Geography Through Living Stories

Every week we would read a living book that I selected for the civilization we were learning about. I gave a brief history lesson and then we took a look at our map and talked about the civilization at that time in history as well as about the modern nation that exists there today.  Then we would do our art project and at the very end the children would get a stamp on their geography passports!

I think geography is one of those subjects that you can study with intention, but that you can also work into your program without having to buy a text or workbook. Integrating several subjects this way offers your child a base of information from which they can build on.  So the next time they read about Egypt or Mesopotamia, they will remember the funny story you read or art project they did with that study and have something for which they can build additional knowledge on.

In the same way, you can have your child map where their reader take place or use an atlas to gain more information about a location’s people. We’ve been using our National Geographic Student Atlas of the World (Third Edition). You can see my full review on The Curriculum Choice. But there is a 4th edition now available, so if you’re buying new I’d recommend it as it may be more updated.

The way we study geography in our homeschool is pretty natural and often integrated with many topics of study and not just in history but in literature too!

I designed the whole Living Stories program I created to correlate with The Story of the World: Vol. 1 because that’s what Mechanical man and I have been using in our homeschool this year. This way we could also benefit from the course at home. I usually read the living books with him along with the chapter they complemented in SOTW. I did the same with the art lessons. You can learn more about how this program follows SOTW by following the Art Around the World Series!

Art Around the Ancient World- the line up:

The following lists each lesson by civilization, what each lesson’s focus will be, and the media/project tutorial.

• Prehistory– Cave Paintings– Painting the Ancient Way
• Sumerians – Ancient Writing -Cylinder Seals in Clay
• Egyptians – Egyptian Art – Text as Texture/ Egyptian Headdress
• Assyrians and Babylonians -Near East Metalworking –  Babylonian Art Lesson for Kids
• Phoenicians– Ancient Dyes– Purple Batik Cloths
• Hittites and Ancient Israel– TBA
• Ancient Africa– Akuaba Wooden Doll– African Scratch Art
• Minoan and Mycenaean-Greek Mythology Masks-MinotaurPaper Mache Masks
• Persians– Persian Carpets and Decor- Paper Weaving Project
• Ancient China- Tangrams
• Ancient Greece– Pythagorus – Tessellating Jars
• India- Spice JarLayer Art
• Rome- Mosaics

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Ancient Egypt Art Lesson #1

This project is a multi-media project that can go with any lesson on Ancient Egypt. For this lesson you will need:

• multi-media paper
• pencil
• tracing paper
• newsprint, ads and/or patterned printed papers
• scissors
• tempera paint in yellow, red, blue and white
• glue
• black permanent marker
• additional tempera or acrylic paints in various colors
• markers or watercolors or both
• gold acrylic paint for adding details

Ancient Egypt Text as Texture Faces Tutorial

1. Look at Egyptian art and faces.

Any book will do for this because there are so very many to choose from. Or perhaps check out an art book on Egyptian Art in the resource section of your library. If you don’t feel confident demonstrating the drawing of a face to your child I can recommend Ralph Masiello’s Ancient Egypt Drawing Book (Ralph Masiello’s Drawing Books) to guide them. If you happen to have the  Draw and Write Through History (Creation through Jonah, Volume 1) you may be able to use just the section on Egypt and enlarge the head portion. But if you’re choosing one, the first is definitely the best for this.

2. Draw an Egyptian face.

I demonstrated both a front and side view for my students. One thing that is often hard for kids is to use the entire piece of paper. So try to remind them the size needs to fill the whole page.

Another good place to start is that eyes are located in the middle of the head. Have them lightly draw a line across the mid point of the face from the top of the head to the chin. This is where the eyes go.  The next hardest thing to draw is the nose.

3. Trace the headpiece and cut it out of the newsprint.

Using tracing paper, have your child trace the headdress part of their Egyptian drawing. Cut the pattern out. Next, lay the tracing paper over the news print and cut that pattern out of the newsprint. Make adjustments if needed. This was the hardest part for my class of 3rd to 5th graders. So you need to assist your child here as much as possible so they don’t get frustrated.  Always let they attempt a skill on their own first, even if it’s not perfect- that’s okay! Just be ready if they need the help and ask- be accessable. As desired, cut any other interesting pieces you may want out of ads or newsprint. I also offered my students printed paper with patterns. This added depth and texture to their compositions.

