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History Resources

The Big List of Unit Study Hands-on (and Hands-off) Curriculum

March 29, 2017 | 6 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Switching from a strictly classical approach to a homeschool unit study curriculum wasn’t a quick decision, but it was the best choice for our family. Besides learning how to homeschool means making the best choice for your family

Homeschool unit studies allow us to work on a mastery-based level on topics that fascinated us instead of learning in small bites.

The Big List of Unit Study Hands-on (and Hands-off) Curriculum

Two things I quickly learned was that prepared homeschool unit study curriculum was not as readily available as curriculum for other homeschool approaches and that not all of my boys wanted to do hands-on activities.

Although there may not seem as many choices for curriculum using the unit study approach, there is still a variety.

Listing some of the ones I’ve used and which ones have more hands-on ideas, I’m hoping one or two here will help you to make the switch to unit studies easier, ease your planning time or just let somebody else take the teaching reins for a while.

Homeschool Unit Study Curriculum

Also, where possible if there is a discount available, I’ll point that out because I like to save money too.

BEAUTIFUL FEET BOOKS

Beautiful Feet Books is based on history centered literature and I’ve used it for my boys at the middle and high school level.

Be sure to grab the coupon at my article Medieval History for Homeschool Middle School and read about using Beautiful Feet Books.

You can add hands-on ideas here, but it’s not required.

Before Five in a Row

Before Five in a Row and Five in a Row are literature based unit studies based on living books and I used them when the boys were young.

It’s one of my top choices for the younger years and lot of hands-on ideas are sprinkled throughout which I feel is a valuable component for younger grades.

BookShark.

BookShark is the secular version of Sonlight and I classify it as a unit study because of the literature based focused. I love their 4-day a week schedule and this is an all-in-one program or boxed curriculum because it comes with everything you need for a year.

Multiple Ages Unit Study Curriculum

I like BookShark because it allows me to add my own Christian view. Too, hands-on ideas are not required but I love the fact you can add your own activities.

GeoMatters.

Combining our love for geography, history, living books with a Charlotte Mason twist, makes GeoMatters a fun unit study. We loved doing their Trail Guide to Learning.

HomeschoolLegacy. 

This is an all-in-one unit study provider where the planning is laid out for you.

I’ve tried one of the history ones and enjoyed how easy it made lesson planning. And it has a nice balance of both laid out planning and hands-on ideas.

Home School In the Woods.

If you love history like we do and build a lot of your unit studies around it, then you’ll love the approach taken by Home School in the Woods which is through timelines, lapbooks and hands-on activities.

I love how many ideas are given for hands-on projects, but also a good amount of information is given for background information. If you’re looking for long-term hands-on projects, this is a great option.

In the Hands of a Child.

Then this is a lapbook approach to unit studies. The best part besides the fun lapbook is that they can span many ages.

Intellego Unit Studies.

I love these unit studies though they are light on hands-on ideas and are secular.

I’ve used several of these studies when I first started because I didn’t want to have to research all the information. I like them because the background information is well laid out.

Unit Study Curriculum

I normally end up adding my own Biblical content anyway and have ideas for hands-on.

There is very little hands-on required.

KONOS.

Yes, it’s true they are the absolute granddaddy of unit studies and I used them when I first got started. It is a very comprehensive unit study and you can buy just what you want or buy a laid out curriculum. They have more fun hands-on ideas than most other unit studies.

I love the amount of hands-on ideas for each age given, but again it’s not required because there is a sufficient amount of information given without having to do the hands-on activities.

Learning Adventures.

This is one I’ve been eyeballing and would love to try because it includes all my favorites. It’s for upper grades or 4th to 8th grade, it’s based on living books which I try to always use in our unit studies and our passion for history is what is at the center of the themes.

The Big List of Unit Study Hands-on (and Hands-off) Curriculum

I’ll let you know about the hands-on ideas after I use it, but wanted to be sure you knew about it.

Moving Beyond the Page.

This is a favorite when I need a literature based all-in-one unit study.

They have rigorous academics and when you need a more rounded out unit study, they are a great choice.

My Father’s World.

Incorporating classical education and hands-on, this is a very comprehensive unit study approach.

NaturExplorers.

My favorite curriculum for science always uses a living book approach and is hands-on which is why we love NaturExplorers.

From Beautiful Birds to the Fungus Among Us, you’ll find a title your kids will love.

There are a good amount of hands-on ideas which I love because science should be about doing and not just reading.

Nia Unit Studies.


Though a much smaller company, I love that the unit studies take a notebooking approach and are downloadable as e-books. This is a great choice if you want to get started quickly and inexpensively.

I’m hoping to see more titles, but I love mom-and-pop shops.

Homeschool Unit Studies

TRISMS

Having used TRISMS as well, I love the history approach to unit studies. However, it is very comprehensive because it adds in all other subjects.

I love the research aspect of it and there are several activity ideas to include for each theme.

This was challenging for my middle school boys when we started and I loved that aspect of it. I could make it as challenging as I wanted it to be for them.

Hands-on ideas are offered but don’t have to be done.

Weaver Unit Studies.


Weaver has been around for years too and gently covers multiple subjects with a Christian view. If you want to take a more gentle approach, add in more information and want more of a Christian view, then you’ll love this one.

WinterPromise.

This is another wonderful all-in-one program where the themes are based on history using a Charlotte Mason approach.

Also, I’ve rounded up some other curriculum help below.

