined celebration for units 2 and 3 of Tapestry of Grace, Year 1. That covered the time period from shortly after creation to 323 B.C., when Alexander the Great died and the Greek empire was split into three kingdoms. Note to self, that is a LOT of time to cover in one night! Try to do single unit celebrations whenever possible. :-) We also had to wait on some food and did not start as early as I had hoped, but we had a great time, regardless. I heard from someone else about a really great idea to make passports for our young guests, with places for stickers as they heard/learned about various places throughout the evening. When I suggested it to daughter G, she took the idea and totally ran with it! These are the passports she made. Click on picture to enlarge. Inside were several pages marked off with squares, one square for each country or civilization we mentioned. Little Man was our first presenter. I read a short report about Ancient China, and he stood there looking as Chinese as possible. ;-) This is the little jacket I mentioned in my previous post, that I made the pattern for all by myself! I don't think it's authentic to the ancient time period, but I'm pleased with it, and he loves it! (it was nicely pressed prior to the celebration, but he wore it so much around the house it got horribly wrinkled ~ wrinkles on costumes I can live with!) We had a member of our audience read a "fact card" about the ancient civilization in the Indus Valley (what is now Pakistan and part of Afghanistan). And then we ate. We had chicken fried rice (from the local Chinese carry out restaurant), and chicken tenders cooked in the crockpot with sesame ginger sauce. These foods represented China. We also had a selection of different types of olives, to represent Greece, as well as Greek bread and hummus. Since ancient Greeks did not use a table and chairs for their meals, many of the children ate on the floor! After eating, we had a visit from a Mayan chief, who told us about life in the ancient Mayan civilization in what is now southern Mexico and Central America. We then turned our attention to the Archaic period of Ancient Greece. Daughter G portrayed Penelope, long suffering wife of Odysseus, who fought for ten years in the Trojan War and then had a series of mishaps on his voyage home so that the return trip took another ten years! She read an essay she had written in writing class about Penelope. After hearing from Penelope, we got to hear from Odysseus himself! We moved our attention to Israel and what was happening with the Hebrews. The Philistine Goliath, of David and Goliath fame, gave a report on his people. During King Solomon's reign he built a glorious temple in which to worship God. We talked a bit about the daily practice of animal sacrifice for the redemption of sin, and how the priests would blow the shofar (ram's horn) to announce the morning and evening sacrifice, to announce the beginning and end of Sabbath, and to announce or as part of Holy Days and festivals. Thanks to my dear grandpa, now in heaven, who made several trips to Israel during his lifetime, we were able to have a "real" shofar to blow at our celebration! Our two youngest boys can blow it best in our family. And just fyi, about the costumes.... three of the five children did not have to change clothes completely to portray their second character, they just added something over the first costume. Most of the added pieces were not even sewn! So, super easy. We learned that Israel split into two kingdoms, and how eventually both kingdoms were conquered by foreign nations. When Judah succumbed to Babylon, a young man by the name of Daniel was exiled to Babylon along with thousands of fellow Hebrews. Daniel told us the story of how he ate only vegetables and drank water for three weeks and ended up being the most healthy looking of all the captives in King Nebuchadnezzar's court! After Daniel, we were graced by Esther, Queen of Persia, who told us the story of how God used her to help deliver the Jews from annihilation, and how remembering that deliverance is celebrated as the Feast of Purim each year (celebrated on March 20! So we just missed it!). We added a purple poncho over her Greek chiton (pronounced ki-ten) and a long, sheer, purple veil to transform her into Queen Esther. The Persians later fought against the Greeks. Son G portrayed a Greek soldier from Sparta, during the time of the Peloponnesian Wars (wars between Sparta and Athens). Son L then portrayed Alexander the Great, who in 12 short years managed to subdue nations and grow a vast empire, spreading Greek culture to every place he conquered. He died in 323 B.C., which is where our studies in Unit 3 ended. Last but not least, and slightly out of order, we had son C portray the Greek citizen Pythagoras, best known for developing the Pythagorean Theorem (do you remember what that is??). We wanted to portray someone from the Golden Age of Greece, during the height of Greece's philosophical, mathematical, and scientific contributions, and son C choose Pythagoras. His costume required no sewing at all (just folding and cutting, and pins at the shoulders) and the "key" pattern on the bottom edges of his tunic was drawn on with permanent marker. :-) We displayed just a few of the many books we enjoyed during these two units, as well as some of the children's hands on projects. Friends and guests! It was a very fun evening! Unit celebrations make such good memories. If you've never done a unit celebration and have been on the fence, you need to just DO it! It doesn't have to be elaborate or hard. Ours never flow quite as smoothly as I envision them to in my head, but they are fun and the children LOVE them! Our daughter was completely enamored with the costumes this time and said they were the best ones we've had yet.... which is pretty high praise from a teenage girl. :-) I am thankful for the support of family and friends who always want to come to our unit celebrations, but even if it's just for your own family, you won't regret doing one!
