Homeschool Resources – The Story Of The World , Volume 1

Please Note:  This post contains affiliate links.  I do benefit if you click on the link and make a purchase.  All of the products I link to are products that I have either bought or borrowed from the library and found to be worthwhile.

A Word of Caution: Parents should preview the books and videos before showing them to their children, what I may find appropriate for my children another parent may not find suitable.

• We printed out a Book of Centuries
• We created a Timeline for our Homeschool Room
• We simulated an archaeological dig:  I buried several things in a section of our yard.  We roped the area off, the girls used screens to sift the dirt and found what I had buried.  Even at 8 & 11, they found this really fun!

• we made cave paintings on brown paper bags as suggested in Activity Guide

• We made a replica of the Nile and flooded it every day as suggested in the Activity Guide

• We made cuneiform tablets and hieroglyphic scrolls as suggested in the Activity Guide
• We looked at examples of both using Google Images, there is so much to see that providing a link does not do it justice.  I encourage you to Google Image cuneiform and hieroglyphs to see some examples of both.

• We made Canopic Jars and Scented Oils
• We DID NOT make the chicken mummy, but I know a lot of homeschool moms who did and said it was great.  You can check out my friend Julie mummified a rubber chicken.

• We built pyramids out of Legos and Kapla blocks
• We took a virtual tour of a pyramid on youtube
• We checked out this video on how Pyramids were built

• We made the Sumerian seal as suggested in the Activity Guide

• We read Abraham-God’s Brave Explorer

• the girls crafted Joseph’s coat of many colors using fabric scraps
• We read Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors

• We discussed the laws and which we thought were fair and why or why not
• We found Ancient Egyptians and the Neighbors in our library, the girls had fun with the activities

• we read, answered the review questions, and summarized this chapter

• We read Gilgamesh the King
• We watched The Epic of Gilgamesh on youtube

• We had the experience of making bricks in Williamsburg the summer before we read this book, otherwise, it is a great experience, as suggested in the Activity Guide

• My girls enjoyed building a clay model of the dwelling described in the Activity Guide

• My girls enjoyed this story

• We made our own pictograms as suggested in the Activity Guide

• We looked at this book: Ancient Agriculture from Foraging to Farming
• We watched this documentary on Ancient China on youtube

• We invited friends over and made all of the recipes suggested for this chapter in the Activity Book–I was surprised at how easy it was to make really yummy fried plantains!
• the kids also made some paper beads necklaces (from Activity Guide) and still have them three years later!

• We found more Anansi stories at the library
• We did a unit on the differences between folk tales, fairy tales, and fables.
• We printed this graphic out: Folk Tale, Fairy Tale, Myth or Legend
• We did some of these writing exercises: Scholastic: Myths, Folktales & Fairy Tales
• We looked at these slides 
• We watched videos in this online series.
• This was another helpful site

• we burned incense as suggested in Activity Guide, read and summarized this chapter

• we watched this video: The Hyksos Invade Egypt

Chapter 13: The New Kingdom of Egypt

The General and the Woman Pharaoh

• we watched this video on youtube: Thutmose III, the Greatest Warrior
• we watched this video on youtube: The Female Pharaoh

Amenhotep and King Tut

• we watched this video on youtube: Amenhotep
• we also watched this video on youtube:  The Rise and Fall of Amenhotep
• we also watched: Mummies and the Wonder of Ancient Egypt
• the girls liked this from the Discovery Channel: King Tut
• We also spent time on this website: King Tut
• King Tut’s Tomb, Ancient Egypt for Kids

Chapter 14:  The Israelites Leave Egypt

The Baby Moses

• • This is one of my favorite Bible stories, we read this story from our beautifully illustrated Children’s Stories from the Bible

The Exodus from Egypt

• We read this in our Bible as well.
• We also watched this video below: 

Chapter 15:  The Phoenicians

Phoenician Traders

• We read, reviewed, summarized, and did the map work for this chapter.

The Founding of Carthage

• We read, reviewed, summarized, and did the map work for this chapter.

Chapter 16: The Return of Assyria

Ashurbanipal’s Attack

• We read, reviewed, summarized, and did the map work for this chapter.

The Library of Nineveh

• We read, reviewed, summarized, and did the map work for this chapter.

Chapter 17:  Babylon Takes Over Again!