  • Big Ol’ List of All-In-One Homeschool Curriculum (a.k.a Boxed)
  • 50 Free History Unit Studies –History Lover’s Round Up.

Whether you’re new to the unit study approach or if you’re like me and your needs change each year, I know you’ll like having this list at your fingertips.

Switching from a strictly classical approach to a unit study curriculum wasn’t a quick decision, but it was the best choice for our family. Homeschool unit studies allow us to work on a mastery-based level on topics that fascinated us instead of learning in small bites. Two things I quickly learned were that prepared homeschool unit study curriculum was not as readily available as curriculum for other homeschool approaches and that not all of my boys wanted to do hands-on activities. Grab this Big List of Homeschool Unit Studies to get some ideas!

6 CommentsFiled Under: Geography, Hands-On Activities, History Resources, Homeschool Multiple Ages of Children, Homeschool Simply, Homeschooling, Middle School Homeschool, Other Unit Studies, Science Tagged With: curriculum, hands-on activities, handson, handsonhomeschooling, multiple children, unit studies

5 BEST Books To Create An Around The World Unit Study | Easy Hands-on Ideas

March 15, 2017 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

It’s possible to create a world unit study with a few great books. Also, look at my page Best Homeschool Unit Studies for more free unit studies.

The best way to learn about other parts of the world is through a book.

A book tells stories full of suspense, adventure and discovery.

Events that happened in a geographical area, at a certain time, or as they unfolded through the life of characters in history engage kids.

5 BEST Books To Create An Around The World Unit Study | Easy Hands-on Ideas

{Warning: Picture overload. This post has tons of pictures so you’ll be scrolling. These books are so beautiful and worth every penny so I want you to see lots of pictures!}

I was given these books for free and I was paid for my time. However, paid for my time does not mean paid off. All opinions are my own and for sure I will always tell you what is on my mind. Not every product will get a positive review. Too, because I carefully sort through numerous offers for reviews, it usually means I’m giddy about the product when I do accept it. Read my full disclosure here.

  • The books are
  • Cleopatra Queen of Egypt,
  • Marco Polo History’s Great Adventurer,
  • Archie’s War – My Scrapbook of The First World War,
  • Into the Unknown – How Great Explorers Found Their Way by Land, Sea, and Air and
  • John Muir America’s First Environmentalist.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study

Look at the list below and then look at the unit study ideas below as I break down each book.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study

I can’t wait to show you 5 best books to create an around the world unit study easily through stories by Candlewick Press.

Cleopatra: Queen of Egypt (Historical Notebooks)

The story of Cleopatra’s life has captured the imagination of countless writers and artists for centuries. As one of history’s most enduring figures, much lore has obscured the real woman behind the myth. Was she a beautiful and heartless schemer who stopped at nothing to get what she wanted? Or was Cleopatra a tragic victim of her own heart? This next volume in the acclaimed Notebook series offers a fascinating look into the world of one of Egypt’s most notorious leaders. Featuring a fictional journal that invites us into Cleopatra’s inner world, this is an exquisite guide bursting with gorgeous illustrations and packed with fun interactive extras such as flaps featuring historical facts and pop-culture references. This is a riveting volume rife with battles, passion, and even murderous intrigue — an exclusive look into the legendary queen’s dramatic life.

Marco Polo: History's Great Adventurer (Historical Notebooks)

Immerse yourself in this interactive introduction to one of the greatest explorers ever known.Travel along the Silk Road to medieval China with Marco Polo as your guide. Meet the warlord Kublai Khan and sail through pirate-infested seas in search of riches beyond measure. Including booklets, foldouts, and maps, as well as excerpts from The Travels of Marco Polo, this beautifully illustrated volume illuminates the adventures of history’s greatest storyteller.

Archie's War

Marcia Williams captures the Great War through a child’s eyes with a fascinating fictional scrapbook including real mementos of the day.Meet ten-year-old Archie, his family, and best friend in a scrapbook Archie has made himself, full of comic strips and plenty of other memorabilia. The year is 1914, and as the Great War begins, Archie’s scrapbook reflects the war’s impact on his life and on those who write back from the front. Marcia Williams retains her humor and energy as she employs a new collage style to present an intimate and compelling view of the
First World War and its era.

Into the Unknown: How Great Explorers Found Their Way by Land, Sea, and Air

Ready to relive some of the most daring voyages of all time? Unfold these spectacular cross sections and explore fourteen historic journeys, with the help of dramatic storytelling and sidebars that highlight key concepts, places, and technology. Presented in a larger format to make these exciting journeys even more accessible and engaging.Back matter includes an index, a glossary, and sources.

John Muir: Candlewick Biographies: America's First Environmentalist

John Muir loved the land. Born in 1838, he was a writer, a scholar, an inventor, a shepherd, a farmer, and an explorer. But above all, he was a naturalist. John Muir was particularly devoted to the high cliffs, waterfalls, and ancient giant sequoia trees that, through his careful influence, were set aside as Yosemite, one of the first national parks in America. Here is the life story of the man who, moved by a commitment to wilderness everywhere, founded the Sierra Club in 1892, a conservation group that carries on his crucial work to this day. Back matter includes an epilogue, a bibliography, and information about the Sierra Club.

The first book Cleopatra Queen of Egypt is for ages 8-12 .

It is for grades 3 -7 which makes it a useful book for teaching multiple ages.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

That is one huge advantage that attracted me to these books.

Strive for a middle age when choosing books.

