Every once in a while, blogging has nice perks.  As a blogger in the Greater Cincinnati area, my children and I were invited to tour the traveling exhibit, Cleopatra: The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt, at the Cincinnati Museum Center.  We just so happened to be finishing up Ancient Greek history and moving into Ancient Roman history.  Can you believe the perfect timing?  (Thank you, Lord!)

If you live in the area and have children upper elementary and older, it’s a super exhibit!  Two archaeologists have unearthed amazing artifacts that have been buried under land and sea for nearly 2,000 years in the area of Alexandria where Cleopatra once ruled.  On the self-guided tour, you’re supplied with a listening device that acts as a “tour guide” as you press numbers relating to the displays.  The listening device allows each person to go through the exhibit at their own pace, listening to a new bit of info (1-3 minutes worth) only when ready.  So, those who want to take more time to read signs, observe artifacts, or view a short film aren’t hindered by the rest of the tour group.

The artifacts are outstanding!  At the same time, remembering that the Ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans were idol worshipers, there are a lot of artifacts relating to idols and idol worship.  This is all part of the history.  As uncomfortable as it made me to view a giant statue which people of the time bowed to in worship, it only served to strengthen my trust in the Lord knowing that He would never be found buried and partly eroded at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea!

It wasn’t all idols, though!  There were beautiful examples of hieroglyphics, ancient jewels, Egyptian, Greek and Roman coins, architecture, Egyptian canopic jars and much more.  There were also short films highlighting the archaeological digs, legends of the time, and how Cleopatra has been immortalized throughout history.

The exhibit takes you through the life of Cleopatra, one major event at a time.  So, in one area, you learn about her culture, then move into a section highlighting her relationship with Julius Caesar.  Mark Antony and all the tumultuous events surrounding their relationship and the political situations are covered in the next area.  Finally, you learn how her life ended and how her legend lives on.  With Cleopatra’s life revolving around selfish gain, power, scandal and affairs, the exhibit is not suited for younger ears and eyes.  I was fine with my 5th grader taking part, but we talked about the sticky issues later.

The entire tour only took us a little more than an hour.  At $23 for adults and $15 for children, it’s pretty costly for the time spent.  However, hoemschoolers can save $4.00 per ticket using the code found HERE. And, for a small additional fee (you’d have to call to find out exact prices), you can get an all-museum pass and spend the rest of the day visiting the:

• Children’s Museum with a ball factory, water play area, indoor treehouse and dramatic play areas
• Cincinnati History Museum that takes you on a WONDERFUL tour of history from WWII back through the time of the Native Americans
• Museum of Natural History and Science that has some really good points BUT is VERY evolutionary at the same time
• Union Terminal which is what the entire building used to be – an old-fashioned train station

We had a great day and are very thankful for the invitation!  Let me know if you have a chance to visit the exhibit.  I’d love to hear your thoughts on it!

I found a FREE and truly WONDERFUL lapbook on Homeschool Share written by Jodi Small on the topic of Ancient Greece. Because I was in a hurry on planning day, I didn’t take the time to copy everything on pretty colored paper. 

A visual Bible timeline has helped us make connections between what was going on in the Bible during the growth of major world civilizations discussed in the text. This one is not exactly like the one below, but looks very similar.

We were lucky enough to stumble upon all the Unfolding History: Ancient World History wall timelines at a curriculum sale a few years ago.  I’m not sure if these are still available, but I did find a store that seems to carry them.  They have been helpful in visually placing certain people and events with certain civilizations, and in helping us see that several civilizations were growing at once.

A world map is very important for putting civilizations and travels in perspective.  This one is about the same size as ours and I’ve found the large size to be of great value.

And finally, since mapping is a large part of each unit, I’ve found this book great for giving my children the physical and political viewpoints necessary for completing the assignments.  Not just any atlas includes specific Bible/ancient history maps right in one easy-to-find place, but this one has included everything we’ve need so far for mapping research – and the maps are in color.

We’re still loving history this year.  I’m wondering if any of you have experience with the next book in the series, Romans, Reformers and Revolutionaries? I have to be honest, the curriculum is more expensive than what I usually spend (especially considering that I usually design my own history units!)  I’m feeling the urge to design my own again next year to save money.  Please share your thoughts!

Below you’ll find a mixture of ideas that came from Diana Waring’s suggestions in Ancient Civilizations and the Bible and the additional ideas from Old Testament Days.

Maps of the wilderness camp around the Tabernacle were drawn.

Unleavened bread (that's already been nibbled on) was yummy!

Personalized seals were made from Sculpey clay.

Salt-dough maps of the Promised Land were fun to make and paint!

Here's another salt-dough map and some fun oil lamps made from Sculpey clay.

Both kiddos had a research paper to write. Mahayla's was on the topic of ancient trade routes and the key location of Israel. Caleb's report was about Israel's neighbors, the Phoenicians.