4. Mix tempera paint to make skin tone and paint face.

Mixing paint to get the color you want is an important art skill for children to learn. But let’s move beyond primary and secondary colors. Making skin tones is actually very easy. You just have to experiment with amounts. See how to mix paint to make skin tones here.

Paint the entire face. Remind your child to leave the eyes white!

5. Glue the Newsprint and Outline with Permanent Marker

After they get the newspaper to be a good fit have them glue it for the headdress. I also allowed my students to cut pieces from ads and printed paper. Once dry enough, re-outline the features of the face with permanent black marker- my favorite to use with children are Black Sharpies. ( Fine or Regular) 

This is also the right time to add more sections in the outfit later to become ornate decoration.

6. Paint blank areas, add background with watercolor or marker and fill in all other blank spaces.

I told the children I wanted no white areas. So, I looked around to help them with whatever they needed to add. Once the body of the Egyptian was complete is was time to fill in the back ground. I suggested complementary colors or a contrasting color to  make their person “pop” out of the paper.

7. Add embellishment and final touches with Gold Acrylic Paint

This is where the real excitement bursted from my co-op students. They were so very happy with their creations! It made my day just to see how interested they were in learning! These were the final touches that made their projects complete! You can have your child add golden stripes to the headdress or elaborate golden jewelry or design to the collar.

Student Art Gallery of Ancient Egyptian Faces

Didn’t their work come out awesome?

Linked up with Trivium Tuesday.

Tell me…

What lesson on Egypt might you use this art lesson to compliment? What books are you using?

Art Around the Ancient World- the line up:

The following lists each lesson by civilization, what each lesson’s focus will be, and the media/project tutorial.

• Prehistory– Cave Paintings– Painting the Ancient Way
• Sumerians – Ancient Writing -Cylinder Seals in Clay
• Egyptians – Egyptian Art – Text as Texture/ Egyptian Headdress ( YOU ARE HERE)
• Assyrians and Babylonians -Near East Metalworking –  Babylonian Art Lesson for Kids
• Phoenicians– Ancient Dyes– Purple Batik Cloths
• Hittites and Ancient Israel– TBA
• Ancient Africa– Akuaba Wooden Doll– African Scratch Art
• Minoan and Mycenaean-Greek Mythology Masks-MinotaurPaper Mache Masks
• Persians– Persian Carpets and Decor- Paper Weaving Project
• Ancient China- Tangrams
• Ancient Greece– Pythagorus – Tessellating Jars
• India- Spice JarLayer Art
• Rome- Mosaics

The post Ancient Egypt Art Lesson #1: Text as Texture appeared first on Dymphna's Song.

I’ve been teaching Ancient History through art and literature in my co-op class this year. You’ll find the hands on art projects to go with these books in my Art Around the Ancient World series. I purposely wanted to stay away from historical fiction for this list; my focus has been on stories that either take place in ancient times or that are folktales or myths from an ancient civilization. They were quite challenging to find. But I’m very happy with the list that resulted!

A Living Book List for Ancient History

I wanted the children to get a feel for the culture and civilization just from these stories. I wanted books appropriate for 3rd to 5th graders that I could read in a class period (so no chapter books) and still have time for maps, timeline and the projects. I wanted the stories to have literary value- not an empty picture book but a living story! The children have been enjoying these stories quite a bit. After or during our reading, I talk about about different literary forms and genres, oral traditions, mythology and more. These books can be read aloud together as a family, between siblings, or independently.

Nomads/ Hunters and Gatherers-

This was a delightfully story that presented classic conflict, climax and a resolution story. In fact, the story presents a delightful pattern of repeated conflict. We used it in our own homeschool for a mini unit and field trip on the ice age. A fun art activity to go with it is to create your own cave and rock paintings.

