Are you looking for living books for ancient history for your homeschool? Here's a huge list!
Post contain some affiliate links, though which I can earn commission. This is part of a series where I share about our Story of the World lessons. Even if you don't use SOTW, I think you'll enjoy the ancient history activities shared (especially if you are studying the Stone Age or Pre-history). Since my son has a short attention span we did each sub-chapter of Story of the World on a separate day, and sometimes even broke that up into small parts. I decided to break up "The Earliest People - The First Nomads" into two parts, then did a special activity on the third day. We used Stone Age People, a book we found at our library, to supply the pictures Story of the World was lacking. Stone Age People is part of the Make It Work Series, which has a lot of crafts and projects kids can do related to the time period, as well as a lot of great historical information. We mainly used it for the pictures, but might do some of the crafts later. It does have info about human evolution in a few of the beginning pages. If that's something you want to skip, it's easy to when using the book piecemeal as a backdrop for the Story of the World reading, as we did. DAY 1 On the first day, we read the first four paragraphs of the section "The First Nomads" in Story of the World. We were doing this as part of "play school" today (I teach a lot of my lessons pretending to be a dinosaur teacher, and my son pretending to be a number of toy students in a pint size classroom...it works for us). So some of the other toy "students" answered the questions along with my son. My son said that he slept in the same place every night, but his toy "Lion" slept in a different place every night...we even talked about why that might be (ie, because lions needed to follow the prey). That made a great segue to paragraph two. At paragraph three I pulled out Stone Age People and turned to the page where they have a scene with hunter gatherers that made a perfect illustration for what we were reading. As we read the paragraph I asked him to find some of the things it talked about, like people gathering berries and hunting. Then we turned to the next page, where they had pictures of various types of homes and shelters, and I asked him which ones you could take with you or set up quickly if you were traveling around, which ones you could build a fire in, and which ones would be nicer when it was cold vs. when it was hot. Then I read the last paragraph and we looked at the cave pictures later on in Stone Age People (pg 36 - 37). Later we read The First Dog by Jan Brett, a beautifully illustrated story about a boy and a wolf who befriended him, and became the first dog. Day 2 On the second day we read the story of Tarak and her brother in Story of the World , looking again at page 16 - 17 of Stone Age People. Also, the older version of Story of the World actually had a nice illustration of Tarak catching lizards, one of the few illustrations I think is better in the older, un-revised version. Afterwords we started a book about Tarak and her family using a cave printable I made (free to download). You can see she made handprints on the cave wall, like some of the cave art we had looked at, and in this story Tarak had a wolf like the story of the The First Dog (and the wolf had a pup in his version). The green thing to the left of Tarak is one of the lizards she caught. EXTRA ACTIVITY - ROCK ART We didn't do this while studying this chapter, but later we did a rock art activity when we were learning about the prehistoric artwork in the Lascaux caves, and it's something that would fit in nicely here. To pique interest you can watch a short video about these caves here, or take a 365 degree virtual tour here (on the Lascaux FB page another cool but shorter interactive Pano). I also suggest googling pictographs in your local area or state, and sharing any pictures you find with your kids. You might even find a site you can visit. First, I collected rocks to paint on. Because of time we just used regular paint...but I tried to match the colors to those used in the Lascaux cave, and we talked about why they used those colors and what materials they would have made their colors with. You can also make your own paint using minerals or gathered material, which would be really fun. For older kids, this article has more about prehistoric paints, and they have some links toward the bottom to paint-making activities that look more at the chemistry of making paints. Here's our rock art. Our son really enjoyed this. DAY 3 - Hunter Gatherer Hike For our activity we decided to do a "hunter gatherer" trek on a nearby hiking trail. I invited another homeschooling family to come along, and discovered that they were doing Story of the World too! I made some really simple toy bows and arrows and spears. SERIOUSLY SIMPLE. Those are branches from our tree and some weed stalks (we have some really vigorous roadside weeds here in Texas...I suggest wild goldenrod if it lives near you). The string is just brown yarn, and the tips are cardboard. The bows actually sort of worked (they could shoot the "arrows" a few feet...not fast enough to hurt anyone, but far enough to be "cool." I attached the tips of the spears by splitting the top of the branches and inserting the cardboard ...then binding yarn around to make it tighter. If I had thought better I would have cut a "shaft" on the tips and wrapped the yarn around that. They might have stayed on longer that way....but they worked well enough. The kids were happy about their weapons. I've seen some other bow versions that may shoot a little better made from bamboo or PVC (And I love the idea of an eraser capped arrows). If you have older kids and want to try your hand at making a really realistic primitive arrow (with bone), there's a nice tutorial here. After making our arrows we headed for a nature trail. We didn't know beforehand that the trail had been decorated with funny scarecrows for Halloween, so we ad-libbed and wondered out-loud who had made these strange statues, and what they might mean. One of the kids found snails and we talked about how that would be great in our soup that night (No, we didn't really eat them...no wild escargot for us!). We stopped for a break of seeds and berries my friend had brought (um..."gathered earlier"), and then hiked down to a small stream. I had hoped to find animal prints near the muddy bank...we