Nebuchadnezzar’s Madness

• We watched this Discovery Channel documentary: Who Was Nebuchadnezzar?
• We listened to 1001 Arabian Nights on StoryNory

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

• We looked at some illustrations of the Hanging Gardens and then the girls drew the Hanging Gardens as suggested in the Activity Book

Chapter 18:  Life in Early Crete

Bull-Jumpers and Sailors

• we read, reviewed, and summarized this part of the chapter

King Minos and the Minotaur

• the girls drew detailed mazes
• we attempted to watch a video of the Minotaur, but my girls found it too scary

Chapter 19:  The Early Greeks

The Mycenaeans

• We made a volcano out of clay, poured baking soda in and then vinegar so it erupted, and talked about how the lava could wipe out a city.

The Greek Dark Ages

• we made the paper mache vase as suggested in the Activity Guide and then the girls painted their vases

Chapter 20:  Greece Gets Civilized Again

Greece Gets an Alphabet

• we wrote our names in the Greek alphabet as suggested in the Activity Guide (Greek letter sheet provided in Activity Guide)

The Stories of Homer

• We read these graphic novels.  At 11 & 13, I felt my girls needed the illustrations from the graphic novel to help them understand and to keep their interest.  We loved these graphic novels!

The First Olympic Games

• Enchanted Learning: First Olympic Games
• Fun Site for kids with games 
• Cool site with a free Notebooking Page

Chapter 21:  The Medes and the Persians

A New Empire

• we read, reviewed, summarized, and did map work for this part of the chapter.

Cyrus the Great

• we read, reviewed, summarized, and did map work for this part of the chapter.

Chapter 22:  Sparta and Athens

Life in Sparta

• the girls wrote a story about a child growing up in Sparta

Life in Athens

• the girls wrote a story about a child growing up in Athens

Chapter 23:  The Greek Gods

The Golden Apple

• Ancient Greece for Kids Games
• Nat Geo for Kids: Ancient Greece
• Greek Gods Games
• Rick Riordan’s site: Explore Greek Mythology

Chapter 24:  The Wars of the Greeks

• We had a lot of fun with this book and it was also helpful when we learned about Ancient Rome ( a few chapters later).

Greece’s War with Persia

• we read, reviewed, and summarized this part of the chapter.

The Greeks Fight Each Other

• We read, reviewed and summarized, and did the Map Work as suggested in the Study Guide for this chapter.
• We looked at photos of the Parthenon.
• We got this book from the library Parthenon (it’s great if you get it from the library, I wouldn’t buy it).
• And this book Greek Temple

Chapter 25:  Alexander the Great

• We discussed being brave, what it means when the girls have been brave, etc.
• The girls wrote a personal narrative about a time when they faced their fears and how it turned out, how they felt, etc.

Alexander’s Invasions

• We read this picture book aloud: Alexander the Great

The Death of Alexander

• We watched this documentary: Alexander the Great
• I DID NOT watch this, but just found it when writing this post, it is a National Geographic documentary on Alexander the Great

Chapter 26:  The People of the Americas

• I splurged and bought the girls these Sand Painting Kits – the kits have nothing to do with history but sand painting was suggested in the Activity Guide and I could not see myself dying sand.

The Heads of the Olmecs

• I LOVE the History Teachers, so if they have a video we watch it over and over.  I love how they use popular music to help students remember history: The Olmecs by the History Teachers.
• We also watched this documentary: The Olmecs (Nat Geo)
• If you do nothing else, make sure your kids see the heads and get an understanding of their size.

Rabbit Shoots the Sun

• Native American Myths and Folktales

Chapter 27:  The Rise of Rome

Vocabulary: peninsula, patricians, consuls

Romulus and Remus

• We found this sweet little book Romulus and Remus

• We also watched this video on youtube: Romulus & Remus

The Power of Rome

• We watched this video about the Rise of the Roman Empire

Chapter 28:  The Roman Empire

The Roman Gods

• We had done a lot with Roman and Greek Gods with the Evan Moore Literature Pocket, so the girls were familiar with them.
• We have this book at the library and it is pretty good: Roman Myths

The Roman Builders

• We built the Roman Archway and Aqueduct as suggested in the Activity Guide.

The Roman Gladiators

The Gladiator School

Chapter 29:  Rome’s War with Carthage

The Punic Wars

• Animated video on Punic War
• The History Teachers video “Hannibal”

Chapter 30:  The Aryans of India

Vocabulary: Hinduism

Life on the Ganges River

• We played Tiger Hunt as suggested in the Activity Guide

The Castes of Ancient India

• I explained to the girls the difference between a caste system and a class system.