The First Dog

Sumerians, Assyrians & Babylonians

This story was a wonderful choice for Mesopotamia. It was the perfect story to introduce literary themes. We spent a bit of time on this area discussing cuneiform and later on other art and artifacts from Assyria and Babylon.  We made some outstanding art projects for the cradle of civilization. For Sumeria we made cylinder seals and for Assyria and Babylon we made glue paintings to look like Ancient Near East metalworking. 

Gilgamesh the King (The Gilgamesh Trilogy)

Ancient Egypt-

For Egypt you’ll have many books to choose from. Why this book? Because I loved the nature of it. It’s simple charm was delightful and the children could easily relate to a cat who just wanted to be a cat. We discussed Ancient Egyptian art, hieroglyphs and beliefs and rituals. Art projects for Egypt to come. Saving the best for last!

Temple Cat

Ancient Israel-

Most of the children already knew their bible stories so it was a great reference for the ancient world around Israel. Already familiar with the story, it provided a context for laying out the areas and civilization around the Israelites. The book is a good retelling of this familiar story. We especially enjoyed the art work in the book and it’s design. There is also a book on Moses by the same author called The Moses Basket. We didn’t have time to read it, but it looked just as good.

The Coat of Many Colors

Ancient China-

This book is a great choice for Ancient China.  We didn’t actually read this book in our co-op but I have looked at it and if time had provided it would have been my first choice. My substitute taught a class on Tangrams for China. And if you prefer to go that route an excellent book is The Warlord’s Puzzle or if you can’t find that one, Grandfather Tang’s Story .

The Master Swordsman & the Magic Doorway: Two Legends from Ancient China

 West Africa-

West Africa was fun to cover. We talked about oral traditions of the Ancient West Africans and many other civilizations. With no ancient writing, history knows little about these people. But they have such a rich culture that is evident in their folklore and tales. Anansi the spider is just one of many tales. The children liked the personification of Anansi and his children and the book offered lots of literary components to discuss. We made Akuaba Doll Scratch Art  for our project.

Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti

Minoan & Mycenaean-

This was the Greek myth I chose for the Minoan civilization. Of course I chose it because of it taking place on Crete but it also followed nicely after our Phoenician study.  We discussed myths and legends and made Minotaur masks!

The Hero and the Minotaur

 Medes and Persians-

I’m not sure how far back this legend really goes, but since the main focus of my class is on literature, I felt it would certainly represent the culture and be a wonderful selection. I was right. My first look at this book from author Tomi dePaola did not disappoint.  I can’t wait to do the to do the weaving project I’ve planned with my class.

The Legend of the Persian Carpet

Ancient Greece-

An old favorite from homeschooling my older children. It’s important to add a bit of living math into the line up! The perfect book for a study on the golden Age of Greece.

What’s Your Angle, Pythagoras?

Mauryan Empire- Ancient India

Demi has some really wonderful books. I could have also used her book on Budda for this class. But since I plan to talk about the spice trade and for the project do a spice jar activity, I thought it would be good to also include a story from Hinduism. We will also look at artifacts from History of the World in 1,000 Objects (pgs. 98-99). Another book that I highly recommend by Demi for it’s beauty and content is Mother Teresa. 

The Fantastic Adventures of Krishna

Ancient America- Nazca

While this book doesn’t come directly from the Olmec or the Nazca, it certainly does represent the people of the Amazon. I love the art work which works well to complement the art project I have planned for a Nazca Line Art Activity.

 Jabutí the Tortoise: A Trickster Tale from the Amazon

Ancient Rome-

I haven’t gotten this book yet but it’s on my wish list! Isn’t the cover amazing! And the illustrations inside make a perfect compliment to my Roman Mosaic Art Lesson. It’s also a great book to show how the Ancient world changed over time with Egypt now being under foreign rule. Throughout my course I’ve been pointing the kids back and forth to the areas and people we have already learned about. A timeline is in order here and that’s next on my do list!

 Cleopatra

What living stories are the top of your book list for Ancient History?

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