did find one dog print (um...I mean..."wolf" print), and lots of tiny fish we pretended to catch for supper. AND, my friend found an edible plant, purslane, which we tried, with mixed reactions (her daughter hated it so much she drank her whole water bottle to wash away the taste away...but I liked it. It sort of tastes like lettuce.). So, if you are trying this, it might be fun to see if your library has a book on common editable plants to familiarize yourself with beforehand (in case you don't have a friend with who just happens to know of some). Be careful...do your research well, but you should be safe with common, easily recognizable plants like dandelion (purslane actually has a poisonous doppelganger, spotter spurge, so make sure you study up on look alikes and know how to tell the difference before sampling). Also, you want to make sure to wash anything well before you eat it (you can rinse with a water bottle), and avoid collecting anything where pesticides or herbicides might have been sprayed (our purslane was found well off the beaten path so should have been safe from those). Overall the nomad hike was a great success! The kids enjoyed it and it really made what they had read come alive. RESOURSES/SUPPLIES WE USED: During Reading: Stone Age People (for illustrations) Supplemental Reading: The First Dog Rock Painting Activity: Lascaux Cave video Virtual Tour Interactive Pano Rocks Paint (or gather things to make your own paint) Paintbrushes Cave Book Activity: Cave Book Printable Crayons A stapler Nomad Hike Activity: Straight Branches (and something to cut them with) Yarn or Twine Cardboard Water plus snacks for the hike (berries, dried fruit, nuts, jerky:things available in the stone age) MORE RESOURCES Stone Age Lapbook Free Cartoonish Caveman and Mammoth Graphics Stone Age Axe Out of Paper Mache More Activities to use with The First Dog LINKING UP AT Field Trip Friday Hip Homeschool Moms Dear Homeschooler Bookshelf Country Kids at Coombe Mill Homeschool Highlights Throwback Thursday Last Lesson :: Next Lesson See All Our Story of the World Posts
Looking to learn about the great white north, eh? You will love this free printable Canada for Kids reader to color, read, and learn!
No windows? No problem! Get inspired by how we transformed this small middle school classroom with world history themed decor!
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Share Wildflower Ramblings!Our list for Living Books for Ancient & World History: Classical Conversations Cycle 1 is below! I am so happy to share these with you! We are on the threshold for a new school year. With a new fifth volume, Classical Conversations has updated their guides and CDs. I am very pleased with...
Chapter by Chapter Resources and Links for Story of the World: Volume 1 Chapters 1-10 (Disclaimer- This post may contain affiliate links. For more inform
Ready to navigate history? Grab your compass and let's start this journey! This history template features old paper, maps, a globe and a compass and it's perfect to talk about the world trough history.
Make history come alive with these fun, hands-on history lessons for kids! These kids history lessons include activities, worksheets, & more!
Inspired by Charlotte Mason's Book of Centuries. Meant to be kept and added to between 4th and 12th grades. Includes different sections for each world region.
I am starting a series where I share our Story of the World adventures. We started when my son was 7, and went very slowly at first, adjusting lessons to his short attention span. The next year we joined up with a co-op doing this Volume, and went at a much faster pace, so later chapters (7 and on) show that somewhat. I took notes and am gradually adding these as I have time. Sorry for the slow place on adding new units. NOTE: I don't want anyone to think you HAVE to do all the supplementary stuff we did for SOTW. Many people just read the chapters and talk about them, maybe do an extra activity now and then. We did so much at first because I have a kiddo that needed that to get him engaged, and also because I love history and just wanted to do some of these things with him. But as we progressed we gradually did less projects and supplementing. STORY OF THE WORLD POSTS All of my Story of the World posts will be linked below, once they're published. GENERAL SOTW RELATED POSTS My Review of the Story of the World Adjustments for Learners With Short Attentions Spans SOTW Bible Integration Historical Errors in Story of the World (Volume I) SOTW Guides on Other Sites Index of Changes in Revised Version Magic Treehouse Reading Alligned to SOTW Vol 1 and Vol 2 OTHER HISTORY RELATED POSTS Resources Combining History and Science Dover Sampler Free History Printables You-Tube Through Ancient History for Middle and High Schoolers OUR LESSON PLANS/IDEAS BY CHAPTER Each post will be linked as it is added INTRO How Do We Know What Happened - What Is History - What is Archaeology Chap 1 The Earliest People - The First Nomads - The First Nomads Become Farmers Chap 2 Egyptians Lived on the Nile River - Two Kingdoms Become One - Gods of Ancient Egypt Chap 3 The First Writing Chap 4 The Old Kingdom of Egypt - Making Mummies - Egyptian Pyramids Chap 5 The First Sumerian Dictator Chap 6 - The Jewish People Chap 7 - Hammurabi and the Babylonians Chap 8 - The Assyrians Chap 9 The First Cities of India - The River Road - The Mystery of Mohenjo-Daro Chap 10 The Far East: Ancient China - Lei Zu and the Silkworm - The Pictograms of Ancient China - Farming in Ancient China Chap 11 Ancient Africa - Ancient Peoples of West Africa - Anansi and Turtle - Anansi and the Make Believe Food (Sorry, we skipped this) Chap 12 The Middle Kingdom of Egypt - Egypt Invades Nubia - The Hyksos Invade Egypt Chap 13 The New Kingdom of Egypt - The General and the Woman Pharaoh - Amenhotep and King Tut Chap 14 The Israelites Leave Egypt (Moses/Exodus) Chap 15 The Phoenicians Chap 16 The Return of the Assyrians --- Chapter 18 - 25 (Ancient Greece) For now, I'm just sharing a outline of the resources I used for these chapters. Please stop by often to see what's been added! This post is linking up at Hip Homeschool Moms, The Homeschool Nook, A Little Bird Told Me, Love to Learn Hop, School House Review, Dear Homeschooler Bookshelf, Throwback Thursday, and Back to Homeschool Blog Hop 2017 (no longer up): Curriculum, and various other homeschool link-ups. If you would like to share this post but need a more square graphic....here you go....