Why? Because you can create a unit study for multiple ages without being so time intensive when planning.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

Moving up or down from a middle point to plan age appropriate activities.

That is less stressful at a middle grade level.

Starting off your adventure, your kids can read about Ancient Egypt.

Then learn about Ancient Rome through the life of Cleopatra.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

I also pulled out a game I had created when we studied Ancient Egypt before.

Look here for the Free Ancient Egypt Mehen Printable Board Game (Hands-on History).

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

What I appreciated most about the book was that it had both positive and negative things to say about the life of Cleopatra.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

Whether true or not, many things we’ll never know about her.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

But your kids can learn about life during that time through the pull out maps in the book and lift flaps.

Other topics in the book that you want to cover are Roman numbers for math, Cleopatra’s relatives which were Greek-speaking aristocrats, Egyptian religion, Julius Caesar, Egyptian hairstyles, Egyptian jewelry, festivals and temples.

How to Teach About World Cultures Through Children’s Books

Also, learning about how the Egyptians were accustomed to female pharaohs wielding power, but the Greeks and Romans were not gives your kids a glimpse into the government.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

Look at some of these hands-on ideas while learning about Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt and Ancient Rome. They round out a world unit study.

Grab this free Ancient Lapbook and unit study here.

We studied Greece numerous times and here is a second lapbook for Ancient Greece.

To understand the background of Ancient Egypt also download this free Pharaohs and Queens Ancient Egypt lapbook.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

Grab this free Ancient Rome lapbook and make this fun easy Roman helmet and shield.

Just to be sure you have more than enough hands-on history activities to bring the reading of this book alive.

Here are several more Hands-on History Activities for Learning about Ancient Civilizations you don’t want to miss. This post gives you more ideas for other civilizations in this world unit study.

Then on to the next adventure with the book Into the Unknown – How Great Explorers Found Their Way by Land, Sea, and Air.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

The reason I chose this book is that when you look at the table of contents, it has a mix of 14 different adventurers from Pytheas the Greek to Tenzing Norgay.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

And Edmund Hillary who scaled Mount Everest in 1953 to Umberto Nobile who flies across the Arctic in 1928.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

Some kids get bored covering history and geography in a chronological order and need some breathing room to skip to other areas of the world about topics that intrigue them.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

How to Use Children’s Books to Teach History Units

The beauty of this book is that through the courageous and thrilling trips of the explorers, your child can learn about many different places.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

Just some ideas to take away from this book are to learn about how Apollo II rockets in space, Leif Ericksson reaches the coast of America and how John Cook maps the Pacific Ocean.

This book too is for ages 8-12.

And through the colorful maps, detailed drawings and double spread pull out page, it was hard for Tiny to put this one down.

Not only can you can bring this book alive by studying the different parts of a ship, your child can learn how explorers found their way using different navigational tools.

From ancient to modern places, your kids have their choice of where to start. Here are some hands-on activities to pique their interest.

  • Make a simple and easy compass.
  • Make a quadrant using this free template.
  • Do a Viking Lapbook.
5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)
  • Free unit study and lapbook about the Arctic.
  • Appreciate the exploration of Christopher Columbus by 5 Days of Learning Printables:The World of Columbus and Sons Day 5 For Middle and High School.
  • Add in studying some science and learn about the Ocean with this free unit study.

Awesome Literature to Teach World History

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

Moving on to understand about China and the Silk Road through the eyes of Marco Polo, we loved reading Marco Polo History’s Great Adventurer.

Like the Cleopatra Queen of Egypt book, this one too has beautiful bright fold outs with background information about medieval China.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

Additionally, look at my Free Marco Polo Unit Study, Lapbook, and Hands-on Ideas.

One reason I chose this book is because it can be hard to find resources that don’t just focus on Medieval Europe  without including what’s happening in the rest of the world during that time.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

Topics like the Maya city of Chichen Itza (by the way, we went there on our honey moon, okay, okay) the Soninke Empire of West Africa and the Silk Road are equally engaging and important.

Yes it was fascinating to read about the discoveries along the way but other topics like understanding the geography also helps your child to appreciate the rugged terrain.

Including deserts, mountains and the silk making process make for fascinating topics while studying about Marco Polo.

Learning about deserts, your child can create desert sand art, make a hygrometer and make a sand clock.

Picture Books Brings Learning to Life

Also, I have a huge Marco Polo unit study where your child can make a mythological map, an interactive extend a timeline book, terracotta warriors, an artful mosaic and salt dough map.

My next choice is Archie’s War – My Scrapbook of The First World War.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

This book is full of comic strips with a collage or scrapbook style.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

Although war is not a comical matter, I’ve always struggled with teaching my boys about wars and this book gives a picture of what life would have been like in World War I in an entertaining way.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities)

Through letters, drawings and through collages articles from that time period, your kids can appreciate the emotion of the time period.

Also, because it is about World War I, your kids can read about snippets going on in other parts of the world along with an easy timeline.

How rationing begins and how life is never the same again is a message that is gently weaved through the newspaper headlines, letters and diary like quotes throughout the book.

One of the best things I didn’t realize about this book is that some of the things are actual mementos of the time period. This is one period that Tiny and I are wanting to focus more on.

Be sure to grab my free World War II lapbook and learn to make ration cakes as a follow up to this book.

The last book John Muir America’s First Environmentalist is the perfect book for an outdoors adventure.

