We are checking off some units around here and we just finished our first history unit of the year! WOOT WOOT!
History has always been my favorite subject. I love it. And I love all that I get to learn right alongside my kiddos.
This is our second year doing history with The Good and the Beautiful and it is different but just as good as Year 1. Variety is nice but it is consistently wonderful to learn and to teach.
What is covered?
Unit 1 covers Ancient Greece as well as Ancient Asia! Here are how the lessons are broken down:
- Ancient Greece: Geography & Mythology
- Ancient Greece: Daily Life
- Greek City-States
- The Olympics / The Persian War
- Ancient Greece: Philosophy, Math, Science, Astronomy
- Alexander the Great
- Introduction to Ancient China
- Ancient China: Dynasties, Calendar, & Art
- Ancient China: Daily Life
- Ancient China: Religion
- Genghis and Kublai Khan
- Ancient India
- Unit 1 Review
Greek Mythology & Greek Philosophy
This unit covers ancient Greece but I did not feel like it went into Greek mythology or philosophy. So if that being taught is a concern, I feel like you could definitely move forward with this unit!
I actually wanted to include a little bit of Greek mythology with my kiddos. I got a couple books from our library and casually looked at them with my kiddos and then just left them available for them to look through while we did the unit.
We did this last year when we studied Ancient Egypt and if anything I thought it gave us the opportunity to have a really helpful dialogue about differences in belief with others.
Supplies
One of my favorite things about The Good and the Beautiful is I very rarely feel bogged down with required supplies. And this unit followed suit!
Everyone has different supplies they keep on hand but there were very few things I needed to look ahead and get.
When studying about daily life in Ancient Greece I did get some Greek food for the kids to sample while we did that lesson. We decided to go out for Chinese food as a fun extension for that lesson.
Timeline
One thing that is new this year with history is the addition of a timeline. This has been really fun to add stickers to our timeline as we review different people and events in history as we learn them.
I remember thinking it was really odd {and even asked at the convention last year} why the timeline wasn’t supplied in Year 1 but it has been really nice to have variety this year. Just a little something new to spice things up.
Student Explorers
Jacob is my only kiddo actively participating in history right now and so we only use the Grades 1 – 3 Student Explorer set.
Another new thing for this year is there are “Timeline” pages. Jacob will either make a map, write information about specific events or color a picture. We will put these together at the end!
The student explorers for this unit also included maps, what daily life with like in Ancient China, and what they learned about Genghis and Kublai Khan.
Read Alouds
The Good and the Beautiful provides a list of recommended books for each unit that you can select based on your kiddos ages.
For my young crew, we read The Spartan Twins by Lucy Fitch Perkins. Jacob really enjoyed this book. It is a darling story of a boy and girl (twins!) who live in Ancient Greece. There is adventure and some exciting twists and turns. I felt like it did a really good job of depicting culture and beliefs of Ancient Greece but in a very natural way.
I will say though, if you have hesitations about Greek mythology or anything this book might not be for you. It definitely mentions “the gods” and their beliefs about them. I didn’t find anything objectionable in it though and would recommend it.
Individual Reading
Jacob loves the Imagination Station series and they had a book that paired really well with this unit. Book #3 in the series: Peril in the Palace by Marianne Hering and Paul McCusker takes place in ancient China – PERFECT! I think it would be great for anybody in Levels 1-3 or aged 6-8.
Little Pear by Eleanor Frances Lattimore was another book that I think would pair really well for individual reading for this unit. We read it last year for a read aloud and really enjoyed it. It takes place in China {although it is not ancient China} but I felt like it did a good job of describing the culture in China. I think it would be great for anybody in Levels 3-5 or aged 8-10.
Length of Unit
Each of the lessons took about an hour {which is what we plan on for history}. It took us a little longer to complete just because of how our schedule worked out. But if you are doing two lessons a week you should complete it in about 7 weeks.
Our Favorite Activities
Bringing food into our lessons is a pretty sure-fire way to win over my kiddos! Anyone else?!
The kiddos loved trying some Greek food while we read about life in Ancient Greece.
We also got to learn about red-figure pottery and we had a lot of fun making our own pottery pictures!
When we studied Ancient China we got to practice some calligraphy from the Tang Dynasty. AWESOME!
Going out for Chinese food and eating with chopsticks!
Watching the kids faces as they were blindfolded and tasted sugar, cinnamon, and pepper while we talked about the spices that were exported from Ancient India.
Final Thoughts
We really do love The Good and the Beautiful history. I love how it makes history come alive and memorable for the kids. I am constantly amazed at how much they retain. A couple times this unit we were prompted to play the Keys of History game from Year 1 and it is incredible to me all that the kids know and remember.
History is amazing and I cannot say enough good things about this course!
Here are our different reviews of ALL the units for History 2:
- Unit 2: Vikings / Exploration / Pre-Columbian America
- Unit 3: Colonial America / The United States Constitution
- Unit 4: History of United States Education / WWI through the Great Depression
And here is the review for History 2 as a whole.
On a regular bases I help “watch” my 8 & 6 year old neighbors’ girls and it is the rule in their home that homework is done as soon as they get home from school. So that gives me the opportunity to see how math is taught and their homework, which is weird to me. And I listen as they read the books they bring home to read the required time. I have yet to think “wow, this is a great book” it is the complete opposite and I can’t believe that these books are in the school library. Last night the book was written as a comic strip, improper grammar and the characters making fun of other people’s names. Of course I don’t know how it ends and hopeful ends better than it begins.
So different from the books that I see your kids read. I can see why you choose to do Home School and more power to you. Your children will be so much better educated. Proud of you!
Thank you. It is really nice to hear that encouragement. But it also makes me sad to see that kind of literature out there – especially for young children. Young minds are so easily influenced.
I’m so impressed with this curriculum. The kiddos are learning such interesting things that they would never be able to learn in public school.
I love love love this curriculum. It’s honestly a blessing in our home that I am so grateful for.