Last summer I went a little nutty. See, I was SO excited that our curriculum recommended a timeline. SO SO excited that timeline figures came with it. Until ... I opened the packaging. The timeline figures were ... ugly. So I made ancient history timeline figures using classic art! And now I'm shari
Covering 3000 BCE – present, this sturdy 24x36" wallchart displays all the major empires, kingdoms, and civilizations throughout history in a side-by-side format so that the viewer can quickly see how different events in different places relate to one another. A conscious effort has been made to make the chart less Eurocentric than other such timelines and to incorporate newly discovered links between early civilizations. Made in a carbon neutral facility using eco-friendly inks.
Step-by-Step, DIY instructions for setting up your own Bible Timeline! From Creation through the Resurrection over 200+ Events from Biblical and World History.
Teach all your K-12th kids homeschool world history together! This curriculum includes a year of lessons from creation to the fall of the Western Roman Empire plus worksheets, maps, quizes, tests, coloring pages, and dig deeper ideas like videos, projects, & activities!
Pinay Homeschooler is a blog that shares homeschool and afterschool activity of kids from babies to elementary level.
A world map printout to use for various crafts or activities!
Set of FREE printable world map choices with blank maps and labeled options for learning geography, countries, capitals, famous landmarks
Looking for a printable coloring map of the seven continents? Then you are in the right place. We have custom designed just such a map ... Read more
Free Ancient World History Curriculum Part 1: Ancient Civilizations/Old Testament Hi ! I'm so glad you're here ! START HERE! For an introducti ...
A country of gorgeous landscapes, beautiful castles, and delicious beer, Germany is an amazing place to visit for any traveler. It’s home to impressive architecture, art, history, nightlife, fairytale towns, and of course, the world-famous beer festival known as Oktoberfest. If you only have 1 week in Germany, here’s the best itinerary for seeing the […]
Michelangelo is one of the greatest artists the world has ever seen & these Michelangelo Art Projects for Kids are perfect for the kids to learn about him!
Guide to using Social Studies Simulations to step away from the lecture podium and engage your students with hands-on history activities.
Children can learn about the continents with this free printable set that makes learning fun and interactive. After our Solar System Activities I figured we needed...
Set of FREE printable world map choices with blank maps and labeled options for learning geography, countries, capitals, famous landmarks
Set of FREE printable world map choices with blank maps and labeled options for learning geography, countries, capitals, famous landmarks
In the hands-on Silk Road game, players travel the Marco Polo Silk Road through dangerous deserts to far cities. Can they trade for a profit back in Venice?
One of my favorite parts of teaching first grade is I am SO excited how it all came together, and that I can finally share it with y...
Use these scribble notes in conjunction with a reading passage on The Causes of World War 1. I pair them with the free reading passages on Ducksters website. These make the perfect addition to your Social Studies journals! It's an engaging way to get kids to take notes! These really help guide my fi...
Learn about countries for kids with Around the WOrld Country Coloring Pages! These coloring sheets are easy way to explore 19 countries!
Step-by-Step, DIY instructions for setting up your own Bible Timeline! From Creation through the Resurrection over 200+ Events from Biblical and World History.
Integrate art and literacy with no prep or background knowledge with step by step tutorials for art history and art around the world!
Learn about the trenches, aircraft, submarines, soldiers and more with this World War 1 Research Flip Book.
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Looking for free homeschool history curriculum? I've got a list of truly incredible options for you that won't cost you a dime. Really!