From Muir’s birthplace in Scotland to Florida and California, John Muir was the ultimate nature adventurer.

Sketching natural journals while learning about the local flora and fauna your child can love nature and appreciate it through his fascinating life.

How to Use Picture Books to Merge Academic Subjects

Learning about Yosemite National Park and Muir’s love to preserve the wilderness, this book has us researching for hours about songbirds, Sequoia, Canada and the Aurora Borealis.

Look at this free spring unit study about John Muir where we did several hands-on activities.

One we did was to learn how ice affects mountains.

If you’re looking to use one book with all of your children to learn about far away places from the comfort of your chair, you’ll swoon over the choices.

We easily have several more unit studies planned.

What do you think? Ready to put together your own world unit study?

How to purchase them.

►Product Names: Cleopatra Queen of Egypt, Marco Polo History’s Great Adventurer, Archie’s War – My Scrapbook of The First World War, Into the Unknown – How Great Explorers Found Their Way by Land, Sea, and Air and John Muir America’s First Environmentalist.
►Website: Candlewick Press.
►Suitable for Ages:  8 to 12 or grades 3 – 7.

5 BEST Books to Create an Around the World Unit Study (and Hands-on Activities). When you use picture books for multiple ages of children they have a way of bringing homeschool unit studies to life. If you are looking to cover geography and history, grab these books and the easy and fun hands-on homeschool ideas @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for AWESOME pins.

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Leave a CommentFiled Under: 1. My FREE Learning Printables {Any Topic}, Do Unit Studies, Geography, History Resources, Homeschool Curriculum Review, Lapbooks, Middle School Homeschool, Product Review, Science Tagged With: geography, hands on history, hands-on activities, handson, highschoolgeography, history, history resources, historyspine, middleschool, unit studies

Free Ancient Egypt Mehen Printable Board Game (Hands-on History)

March 11, 2017 | 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I created a free Ancient Egypt Mehen printable board game to go with our Ancient Civilizations – Egypt Unit Study.

We have been reading through the book Cleopatra: Queen of Egypt (Historical Notebooks) and I whipped back out the Ancient Egypt Mehen printable board game I made when we studied Ancient Egypt the third time. 

Look on my page history games for more fun ideas.

Grab this free and fun printable board game when studying Ancient Egypt. It's Mehen or the snake game for hands on history. Get it over @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Then, I realized something just awful which is I hadn’t shared the free printable Mehen board game here with you.

First, look at some of these books about Ancient Egypt.

17 Ancient Egypt Books & Resources for Kids Who Love Reading and Being Read To

Add some of these books to your home library and use them for a day of learning or for unit studies.

The Egypt Game

The first time Melanie Ross meets April Hall, she’s not sure they have anything in common. But she soon discovers that they both love anything to do with ancient Egypt. When they stumble upon a deserted storage yard, Melanie and April decide it’s the perfect spot for the Egypt Game. Before long there are six Egyptians, and they all meet to wear costumes, hold ceremonies, and work on their secret code. Everyone thinks it’s just a game until strange things start happening. Has the Egypt Game gone too far?

Tales of Ancient Egypt (Puffin Classics)

These stories include the great myths - of Amen-Ra, who created all the creatures in the world; of Isis, seaching the waters for her dead husband Osiris; of the Bennu Bird and the Book of Thoth. But there are also tales told for pleasure about magic, treasure and adventure - even the first ever Cinderella story.

The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt (Landmark Books)

For more than 3,000 years, Egypt was a great civilization that thrived along the banks of the Nile River. But when its cities crumbled to dust, Egypt’s culture and the secrets of its hieroglyphic writings were also lost. The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt explains how archaeologists have pieced together their discoveries to slowly reveal the history of Egypt’s people, its pharaohs, and its golden days.

The Buildings of Ancient Egypt

Uses archeological evidence to describe the construction, decoration, and furnishings of ancient Egyptian tombs, pyramids, and homes

Science in Ancient Egypt (Science of the Past)

Discusses the achievements of the ancient Egyptians in science, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, agriculture, and technology.

Great Ancient Egypt Projects: You Can Build Yourself

From reed boats, papyrus, and amulets, to pyramids, pharaohs, and mummies, Great Ancient Egypt Projects You Can Build Yourself explores the fascinating lives of ancient Egyptians through more than25 hands-on building projects and activities. Great Ancient Egypt Projects You Can Build Yourself gives readers today a chance to experience how the ancient Egyptians lived, cooked, worked, worshipped, entertained themselves, and interacted with their neighbors through building projects that use common household supplies.Detailed step-by-step instructions, diagrams, and templates for creating each project are combined with historical facts and anecdotes, biographies, and trivia for the real-life models of each project. Together they give kids a first-hand look at daily life in ancient Egypt.

The Cat of Bubastes: A Tale of Ancient Egypt (Dover Children's Classics)

Chebron, the young son of an Egyptian high priest, and Amuba, a young slave in the boy's household, are close friends; but their lives are greatly altered when Chebron accidentally kills a cat, an animal held sacred by the ancient Egyptians. Forced to flee for their safety, the boys and their companions begin a long and dangerous journey. A thrilling adventure story, this is also a tale packed with historical facts. Among other fascinating details, young readers learn about the Egyptian religion and geography, how the Nile was used for irrigation, and how the Egyptians made war and were prepared for burial. A captivating book that accurately describes life in a once magnificent civilization, this volume will especially appeal to youngsters fascinated by the life and customs of ancient Egypt.