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We are in our second year of Tapestry of Grace - Year 2, Unit 3 to be exact. The flexibility that Tapestry offers is one of its perks...however it's also been one of the hardest parts for this Mama who needs to check things off of a list. Tapestry of Grace offers an abundance of learning options each week, and I'll admit that it's been very difficult for me to find my groove with it. I keep on keeping on because the thoughts of teaching 4 different time periods of history makes me break out in hives. While all of
Summer between 2nd and 3rd grade; supplemental study; More about a homeschool unit study on Ancient China; includes printables for many of the mini-books shown.
Well, we did our best to start school back up this week. It was a little rough, as I figured out on Wednesday that I was not only recovering...
Learn about middle ages history with hands-on lesson on medieval times church for kids: statues,illuminated manuscripts, and more!
Use these worksheets in your Greek Mythology lesson plans; these free printables are suitable for 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th grade students.
Archimedes had an incredible ability to discover how to make things happen based on the laws set by God within creation.
Okay, I will admit that I upgraded my website to allow videos and I wanted to try it out. Here is the Oscar-worthy film of the activity that this post will help you make: I know: it needs music. C…
There is one question that I am asked more frequently than any other by my homeschooling friends and acquaintances: How do you make Tapestry of Grace work for you? It seems that TOG is one curriculum where many people who have contemplated its use decide they will forever have a love/hate relationship with it. They love the depth, quality of literature, unit study, “living books” blended with classical approach, etc. that TOG offers, but hate the fact that they just can’t seem to find their rhythm with a curriculum that at first glance (and 2nd, and 3rd!) appears daunting. I am so incredibly thankful for, and enamored with, TOG. It has transformed our homeschool. It has been the tool that allows me to achieve my goal of providing a meaningful, Christ-centered, academically rigorous, “real books” as opposed to “text books”education for my children. I am always excited by the opportunity to share my TOG experiences with others. My goal for this post is to offer a glimpse into a typical TOG week in our homeschool, explaining how we continue to learn and grow, one day at a time, with God’s blessing and Tapestry of Grace. My hope is this will lend encouragement to new TOG users, provide a “jumping-off point” to help get your feet wet, and perhaps minimize the legendary “TOG fog.” Our week “begins” on Friday… On Friday, I give students a very brief (like 5 minutes) overview of what they will be studying in the week ahead. Together, we break up any lengthy reading assignments (e.g. history, literature, church history) into daily chunks. The children begin reading these assignments that very same day. This provides 3 extra reading days (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) so that the kiddos are not overwhelmed trying to read a 200 page book in 3 or 4 days the following week. (Ask me how I learned this tip the hard way!) Over the weekend, the kids continue to read from the week’s selections (according to the chunks we determined on Friday). They usually read before bed or when they wake up in the morning, leaving our days free for sports, church, friends, and general fun! As their teacher, I also have a few “assignments” to complete over the weekend. I read through the Teacher Notes (and usually listen to PopQuiz) in preparation for Tuesday’s lecture. I make sure all photocopies for the week are prepared (if they haven’t been previously) so I’m not scrambling for necessary materials during the week. Also, since I am using the library for approximately half of the TOG resources (I purchased the other half), the weekend is the time I order books for 3 weeks ahead (using the library’s online request system). Each weekend, I order books for that third week in the future. This way, I always have the books I need in plenty of time. I have yet to have to wait longer than 2 weeks for a resource to arrive at my local branch. Monday is our co-op day. The children continue independent TOG reading in the evening. Tuesday is “History/Geography Lecture Day.” On Tuesday morning, all kiddos gather together with me to begin our in depth discussion of the week’s topic. I “lecture” using the teacher’s notes and the “General Information for All Grades” sheet from the TOG week plan. I highlight the most important concepts with the goal of helping the children gain a general understanding of the “flow” of main events during this particular period they are studying. I don’t go too in depth here, but rather give them a basis for further understanding everything they have been reading and will continue to read this week. Also, we do our group mapping at this time. I lead the children in mapping any important places, or changes in geographic or political boundaries, in order to give them a clearer picture of what they will be studying in history throughout the week. Individually, the kiddos will continue their weekly reading assignments later in the day. Wednesday is “Timeline & Church History Day.” Together, I lead the kiddos in discussing the “people” we’ve encountered this week, as they glue timeline figures into their timelines and list important dates. This is the day we “make connections” to events we’ve studied previously. For example, during our study of the Byzantine Empire, the kiddos were timelining the beginning of the controversy in the Eastern Church and the rise of the Iconoclastic movement, which eventually led to the Great Schism (split into Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church). Through timelining, the kiddos made the connection that at this very same time the Anasazi tribes were building pueblos and settling throughout the “Colorado” plateau. Also, this time period was the very height of the Mayan civilization on the Yucatan Peninsula. Timelining helps us to view “His-story” as a whole, rather than segmenting it into nice, neat, independent, random events. Since timelining only takes 10 minutes or so, we also talk about the “character” and “characteristics” of the historical figures we’ve encountered in our reading. How do they measure up to God’s standards? What were their motivations? Etc. Also, we review the discussion questions for our “church history” readings on Wednesday. I usually have the kids complete the church history reading by Wednesday morning so we can answer the questions together and discuss. Keep in mind that by Wednesday, the children have been reading from their selections for 5 days already (F-Tues) so they have a general understanding of the people and events by this time. They can actively participate…and I expect them to! On Thursday, we use the TOG “Dialectic” or “Rhetoric” discussion outline (this will only apply to older students) to wrap up all the history we’ve been studying throughout the week. We complete all History Thinking Questions and Accountability Questions. We also watch a video (if applicable) on Discovery Streaming to support the topics we’ve studied this week, provide a fun visual resource, and enhance understanding of the topic. Lastly, if there is any additional mapwork (transparency overlays to show changing boundaries, etc.) we will take care of that as well. For younger students, this can be “Fine Arts Thursday”. Review any information from “Fine Arts” reading and select one or two crafts to complete. Also videos that reinforce topics studied are great for this age. On Friday, older students participate in our literary analysis lesson, using the “Literature Discussion Outline” in the Teacher Guide. We also complete the literature worksheets, and learn any new literary elements that can be effectively applied to the week’s literature selection. All of this information is provided in the Teacher notes (discussion outline) so it takes no effort on my part…I just need to ask the questions! Since TOG’s Literature program is so rich and in-depth, we devote at least an hour to discussion/analysis of the week’s selection and completion of the student activity page(s). Younger students can complete the worksheets and perhaps make a “narration page” about the literature selection. We end our Friday “TOG-time” by introducing the next week’s topic and breaking down the reading selections so kiddos can get started over the weekend (bringing me right back to the beginning of this blog post!) Several notes: 1) TOG includes history, geography, writing, literature, fine arts, government (for older students), and philosophy (for older students). I have opted to use a different writing program this year, so I omit the TOG writing assignments. If I were to use TOG writing (as I did in the past), I would introduce the week’s writing assignment on Tuesday morning (after the students have had some exposure to the material), and require that the assignment be turned in on Friday, adding the assignment review onto the end of our Literature discussion. Our Math, Latin and/or Spanish, Science, Spelling, and Grammar studies are completely independent of TOG. 2) We do all of our TOG “group” discussions/activities in the morning, along with our other mom-intensive subjects, leaving independent TOG reading and other independent subjects for the afternoon. 3) We complete all the Primary Resource readings each week, but we rarely use the Alternate Resources. Only my Lower Grammar student uses the Alternate Resources because she is a voracious reader and she tends to read all the LG selections on the first day! Since the TOG primary resource reading selections for older students are quite lengthy, I can’t imagine ever having additional time to dig into the alternate resources. It is not uncommon for older students to have upwards of 200-300 pages to be read each week (total reading in all TOG subjects). Adding any more would be overkill, imo. 4) I try to make each activity fun. For example, my kiddos LOVE mapping because they LOVE using transparency overlays (don’t ask me why, because I have NO idea!). If I provide paper maps, they are only mildly enthused. But when we add “overlays” to our paper maps, it’s as if they’ve won the lottery! Also, I’ve found that the more excited I am about the material, the more responsive my kiddos are. 5) I always try to complete crafts with my youngest dd (LG level). I require my older students to complete the Fine Arts readings, but not the hands-on projects. 6) The only thing required of me, as a teacher, is my weekend work (see info. above), and finding a video on Discovery Streaming to enhance our studies (my kids like videos!). The teacher notes provide EVERYTHING I need! I hope you’ve found this post to be helpful if you’re considering adding TOG to your homeschool journey. Be encouraged…you can do it! And TOG makes it easy. Just find your rhythm and continue marching to the beat. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the “comments” and I’ll be sure to answer.
Create an engaging and rigorous class novel unit with Interactive Notebooks. Here are some tips for designing for middle and high school students.
Medieval Feast as Our First Unit Celebration with Tapestry of Grace Year 2
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Queen Victoria needs help going swimming, can you design Queen Victoria's bathing machine for her to get into the ocean?
If you're looking for Pioneer Day Activities, then look no more! Mariah has created a roundup of things to do, including crafts and snacks.