Caleb's poster report about Ancient Sumeria

The first page of Mahayla's report about the culture of Ancient Mesopotamia

A quick model of the Nile River as we discussed the importance of this mighty river in Egypt's history

Mummy making during our study of Ancient Egypt

As we listened to the CD about Ancient Egypt, the kids created pipe cleaner figures to retell the story

Caleb's poster trying to sell land in the flood zone of Egypt

We’re finishing up a study of Ancient Israel this week that includes lots of fun, hands-on activities.  I’ll write a post soon!

Here are some photos from our first unit culminating projects based on Creation and the flood.  At the end of each unit, Diana Waring has included a huge variety of project ideas.  Your children choose whatever most floats their boat as far as topic and learning style.  This time around, Mahayla chose to create a poster of the lineage of the Seed line up to the point of Noah and a demonstration with research about the effects of the world-wide flood.

Caleb chose to rewrite Genesis 1 and 2 in the form of a comical puppet show.

I haven’t even included pictures of the mapping, timeline, vocabulary work, poster projects and artist study we did!  I may put up another post of those soon, but more likely I’ll wait and try to include those in a unit 2 wrap-up.

Until now, I’ve never found a single curriculum that I haven’t had to add to in some way or another to make it exactly what I was hoping for.  This is even more perfect than I had imagined!

Side note: I’ve had several people ask me about the age appropriateness of this program.  I’m using it with an 8th grader and 5th grader.  The 5th grader is a tad bored once in a while when we get into more technical or drawn out readings or discussion.  That’s when I pull out the activities from the younger student activity guide.  To really get the full benefit from everything available in the curriculum, I’d say it’s most appropriate for 7th or 8th and higher.  I don’t have any regrets bringing the 5th grader along, but there are just some of the fascinating learning opportunities that are flying over top of him right now.  On his own upper elementary level, though, he’s gaining a ton from the study, too!  If you have the option, I’m just saying that I think waiting until upper middle and high school is better.  Hey, it can count for a world history credit if you wait!

“I truly have never seen a curriculum like this before, especially for the 6th grade and above crowd.  Hands down, it tops my list of all-time favorites!”

Read the entire review at The Curriculum Choice.

This past week, I asked them each to choose the civilization that was their favorite and create a presentation about it.  They could choose to present their information any way they liked and we video taped them.

Mahayla created a poster with information about various aspects of the Ancient Greek lifestyle.  She made a discus, drew a wonderful picture of a horse and chariot, set up a book for a visual and dressed in a Greek fashion of the time.  She really took this project seriously and made a great presentation.  )  (Sorry for the dark pictures.  I keep saying we need a new camera and I really mean it!)

Caleb also created a poster, but his was mostly pictures he (we) found on the internet that he labeled.  He made a clay model of the Geat Wall of China, dressed in a robe and served us hot tea.  I thought it was excellent for his first-ever presentation like this.

I really liked doing an end of the unit project and I think the kids did, too.  I think we’ll make these part of each unit this year.  Here are a few pictures of the notebooks we worked on throughout the unit.

Next stop:  Space!

On top of the regular reading about Ancient Greece, map work, timelines and such, we did lots of hands-on activities, too.  My kids gain so much more from the “exciting stuff”.

The philosopher Aristotle is known as the father of the scientific method.  Thanks to JoAnn, we had a really fun and simple activity that taught the scientific method.

The Story of the World had a really fun sticker making project.  We colored Greek symbols, then made our own sticker solution to paint on the back of the symbols.  After it dried, all we had to do was lick and stick!

The kids made happy and sad drama masks and created their own play.

Math one day was spent finding patterns for square numbers, triangular numbers, oblong numbers, and gnomon.  My worksheets came from a Teacher Created Materials unit on Ancient Greece.  You can probably do a quick search on the web for some free worksheets.  I bought my book for a quarter at a homeschool sale.  I wouldn’t recommend buying it unless you can find it as cheap as I did.  Almost all the activities seemed to center around the gods and goddesses of Ancient Greece.  That’s not something I wanted our family to focus on.   But, I did find a few things worth adding to the unit, so my quarter wasn’t wasted! 

And we made Baklava.  Yummy!

The best part of the week was mummifying a Ken doll.  Thanks Jamin for the idea!  Go to her post here for a full set of directions.  We prepared herbed oils earlier in the week and made the mummies as our final project on Friday.

Any spice covered with oil.  Shake everyday for a week.

Our poor Pharaoh before he realized death was imminent.

The project really didn’t take that long.  What a memory!

We also enjoyed Sanyet Batates (which is basically a meat and potato stew) and unleavened bread.

To get in the real spirit of things, Mahayla dressed up in an Egyptian princess outfit.

Later, Mahayla came to me and said, “Look, Mom, Spider Man had a baby!”  I suppose Caleb decided dressing up looked like fun.  Hmmm….I don’t remember Spider Man in any of our Ancient Egyptian readings.