A History of Ancient Egypt: From the First Farmers to the Great Pyramid (A History of Ancient Egypt, 1)

The ancient world comes to life in the first volume in a two book series on the history of Egypt, spanning the first farmers to the construction of the pyramids. Famed archaeologist John Romer draws on a lifetime of research to tell one history's greatest stories; how, over more than a thousand years, a society of farmers created a rich, vivid world where one of the most astounding of all human-made landmarks, the Great Pyramid, was built. Immersing the reader in the Egypt of the past, Romer examines and challenges the long-held theories about what archaeological finds mean and what stories they tell about how the Egyptians lived. More than just an account of one of the most fascinating periods of history, this engrossing book asks readers to take a step back and question what they've learned about Egypt in the past. Fans of Stacy Schiff's Cleopatra and history buffs will be captivated by this re-telling of Egyptian history, written by one of the top Egyptologists in the world.

Boy of the Pyramids

The pictured wall of an Egyptian tomb supplied the inspiration for this unusual story, which takes place during the building of the Great Pyramid of Khufu more than 4,000 years ago. Kaffe and Sari, an Egyptian noble's son and a slave girl from the nomadic Sand People of the Sinai region, help solve a troublesome mystery and trap its culprit. All told against a colorfully detailed backdrop of ancient Egypt.

The Golden Goblet

Ranofer wants only one thing in the world: to be a master goldsmith like his beloved father was. But how can he when he is all but imprisoned by his evil half brother, Gebu? Ranofer knows the only way he can escape Gebu's abuse is by changing his destiny. But can a poor boy with no skills survive on the cutthroat streets of ancient Thebes? Then Ranofer finds a priceless golden goblet in Gebu's room and he knows his luck−and his destiny−are about to change.

Seeker of Knowledge: The Man Who Deciphered Egyptian Hieroglyphs

In 1802, Jean-Francois Champollion was eleven years old. That year, he vowed to be the first person to read Egypt’s ancient hieroglyphs. Champollion’s dream was to sail up the Nile in Egypt and uncover the secrets of the past, and he dedicated the next twenty years to the challenge.James Rumford introduces the remarkable man who deciphered the ancient Egyptian script and fulfilled a lifelong dream in the process. Stunning watercolors bring Champollion’s adventure to life in a story that challenges the mind and touches the heart.

The Egyptian Cinderella

This Egyptian spin on the classic Cinderella tale was initially recorded in the first century by a Roman historian and is retold here by folklorist Shirley Climo.

Poor Rhodopis! She has nothing—no mother or father, and no friends. She is a slave, from the far-off country of Greece. Only the beautiful rose-red slippers her master gives her can make Rhodopis smile.

So when a falcon swoops down and snatches one of the slippers away, Rhodopis is heartbroken. For how is she to know that the slipper will land in the lap of the great Pharaoh himself? And who would ever guess that the Pharaoh has promised to find the slipper’s owner and make her queen of all Egypt?

Augustus Caesar's World

In her unique approach, Foster weaves a story of the world around her central character; rather than focusing exclusively on geo-political events, as most textbooks do, she includes stories of scientific discovery and invention, music, literature, art, and religion. Her keen intuition for stories will especially delight and amuse youthful readers. In Augustus Caesar's World, Foster traces the seven major civilizations of Rome, Greece, Israel, Egypt, China, India, and Persia from 4500 B.C. to the time of Augustus Caesar in 44 B.C. and culminating in 14 A.D. Within this timeframe readers will learn not only the stories of Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, and Marc Antony, but also the historian Livy and how Virgil came to write the Aeneid. Foster will then take her readers all over the world to learn what was happening at this same time in China, Persia, India and so on. Foster's detailed pen and ink drawings are fresh and appealing, and her illustrated timelines give a clear sense of chronology, enriching the engaging text.

The Lost Queen of Egypt: The Tomb of Nefertiti

For professor of Egyptology Henry Markham, this would be the crowning glory of his career: an intact tomb of Nefertiti, the great royal wife of Akhenaten and the heretic pharaoh of eighteenth dynasty Egypt, whose bust of exquisite beauty resides in the Berlin Museum, which he had searched for the last ten years. He had an unspoken passion for her only excelled by his young assistant, Steven Sinclair, whose visions and dreams of her haunted him, much to the annoyance of Helen Carter, the freelance journalist on-site who, with her business partner Mike Mitcham, the digs photographer, saw Nefertiti as a rival for his affections. Thanks to a gambling debt, Mike finds himself the proud owner of a large luxury mobile home that four Mossad agents are interested in, along with Emil Brogini, who did a drug deal with two Mossad rogue agents since deceased. The arrival of Henry's estranged sister, Millicent, with her friend Jane Evesham, a gifted clairvoyant, does nothing to improve his temper, especially when Jane tells him they are in great danger. Can the danger come from four renegade Mossad agents or Emil Bratislav Brogini, Mr. Big in Cairo, into every racket going? Jane discovers that Helen has a latent gift of clairvoyance which, with their combined powers in a séance, sends them back to the eighteenth dynasty with Nefertiti, Akhenaten, and danger around every corner as they try to discover who is trying to kill them all using a large band of Libyan bandits. They survive ambushes, assassin's knives, and chariot chases, finally getting back to their own time with Nefertiti.

Pyramid

Pyramid is a strong resource for readers looking to expand their knowledge of ancient Egyptian civilization, history, and architecture.