Making this lets me pretend I’m about to go strolling around Cape Cod in late Autumn. Slump, also called grunt or cobbler depending who you’re asking, is a classic New England dessert of fruit and biscuits. You’re about to see some blueberries in action, but I’m raring to try it again with raspberries.READ MORE
This post contains affiliate links. I was compensated for writing this post. Before I began teaching this Modern History Unit Study, I was shocked by how
This free amazing American Civil War lapbook is huge. And you'll love my other lapbooks on my Homeschool Lapbooks page. And I have a HUGE unit study on my American Civil War or War Between the States here.
I mentioned several weeks ago that we were making a papier mache mummy case as a project for our Ancient Egyptian studies ~ but I never posted a picture. Jason was very proud of this one. It turned out great, and wasn't hard to do. We used a balloon and bunched up newspapers, secured with masking tape, to make the basic form of the body, then wrapped it all with strips of newspaper dipped into a flour & water paste. We did 2 layers, for strength. When it was dry, we drew the basic features with a black Sharpie, then painted with acrylic paints. We went back over some of the outlines with Sharpie again later. We used pictures in our Ancient Egyptian books for inspiration for design and colors, etc.
Learn about the Pacific Northwest Tribes with hands-on Native American worksheets and FREE printable activities.
The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri river & as, by it's course and communication with the waters of the Pacific Ocean...
Native Americans The Plains Indians Unit Study & Lapbook
Lewis and Clark kept wonderfully detailed journals as they charted unknown American territory in the early 1800’s. Their journals included everything from a daily diary of events to sketches and descriptions of new plants and animals along the way to maps of the land around them. To help my children understand the scope of what...
Wonders Unit 4 Week 2 Primo: A Letter to My Cousin Games Around the World Happy New Year Second Grade Supplement Activities Table of Contents: Pg. 3-9 Let’s Play - Color the balls depending on how the word is spelled. Copy page B on the backside. Write your spelling words in the correct columns. Illustrate four of your spelling words and label them. Three choices 1. ten spelling words 2. ten spelling words, two review words 3. ten spelling words, two review words, three high frequency words Pg. 10-12 er, ur, or, ir – Copy pages A and B back to back. Fold on the solid line and cut on the dotted lines. Lift up each flap to write your spelling words. Write the special r-controlled vowel with the specific color shown on the back. Write the rest of your spelling word with a pencil. Pg. 13 Use It! – Use as many of your vocabulary words as you can in a story. Pg. 14-16 Helping Verbs – Copy pages A and B back to back. Fold on the solid line and cut on the dotted lines. Flip up each flap. Use the helping verb in a sentence to write about the picture. Pg. 17-19 action verb, helping verb, linking verb – Fold on the solid line and cut on the dotted lines. Flip up the flaps and write a sentence to show an example of each type of verb. Pg. 20-23 Pocket Full of Verbs – Fold the paper and glue along the lines to form three pockets. Cut out the sentence strips. Circle the action verbs with red, the helping verbs with blue, and the linking verbs with green. Place the sentence strip into the correct pocket. This would be a great project to do in buddies or small groups. Pg. 24-26 Let’s Write Book Titles – Cut out the books, fold them, and glue them into the boxes. Pictures should be inside. Write a title for each book. Be creative and use the correct capitals. Pg. 27-34 The Country/City Life is for Me! – Choose if you would prefer to live in the country or the city. Give examples to back your choice up. Copy the patterns onto the correct colored construction paper. Put together as seen in the example. Pg. 35-43 Take a Walk Around Town – A game to practice your high frequency words. Directions are on the game. Copy onto cardstock and laminate for durability. Pg. 44 Thanks and credits
This free Native American Unit Study for homeschoolers provides meaningful hands-on lessons and lots of living literature suggestions for family study.
Lewis and Clark Expedition | Lewis and Clark Expedition Botany 1 and 2 Interactive Minibooks | Lewis and Clark lapbook
Chinese Idioms Calligraphy Page This is just something I cooked up quickly during our group’s China unit several years ago. I can’t find the original digital file so I just scanned a c…
This week, my children and I are studying the Erie Canal andoh my it has just been a JOY to study! Maybe it's the addition of Bruce Springsteen that has made this such a fun study? I'm not sure. Keep reading to see how Bruce plays into our Erie Canal study. This post contains affiliate links which help support free worksheets and printables at Mama's Learning Corner. For more info, see my disclosure policy. Books We're Reading to Study The Erie Canal The spine of this unit study has been The Amazing, Impossible Erie Canal by Cheryl Harness. It is
We have been focusing on the 20th Century for Blaze's history lessons this year. We are currently learning about the Great Depression, but w...
We did a bunch of fun Phoenician activities for our ancient history lessons, and the kids enjoyed all the hands on activities from it, especially the ship.
A great big list of learning resources for Lewis & Clark: including books, nature study, and online interactive sites.
Change the way you look at fun homeschool projects and plan a Medieval Celebration for your family that isn't stressful!