Siddhartha

• I was disappointed not to find any children’s books/graphic novels of the life of Siddhartha
• I did find this video for kids on the life of Siddhartha

Chapter 31:  The Mauryan Empire of India

Vocabulary: brahmin, Buddhists, merciful

The Empire United

• The Story of India on Amazon video was excellent!  (Again, parents should preview to make sure it is suitable/appropriate for their family.)

The Jataka Tales

• The Monkey and the Crocodile: a Jataka Tale from India
• I Once was a Monkey: Stories Buddha Told

Chapter 32:  China:  Writing and the Qin

Vocabulary: characters, calligraphy

Calligraphy in China

• We practiced Chinese writing with the worksheets in the Activity Guide.

Warring States

• We made paper
• We read Ch’l-Lin Purse: A Collection of Ancient Chinese Stories

The First Emperor and the Great Wall

• We looked at images of the Great Wall
• And from space

The First Emperor’s Grave

• The First Emperor: The Man Who Made China

Chapter 33:  Confucius

China’s Wise Teacher

• We looked at some Confucius quotes and used them for cursive practice
• We picked several Confucius quotes to memorize as well

Chapter 34:  The Rise of Julius Caesar

Vocabulary: rhetoric, possessions, triumvirate, legendary

Caesar is Kidnapped

• We were VERY fortunate to be able to see the play, Julius Caesar, at a Shakespeare Theatre in our area.  If Julius Caesar is being performed in your area, I highly recommend taking your children to see it.  I always struggled to understand Shakespeare until I saw it performed–it makes all the difference, as the play was written to be performed not just read.
• My girls and I read this together before we saw the play: The Young Reader’s Caesar
• I do not have experience with this, but it looks cute: Julius Caesar for Kids

The Consuls of Rome

• we made the Roman mosaic suggested in the Activity Guide

Caesar and the Senate

• Shakespeare The Animated Tales: Julius Caesar

Chapter 35:  Caesar the Hero

Caesar Fights the Celts

• Julius Caesar movie on youtube – I have only watched parts of this, not the whole thing.

Caesar Crosses the Rubicon

• Caesar Cross the Rubicon youtube video

Caesar and Cleopatra

• The girls memorized what “Veni, Vidi, Vici” means.

The Death of Caesar

• We studied the Roman numerals 🙂

Chapter 36:  The First Roman Prince

Vocabulary: princeps

Augustus Caesar

• My girls loved learning that July is named after Julius Caesar and August is named after Augustus Caesar.  We made the mosaic calendar as suggested in the Activity Guide

Chapter 37:  The Beginning of Christianity

Vocabulary: Pax Romana, crucifixion, resurrection

The Birth of Jesus

• We read this story in our Bible Stories for Children book

Jesus Crucified and Resurrected

• We painted wooden crosses
• We made Resurrection cookies

Chapter 38:  The End of the Ancient Jewish Nation

Vocabulary: imperator, rickety, catacombs

The Destruction of the Temple

• We played dreidel and made latkes
• We listened to the Festival of Lights song

Chapter 39:  Rome and the Christians

Vocabulary: tartan

Nero, the Evil Emperor

• We made the salt dough map of Italy as suggested in the Activity Guide

Christians in the Catacombs

• the images of Catacombs were really creepy, but here is a video tour of some if you are daring

The Emperor is Christian!

• We talked about how Christianity was relatively new.  We refreshed ourselves on the other religions that had gone before and how the birth of Jesus changed things.  We talked about the message of Jesus and how it was different.  The girls each wrote about an essay on how Jesus Changed the World.

Chapter 40:  Rome Begins to Weaken

The British Rebellion

• We did the North, South, East, West project in the Activity Guide
• BBC Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire

Rome Divided in Two

• We discussed how things weaken and why divisiveness weakens any entity

Chapter 41:  The Attacking Barbarians

Vocabulary: warhorses, hun, visigoth, barbarian, execution

Attila the Hun

• Attila the Hun: Leader of the Barbarian World

Stilicho, Roman, and Barbarian

• We looked at this book on Pompeii
• I am fascinated with Pompeii, so we explored this quite a bit.  I challenged the girls to look it up at the library and find books and read about it and tell their dad and me some facts.

The Coming of the Visigoths

• The Siege of Rome (again, please preview and decide if this is ok for your kids)

Chapter 42: The End of Rome

Vocabulary: scrolls

The Last Roman Emperor

• Emperors of Rome: Romulus Augustus

The Gifts of Rome

• We made a poster of the “Gifts of Rome” and the girls cut photos out of magazines of some of the gifts 🙂