Award-winning author-illustrator David Macaulay explores the philosophy of life and death in ancient Egypt through richly detailed black-and-white illustrations and clear, concise text.

Though created with middle grade readers in mind, all with interest in the topic will enjoy this impressive look at what many consider to be one of the most awesome of humankind's creations.

Pharaoh's Boat

With poetic language and striking illustrations, Weitzman tells the story of how one of the greatest boats of ancient Egypt came to be built and built again.In the shadow of the Great Pyramid at Giza, the most skilled shipwrights in all of Egypt are building an enormous vessel that will transport Cheops, the mighty pharaoh, across the winding waterway and into a new world. Pharaoh's boat will be a wonder to behold, and well prepared for the voyage ahead. But no one, not even the Egyptian king himself, could have imagined just where the journey of Pharaoh's boat would ultimately lead.

The Winged Cat

Merit is a servant girl in the temple of cat goddesses. In a rage, Waha, the High Priest, kills a sacred car, and Merit sees him do it.But when Merit reports the evil deed to Pharaoh, Waha denies that he is guilty.

Hands-on Ancient Egypt

Though the ancient Egyptians had many games, Mehen, the snake game was popular.

(Pic. attribution)

The game was called snake because the stone board represented a coiled serpent with its head in the middle.

This could easily be made with clay too and it would probably look a little more ancient, but it would be easy enough to make if you wanted to go all out for a unit study about Ancient Egypt.

So we read up on a few rules we found and I created a game board.

We had some crafting jewels in the house and we grabbed them to use as tokens.

I wasn’t sure how this game would go over with the kids so I let the pros check it out.

Too, we all agreed it was a nice break to our day and it was  pretty inexpensive to make because I printed it off on cardstock.

I wanted it on letter size paper in case we wanted to store it in our lapbook or notebook. I put a few final touches on it and overall we had a great last few days as we took off time and played games.

Also, I love using ALL of the fun interactive lapbooks and history craft ideas by Home School in the Woods. I know you will too.

Plus, your kids will love the book Cleopatra: Queen of Egypt (Historical Notebooks) with all of it’s lift flaps and pull out maps.

Also, remember to look at our first time we studied Ancient Egypt here with this big homeschool unit study.

You’ll love these other links:

  • Ancient Egypt Narmer Crown Dough Activity
  • How to Make Smokin’ Hot Egyptian Pillars Out of Cardboard
  • Ancient Egyptian Mathematics: Build a LEGO Math Calculator

GRAB THE FREE ANCIENT EGYPT PRINTABLE BOARD GAME BELOW

Now, how to grab the free game. It’s a subscriber freebie.

That means when you sign up to follow me, you get my emails in your inbox and you get this freebie.

1) Sign up on my email list.

2) Grab the freebie now.

3) Last, look for all my emails in your inbox. Glad to have you following me!

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2 CommentsFiled Under: 1. My FREE Learning Printables {Any Topic}, Ancient Civilizations, Free Homeschool Resources, Hands-On Activities, History Based, History Resources Tagged With: ancient civilizations, ancientegypt, hands on history, hands-on, hands-on activities, handson, handsonhomeschooling, history, history resources

Switzerland Homeschool Geography Unit Study (and Lapbook)

January 31, 2017 | 3 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have a Switzerland unit study. Also, look at my page Best Homeschool Unit Studies.

Covering the history and geography of European countries has been light this year.

So I leaped at the chance to use CASE OF ADVENTURE travel series unit study, Destination Switzerland, The MEGA Travel Activity Pack and Cuckoo Clock Secrets in Switzerland. 

Also, Destination Switzerland unit study has many valuable parts to this unit study which makes it very convenient if you’re pressed for time or if you’re inexperienced in putting one together.

Switzerland Homeschool Geography Unit Study (and Lapbook)

It is a hands-on geography and history study, has an easy (always my standard) huge lapbook, includes videos and background information for each chapter of the living book, Cuckoo Clock Secrets in Switzerland (it has a christian worldview) and is laid out.

Do you know how hard it can be to find all those features in one unit study? Our new Switzerland unit study was just too irresistible to pass up.

Switzerland Homeschool Geography Unit Study (and Lapbook)

I was given this product for free and I was paid for my time. However, paid for my time does not mean paid off. All opinions are my own and for sure I will always tell you what is on my mind. Not every product will get a positive review. Too, because I carefully sort through numerous offers for reviews,  it means I’m giddy about the product when I do accept it. Read my full disclosure here.

Did I mention the book is about a homeschooling family that travels? We can so relate to that having lived overseas.

Even if you or your family have never traveled overseas you’ll love how Cuckoo Clock Secrets in Switzerland makes learning about Switzerland come alive.

Solving a mystery about an ancient coin while learning about geographical features and landmarks like the beautiful Matterhorn, cheese making, the culture of the Swiss people and of course cuckoo clocks not to mention yodeling, your kids will love this unit study.

Having used unit studies that required information based just on web links, which may be outdated, it was a breath of fresh air to have background information about the country of Switzerland that we could read about in Cuckoo Clock Secrets in Switzerland.

How to Learn About Switzerland In 12 Lessons

If you begin the unit study by printing the teacher’s guide which is suggested to do first, you can track which activities you want your children to do while reading the mystery novel.

Switzerland Homeschool Geography Unit Study (and Lapbook)

The teacher’s guide, which I had coil bound has three parts.

