Ancient Civilizations. Lapbooks and minibooks for Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, Ancient Babylon and Ancient Egypt.

The list of inventions that are credited to the ancient Chinese is long and note-worthy. Several great series of picture books dramatize these moments of invention and are great books for inspiring your young inventors and artists. Books on Chinese Inventions by Ying Chang Compestine Chinese-American author Ying Chang Compestine has written a series of books about Chinese inventions. Each book features the Kang family: Mama, Papa, and three boys, Ting, Pan, and Kùai. Kids will love seeing how the antics of the three boys fits with these inventions. The Story of Chopsticks (2001) imagines the circumstances surrounding the invention of chopsticks. The three Kang brothers, Ting, Pan, and Kùai, are all hungry, growing boys. Kùai, the youngest, is frustrated by having to wait for food to cool down until it was safe to eat with your fingers. A few twigs later, he invents the first chopsticks! But when the boys bring their new invention to a wedding feast, they find themselves at odds with the elders. The Story of Noodles (2002) Though it seems unlikely that noodles were invented because, "'We wanted a food that is easier to clean up after food fights,'" kids will enjoy this story of how an accident with dumplings leads to the possible invention of noodles, which had originated in China by the first century. The Author's Note explains some of the history and customs of noodles and includes a recipe for Long-Life Noodles. The Story of Kites (2003) In this story, the poor Kang brothers are tired of constantly having to scare the birds away from their rice crop. First, they decide to try making their own wings, with predictably disastrous consequences, but eventually their designs lead them to the first kites. Kite-flying has been documented in China more than twenty-four hundred years ago. The book ends with an Author's Note and directions on how to make and fly your own kites. The Story of Paper (2003) The Kang boys are not doing well in school and are blaming the bugs and insects that distract them as they are practicing their writing in the dirt. After much experimentation, they hit upon paper. The Author's Note includes a detailed description of the oldest paper and its introduction to the Chinese emperor, as well as directions for making homemade "garden" paper. Books on Chinese Inventions by Virginia Walton Pilegard The Warlord's Puzzle (2000). An artist brings a beautiful blue tile before the Warlord, but it drops, breaking into seven pieces. When no one can put the tile back together, the Warlord agrees to hold a contest. This accident becomes the invention of the tangrams, so named for their connection to the Tang dynasty. The Warlord's Beads (2001). The peasant and his young son now live in the warlord's palace, but the father has been tasked with counting the warlord's vast treasure. Worried that they keep losing count spurs his son, Chuan, to invent the first abacus. The Author's Note describes the first documented use of the abacus in 14th century China and includes directions for making your own abacus. The Warlord's Fish (2002). The artist and his young apprentice, Chuan, are kidnapped by a group of traders and taken out across the wilds and into the vast desert (along the Silk Route and through the Takla Makan, though the names are not used). When a sandstorm blocks the sun and clouds block the stars, Chuan convinces the artist to use his south-pointing fish to help them find their way to the oasis. The Author's Note explains that the Chinese invented a south-pointing compass made of a magnetic spoon by the third century BC(E) and includes directions for making your own floating compass. The Warlord's Puppeteers (2003). Chuan tries to help a group of traveling puppeteers, after a bandit raid seizes their puppets. This book focuses on introducing children to the concepts of proportion and includes directions for making your own sock puppets. The Warlord's Kites (2004). Chuan and his friend Jing Jing are concerned about the approach of an enemy army and conceive of the idea of using flutes attached to kites to frighten them off. In this story, Jing Jing takes a starring role as the inventor and quick-thinker. Directions are include for handmade kites. The Warlord's Messengers: a mathematical adventure (2005). Young Chuan and Jing Jing are concerned when an invitation arrives for the warlord, but he will not receive the message in time. The friends brainstorm a faster way to travel and invent a wind-driven carriage. These "sailing carriages" were mentioned in Chinese literature 1500 years ago. The book ends with directions for creating a wind sock (another Chinese invention). The Warlord's Alarm (2006). This story seems to take place immediately following The Warlord's Messengers. Chuan and Jing Jing are accompanying the warlord on his trip to visit the emperor, but in order for the warlord to arrive exactly when the gates of the city open, they need to figure out a way to keep track of time during the night, when a sundial is useless. The invent a water clock, and the Author's Note describes some of the complicated water clocks used by the Chinese. There are also directions to make your own dripping water clock. The Emperor's Army: a mathematical adventure (2010). A bit of a departure from the rest of the series, this book tells the story of a father and son in court of Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang who are forced into hiding by the emperors proclamation against books and scholars. This leads them to discover the building of the emperor's famed terracotta warriors, and the Author's Note includes information about their eventual re-discovery.

