We have started using a new history curriculum this year, Mystery of History. I have struggled for the last several years on a history program that we like and that is a good fit for our family. Plus, I kept going back and forth on whether I wanted my kids to study American History first or study history chronologically.
Mystery of History has always made my list each year for possible history curriculums, and this year it made the cut. So far we are really enjoying it. We are moving through it slowly with my 4 oldest children (ages 3 – 10); there is so much to read and do with each lesson, I don’t want to miss out on anything. But… I do know that I need to pick and choose, or else we will never get through Volume One.
There are so many great products and projects to go along with Mystery of History. Mapwork, Memory Cards, project ideas and Timeline (although you will need to make your own; I will show ours when we are a little further along) are all included in the book. We are also using the Coloring Pages and the Notebooking pages that you can purchase to go along with the curriculum.
Here are some of the things we did and read for Lessons 7 – 9.
Lesson 7: The Sumerians
Lesson 8: The Tower of Babel
Lesson 9: The Epic of Gilgamesh
- Besides the readings from the book, we also read the corresponding chapters in the Bible. We are using the Hands-On Bible (NLT) and are really enjoying it. We also read The Sumerians by Jane Shuter and The Gilgamesh Trilogy (Gilgamesh the King, The Revenge of Ishtar, The Last Quest of Gilgamesh) by Ludmila Zeman. I highly recommend The Gilgamesh Trilogy; my 8 and 10 year old boys really enjoyed them.
- To appreciate Sumerian architecture, we built ziggurats out of sugar cubes and peanut butter.
- The boys each made up their own language and tried building a tower together so they could experience their own Tower of Babel. It didn’t take long before they experienced confusion, conflict, and a small (physical) altercation (first picture). Their tower did not get very tall and it even ended up falling apart (second picture). We made the tower out of styrofoam bricks that I bought at Michaels.
- We played a game of “Telephone” to show how stories get changed when they are passed down hundreds of years. I forgot how fun and silly this game can be; all but one of our messages got changed as it went around our circle of 5.
For more lessons from Mystery of History Volume 1, click below:
Lessons 1-3
Lessons 4-6
Lessons 7-9
Lessons 10-12
Lessons 13-15
How fun! 🙂 I remember teaching about The Tower of Babel in preschool (very, very basic) and it was neat to see the kids understand how different languages came about. 🙂 I’m using “Heritage Studies” for now…but I know what you mean–it’s hard to find a good history curriculum. Looks like it’s working out well for you. 🙂
What a great activity to drive home the lesson – I love these hands on projects. I’d love for you to share this with my Cozy Book Hop if you’re interested. It’s open all week, so whenever you have a moment you can stop by
Marissa
http://forfunreadinglist.blogspot.com
I have also struggled with where to start with history. It makes sense in my mind to study it chronologically, but I really don’t want to! 🙂 We did one lesson in Mystery of History at the beginning of this school year and my son was so not interested that I just tossed it all for now. I’ve considered trying MOH again this next year, but I really want something super simple. I’ve been disappointed with Apologia Science this year because I have to supplement so much with my own stuff to make it work for a 4 and 6 year old. I don’t want to repeat that in history next year! I’ve had to get lots of books from the library for science and modify, so simple is my goal for next year! Especially since we’ll have a new baby! Thanks for sharing your ideas. Your MOH looks much better than our first “lesson” did!!
I remember reading the Gilgamesh epic. There is a great lesson in it about living in the moment and how the here and now is eternity. Found you through the Cozy Book Hop http://georgielee.blogspto.com
We’re studying Mesopotamia too and built ziggurats out of sugar cubes on Wednesday. It’s months away from being posted on my blog. We also built the Great Wall of China out of sugar cubes.
http://highhillhomeschool.blogspot.com/2012/05/china-history-co-op-week-6-qin-dynasty.html
Julie
I loved using unit curriculum with my children. Those were the best years. Thanks for sharing!!
Looks like a fun hands-on project! Happy to be following you from the Crew!