Preparation, read-aloud and virtual travel and activities and craft are the different sections and from there you can choose which material you want to cover for the day.

Like most unit studies, it is not necessary to cover all of the material or print off all of the activities. A lot of the activities are geared toward younger kids like the fun Discovery Agent Clue cards.

One of the best parts we loved about the unit study was that you can learn about Switzerland in just 12 lessons.

Unit studies can drag on and details can becoming boring if you try to cover a huge amount of information.

Unit studies don’t have to last a month or bore your child if they’re not interested in certain sub-topics within the unit study.

Flexibility is the key to a well-written unit study. So if you want to learn at a slower pace, each lesson can easily be adapted into a two day study. Your unit study about Switzerland can last for a month if that is your pace.

Another way we have covered unit studies is to turn the 12 lessons into a unit study for the quarter. If your kids are especially young, all under 7 years of age, then covering the 12 lessons by doing one lesson per week keeps the unit study from overwhelming your young learners.

Geography Activity Packs

So what I’m saying is that there is enough activities to make Destination Switzerland unit study a quarter unit study or twelve weeks when you include the The MEGA Travel Activity Pack.

The MEGA Travel Activity Pack contains fun things like printable money, journals and airplane packs which really make the virtual traveling part fun.

Hands-on activities, not clicking numerous links are the heart of a well-planned out unit study and Destination Switzerland unit study has activities for both older and younger children to choose from.

Tiny really loved making Zopf, a Swiss style bread while we read about our adventure for the day.

Switzerland Homeschool Geography Unit Study (and Lapbook)

Then, having created many unit studies, which include lapbooks and doing my series 10 Days of Diving Into Unit Studies by Creating a Unit Study Together with you, you know I love simple and uncomplicated lapbooks.

About Switzerland

Unless you’re working on your kids fine motor skills, having to cut every minibook and fill out every minibook can become monotonous though many homeschool moms continue to make their kids do that. Don’t forget that some of the prep work can be done when you help cut out the minibooks.

Switzerland Homeschool Geography Unit Study (and Lapbook)

There are many lapbook minibooks to choose from along with information that your child can glue inside the books instead of a bunch of blank useless pages. Again, because I’m short on time, I prefer lapbooks that have back ground information that my child can glue in especially when we don’t have time to research every topic.

CASE OF ADVENTURE may be a good fit for you and your kids:

  • If you don’t like to have to gather a lot of materials and you want background information at your fingertips.
  • If you want to cover literature, history, geography and have hands-on ideas laid out for you.
  • If you don’t want a complete unit study and prefer to add in some of your other subjects like math, grammar, a list of vocabulary words and spelling.
  • If you’re like me and have multiple ages of children, you want the option of choosing hands-on activities for younger and older kids.
  • If you don’t want to lesson plan and write out your lesson plan ideas each day.
  • If you want the ability to cover the unit study in broad strokes, then do it in 12 lessons or if you want to expand it, then take two or more days, weeks or even a quarter to cover the unit study.
  • If you like easy lapbooks like I do. My lapbooks are not lessons in how to color and cut. You can do that if you want to, but I want the emphasis on hands-on fun, not drudgery. Look at my post Beware of the 3 C’s of Lapbooking.
  • If you want unit studies that use living books.
  • If you want living books that follow a series. This is her first book and unit study. More are coming.
  • If you don’t mind printing all of your material.
  • If your children like to watch videos instead of doing research papers.
  • If you’re inexperienced at unit studies and need one that is laid out.

About Switzerland

What I would like to see change.

There are some features that I feel could make this unit study more helpful.

Try to remember that I value organization because my time is limited. So some of these things I’m going to mention may not bother you, but I think they are worth mentioning.

It would be helpful if the Teacher’s Guide had hands-on activities, printables for hands-on activities and lapbook printable separated under each chapter.

Sections in the teacher’s guide for each chapter of the novel can be Read-Aloud, Hands-on Activities, Lapbook Printables and Media Content. This would help me not to have to take so much time sorting through them.

This would allow me to see the flexibility for each chapter. For example, one time we may not want to do a lapbook and may want to read and do just hands-on activities. The next time we cover Switzerland I may want to print out the lapbook.

It keeps all the content easily organized when you can see all the choices at a glance for each lesson.

Also, receiving two emails up front about how to print made it a bit confusing. Receiving setting up and printing instructions would be less confusing if they were only in the download. Then, it’s all in one place at my fingertips on my laptop instead of having to flip back to read my email while reading on my laptop.

Tightening up the places to go to read about how to do the unit study keeps it from being too heavy on instruction and more importantly gives you one place to read for set up and printing.

I know these are just organizational and cosmetic preferences. They don’t really affect the content which is really more important.

Switzerland Unit Study and Lapbook @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

How to purchase it.