Just a few more photos of our 5th grade Ancient Civilizations work: This painting is of Gilgamesh entering the dark crevice in the mountain comes from Live Ed. My painting is on the left, my 5th …

Journal for Waldorf / Rudolf Steiner Education Vol. 13.2 Nov 2011

Pinay Homeschooler is a blog that shares homeschool and afterschool activity of kids from babies to elementary level.

Liz brought home her main lesson books yesterday and I snapped a few photos--they are a bit dark but I think they show her work for this ye...

This is part 5 of a 12 part a hands-on unit study on China. Design & fly kites, learn about silk & "embroider" on plastic canvas, create a fish compass, & more while learning about Ancient Chinese History and the Han Dynasty. Children's book suggestions and video clips. Chinese New Year ideas.

Learn about the Terracotta Warriors with this fun Terracotta Warriors lesson

We have been studying Ancient China this semester. We are using The Story of Ancient China (affiliate link) (see more about that below) as our spine, but also have read selections from the Story of the World (affiliate link) and the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia. This is the packet that I made to go along with some of our readings. These are now included in our 100+ page Ancient China Unit. Recently,...

This free Lesson Plan on Kids Discover Ancient China provides a guide to teach kids about this incredible eastern culture, and the many inventions that can be traced back to Ancient China, such as how paper was invented, the birth of medicine, and the only man-made structure viewable from space; Great Wall.

Just a few more photos of our 5th grade Ancient Civilizations work: This painting is of Gilgamesh entering the dark crevice in the mountain comes from Live Ed. My painting is on the left, my 5th …

Are your kids studying dynasties of Ancient China? This 100+ page Ancient China Unit covers nearly 3,000 years of ancient Chinese History from the early cultures of the Neolithic period to the end of the Song Dynasty. This packet includes notebook pages, timeline cards, worksheets, geography materials and more!

Silkworms make silk People make silk from the cocoons of silkworms. Have you ever seen a butterfly cocoon? It is just like that. You have to take zillions of these cocoons and […]

I love celebrating holidays that are outside my family’s culture and Chinese New Year is one of them. I don’t know what it is, but I love all the red and gold

Clay Figures Art Lesson, Chinese Art Lesson, Chinese Terra Cotta Warriors, Clay Warriors, Terra Cotta Warriors Art Lesson, Terra Cotta Warriors Art Project

Students will learn about ancient China’s geography, religion, achievements, politics, economy, and social structures during this fun activity. First, they’ll rotate around the classroom to find fact cards about ancient China. They’ll transfer critical information from the cards to their poster worksheets. Finally, they’ll glue their work together to make a doodle poster shaped like an ancient Chinese temple. Oh, and they’ll fill their posters with doodles as they complete 5 different doodle tasks as they learn. The doodle element of the poster makes this activity especially engaging. After students collect the facts and create their doodle poster, they can color in their work. As students color over their learning, they’ll have another opportunity to interact with the information. You might use this resource as an introduction to a unit on ancient China, or this works great as a review of the unit before a final assessment. This activity lends itself to a fun classroom display as well! The poster’s extra-long size makes it unique too! Included in this resource: Detailed lesson plan for the Fact Hunt and Doodle Poster Photos for Activity Steps Fact Cards (25 total) – color version Fact Cards (25 total) – black and white version Doodle Poster – Organized with the GRAPES acronym (Geography, Religion, Achievements, Politics, Economy, and Society) (3 pages) Answer key – Poster (3 pages) More resources for ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS: Ancient Mesopotamia Learning Stations and 3-D Ziggurat Ancient Egypt Learning Stations and Interactive Sphinx Poster Ancient Greece Learning Stations and Parthenon Accordion Book Ancient Rome Learning Stations and 3-D Colosseum Following is Fun! Get the inside scoop on all store discounts, free products, and product launches. Just click the green “Follow Me” star under my store name on this page or click the green “Follow Me” star on my store homepage. Let’s Stay in Touch! Blog Pinterest Facebook Instagram *** Click HERE to receive the Brain Waves Instruction Newsletter filled with exclusive FREEBIES and Teaching Tips! Thanks! Brain Waves Instruction

"Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" by Grace Lin Carrie from The Parenting Passageway tipped me off to this great book this summer. As usual, she was right. It's a wonderful mix of fairy tales wrapped into a lovely cultural story about a young poor girl in China who wants to change her family's fortune. After hearing inspiring stories told by her Ba (father), she follows her heart on a magical journey complete with talking goldfish and a lovable dragon on her way to find The Old Man of the Moon who will hopefully tell her how to help save her family from their difficult reality. The chapters are short, but don't kid yourself, your children will not want you to put this book down - lol! We are more than half way through it and I ended up changing gears and have been planning our whole Jan block around this book. I am drawing a picture from the book twice a week that the girls will then copy into their MLB's. They have been helping me write sentences/summaries that they are placing in their book, on the page next to their drawing. Above the drawing, is also a very short sentence in which the nouns are identified in blue (and the verbs will be identified in red starting this week as we are covering a part of speech each week). Here is an example: . We are writing down words to keep on a large piece of paper that pertain to the book that they are learning. These words are helping them to form sentences of their summaries and are helping reading, writing, and spelling. They are also learning the beginnings of punctuation. Along with beeswax modeling, a traditional Chinese meal, and a little lesson on the Chinese New Year (Feb 3rd this year), we are enjoying painting. Elena is the type of child who is more comfortable following a model. When she feels satisfied, she then takes little steps to branch out to make something her own. Charley, on the other hand, has always marched to the beat of her own drum. Even though we've discussed why we lay down the background first and then remove paint to add an element, she was very insistent on trying it this way - putting the dragon down and then painting around it. It was a good way for her to see that it does not layer the picture well, though I admit, it does have a pretty neat effect. It is also more challenging if the paint runs a bit, as wet on wet tends to do. Her picture took a lot longer than the others. Elena's is listed below... Setting them out to dry... The girls are happily preparing to make their First Reconciliation at the end of this month, so we've been heavy into religious education, which fits beautifully in with the studies of the Saints this year. Here Charley is with our long term foster pup, Stanley (10 years old). He's helping her prepare :) Stanley had a dental whereby he lost most of his teeth, so his little tongue hangs out to the side permanently. Once in a while he pulls it all the way in his mouth, but we think it just adds to his charm! He doesn't see well, but he is a total sweetheart. I have fallen really hard for this little senior. We've had him a month now, but he's been in the rescue since August and no interest in him yet (good for me, right?!?! :D) Another part of the 2nd grade curriculum is learning the basic parts of speech. We have started learning about nouns and verbs. The first week, we tackled nouns. I found some fun books to enhance our understanding. Brian P. Cleary has written some simple books which rhyme and add to the fun. The other selection of books are more advanced, so I cover the first few pages, but then when it goes off on specifics that we are not yet ready for (branching off into more detail than we are ready for at this moment "Imperative", "tenses", "helping verbs") then I am just stopping there. These books (by Ruth Heller) will be great as we progress, but I am finding the Cleary books to be more on our current level. We always allow lots of time for freeplay and the Ostheimers are still favorites! This week's saint was St. Antony of Egypt. His feast day was on January 17th, the day after the girls daddy (who is also an Anthony) had a very special b-day! For this St. Antony, I gleaned inspiration from "Stories of the Saints", as well as the Catholic teachings found online. EWTN has more extensive explanations, like St. Antony of Egypt's found here. Not sure how much I like this book yet, but we'll see over time. We are doing St. Agnes tomorrow for her feast day and a lot of liberties have been taken in the "Stories of the Saints" book. My question is - how true do we need to make them to be historically accurate, especially as a Roman Catholic who wants to respect that history of the church - versus making the story speak to the child with fantastical liberties, ya know? I am trying my very best to do both so I'm finding that pulling some elements from the prewritten stories, coupled with the accounts from the church is probably the best way to tailor it to our little ones. It was Daddy's birthday on Sunday... Charley is holding little Ralph - our one week foster as we help out the head of our rescue. And finally - some delicious homemade granola! Charley loves her granola so I decided it's about time I make my own organic granola. I asked the awesome mamas at the Green Tara Mama Yahoo Group and got several great recipes to try. This one came in first and so we gave it a whirl - very good (and easy)! This recipe came from Leslie K. from the Green Tara Mama Yahoo Group: Slow Cooker granola (A friend sent this recipe to me, she said it came from "Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker" by Robin Robertson). 5 cups oats 1 cup sliced almonds 3/4 cup dried cranberries 1/2 cup raisins 1/2 cup sesame seeds 2/3 cup maple syrup 1/4 cup canola 1/4 tsp cinnamon Mix all of the ingredients in a crockpot. Do NOT cover with the lid. Cook for 1.5 hours on high, then turn to low and cook for 2 more hours. Stir occasionally. Spread on cookie sheets to cool and dry until crispy. Yields about 8 cups.

Where did Marco Polo travel on his journeys? Find out with this hands on Marco Polo map lesson.