  • Product Names: Destination Switzerland Unit Study, MEGA Travel Activity Pack, and Cuckoo Clock Secrets in Switzerland (Case of Adventure Travel Series Book 1) .
  • Website: CASE OF ADVENTURE
  • About the product: Cuckoo Clock Secrets in Switzerland is Book 1 of the CASE OF ADVENTURE Travel Series. “There was a cracking noise and the crumbling of mortar. Rome put his Swiss army knife to work and carefully ran it around the edge of the stone, scraping away the plaster. He
  • signalled to Ren, who pulled harder. Suddenly the whole stone came away from the wall. Together, they slid it out and gazed at the gaping hole that was left behind.” Dive into adventure with Ren, Rome, Jake, Libby and Tiffany as they discover an ancient coin and a mystery connected with a cuckoo clock
  • which takes them to the beautiful land of Switzerland. In their quest to solve the puzzle, they unearth some fascinating history and recover a lost fortune.
  • Suitable for Ages: Younger (5 to 7 years old) Older (8 to 13 years old)
  • Formats: Grab the book, Cuckoo Clock Secrets in Switzerland (Case of Adventure Travel Series Book 1), in Kindle or paperback and visit CASE OF ADVENTURE to purchase the Destination Switzerland Unit Study and the MEGA Travel Activity Pack.
  • Worldview: The novel has a Christian worldview, but the unit study can be tweaked to add your view. The novel mentions Bible study and prayer. If you want a strictly secular view, it’s possible to purchase the lapbook which comes with the video content and not read the novel.That would be the best way to tweak it. Again, the novel is about a Christian family and there is a mention of a Christian life style in the novel, but the curriculum is not a Bible curriculum.

You’ll find helpful my post How to Grade a Homeschool Unit Study for an Older Child (& high school assessment) and Ultimate Homeschool Unit Study Planner – Which Lesson Planning Pages to Use.

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

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3 CommentsFiled Under: Geography, History Resources, Homeschool Curriculum Review, Lapbook, Lapbooks, Product Review Tagged With: geography, hands on history, hands-on, hands-on activities, handson, handsonhomeschooling, homeschoolgeography, lapbook, switzerland, unit studies

Pioneer Living and Cloth Dyeing (Hands-on History)

December 22, 2016 | 4 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

If you’re learning about pioneer living or westward expansion, you’ll love this cloth dyeing hands-on history activity. Also, look at my BEST Westward Ho Unit Study and Lapbook.

I wanted to focus on a science activity that pioneers living during that time would do, which is cloth dyeing.

Pioneer Living and Cloth Dyeing (Hands-on History)

Pioneer living and cloth dyeing go hand in hand though I’m sure pioneers of that time weren’t too concerned about many different colors in their clothes.

They normally just had a few pieces of clothing.

However, when they did want color, they knew a lot about nature and how to get the colors they wanted.

Pioneer Living | Hands-on History

Pioneers and Native Americans living on the frontier knew about insects, flowers and vegetables that could be cooked up and used for color.

This method of dyeing cloths has been used from ancient civilizations down to modern times.

In our Ancient Civilization unit study (studying Pirates) we learned about how Phoenicians used a shellfish, called a Murex to make purple dye.

The name Phoenician comes from a Greek word that means purple men. Purple has come to symbolize wealth, royalty and high office.

Pioneer Living and Cloth Dyeing (Hands-on History)

Also, though when we lived in South America, we learned about natural dyeing when we took a family field trip to a family owned weaving and dyeing business.

It is always a fascinating project to learn about and we thought we would try it again with some things we had in our refrigerator and one or two things we bought (I can’t stand beets – yuck) to experiment with.

Pioneer Living and Cloth Dyeing (Hands-on History)

Look at what we gathered up.

  • Walnuts. Since we’ve done this before, we wanted to experiment with a different color than black from the opened hull. So we added whole walnuts to some cracked hulls and got a really pretty golden color.
  • Kale. This was the first time for this and we loved the lighter color and wonder what we could have added to make it brighter or maybe boiled it longer.
  • Onion skins. We used a red onion because we had them and it made an orange-ish color.
  • Beets. We loved the lighter color.
  • Blackberries. We added salt and vinegar to it to get a more vibrant color.
  • Old or new diaper. Clean of course (wink). We used an old one to cut up into blocks for fabric swatches.
Pioneer Living and Cloth Dyeing (Hands-on History)

Then we added water to four pots or pans and brought it to a boil.

After it boiled, we turned the burner down and let it simmer for about an hour on real low.

More Pioneer Living Crafts

  • National Prairie Day Easy Popsicle Stick Wagon Craft
  • Dried Apple Crafts: Hands-on Fun Shrunken Head Apple Craft for Kids
  • 7 Educational Movies for Kids About Westward Expansion
  • Pioneer Peg Dolls For Kids Westward Expansion Hands On Activities
  • No Sew Pioneer Rag Doll For Kids Westward Expansion Activity
  • 10 Westward Expansion History Fun Coloring Pages
Pioneer Living and Cloth Dyeing (Hands-on History)

We’re thinking, the longer it simmers, the darker the color after we read about how Native Americans did it.

Then we soaked the cotton fabric in the solution overnight.

There is no limit to natural materials you can use to explore and have fun with. We really had a lot of fun with this.

Pioneer Living and Cloth Dyeing (Hands-on History)

And, we found inspiration from this post on Pioneer Thinking: Making Natural Dyes from Plants, which categorizes colors by natural material to use. It is a great post to get some ideas and tips from.

Too, you may want to check out my post that goes great with this unit study, which is How To Make An Easy Ink pot & Quill Pen with Berry Ink.

I think all of your kids will love this activity and especially if you let them pick out the flowers, nuts and vegetables they want to use and do some color mixing too.

This is such a great open ended exploration activity to include all ages.

Hands-on History. Cloth dyeing has been used since ancient civilization through to frontier living @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

4 CommentsFiled Under: Geography Based, Hands-On Activities, History Based, History Resources, Science Based Tagged With: hands on history, hands-on, hands-on activities, handson, handsonhomeschooling, history, history resources, homeschoolhistory

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