Name: Teach Them Diligently (Branson)
Start: 2025-05-15T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-05-17T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Branson, MO

Tagged: ancient china, ancient civilizations, ancient history

This topic has 24 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 7 months ago by Rachel White.

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August 9, 2011 at 8:34 pm
4myboys
Participant
Do any of the SCM modules cover the ancient South/central american civilizations? If not, does anyone have a suggestion of where to fit them? Also, ancient China? That is one of the things I like about the MoH curriculum — the inclusion of other ancient cultures, but I don’t like the fast pace or the work-book pages. I also like how parallel secular and Biblical history. I’ve toyed with trying to spread MoH Vol 1 over a couple of years and omitting the work pages to have more time to linger and incorporate living books.
August 9, 2011 at 9:39 pm
Rachel White
Participant
I’m adding in those areas, too. There are some living books on ancient China and JApan as well as the S. AMerican countires at Heritage History.
I have some recommedations I’ll retrieve frm my Amazon wish list and share as well as some from my All Through the Ages book. Do you have that book? I highly recommend it.
Check in later (when I get my laptop back from my husband! I’m having to use the oldest, slowest comp. in the house; not comfy).
Rachel
August 9, 2011 at 10:27 pm
sheraz
Participant
I am adding these in next year too. I am always trying to find books – really, just something sometimes 😉 – that we can use. I do not have the All Through the Ages, I guess I need to get it. Very grateful for Heritage History. There are lots of cool books there.
I would really like to hear about other’s plans. I was wondering if I was the only one adding them in =) I will look through my books and see what I actually have and share if they fit.
So far, this year, I bumped up the Mods 1-3 into one year (so I can add the other cultures and still have my kids on track) so we are doing Bible with Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome each in a 12 week term. I am using the modules, I just picked up the pace a bit because – the Bible is a book that my children will always be studying – and added some of the other books we have at home. Then next year I plan one 12 week term of Ancient China and then a 24 week study of the Ancient Americas. The key now is the books…hahaha. =)  I have several textbooks that I thought I would use to find important topics that I want to cover from each civilization. If I use the list I got from the Oxford/SCM list, I would have a pretty good idea of the topics to introduce and cover for the China/America module.
We will visit all these modules again in another rotation, so my kids should have a pretty solid idea of these addtional cultures (well, that’s the plan anyway) as well as the ones covered in the Modules.
P.S. – There are some DVDs called “Journey of Faith” and “The New World” that follow a family from Ancient Jerusalem to the New World in a documentary format. Very neat to add to the Ancient America studies. =)
August 9, 2011 at 11:11 pm
4myboys
Participant
@sheraz — so, how are you planning to incorporate Bible the next year along with the China/Ancient Americas if you are fast tracking the first three modules? Are you creating a new module of your own?

August 9, 2011 at 11:42 pm
sheraz
Participant
I sat down with each Module and a page for each 12 weeks of the term I plan to cover. I simply wrote the topic of the Oxford chapter on the history part, and listed the Bible chapters that went with the topic to that point. So we will read two Bible stories a day, and then I will use the books that I gave in the house to help cover the topic from the Oxford book. We will still do geography and map drill once a week.  For our read alouds, I will read Boy of the Pyramid and another awesome one that I found. We will listen to the other literature selections (like Black Beauty and Robin Hood) from Librivox as we do handicrafts, dishes, and some artwork.
I was going to say that I am not writhing my own Module, but maybe I am…I plan on adding the Bible (and since I am LDS, the Book of Mormon) to the Ancient Americas and China just like Sonya did to the other Ancient cultures by getting the corresponding dates from the scriptures and putting it in the history timeframes. The Book of Mormon is about the Ancient American people that believed in Christ, so it will work very well. We will even add to the time line figures. This sounds very time consuming, but our church has very beautiful timelines of the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Book of Mormon and our Church History for .50 a piece that show the scriptures lined out together since they correspond. The other day it occured to me that we could put one in everyone’e notebook and add the other world figures as we go…save me tons of time.
I figured that if I used the same type of topics we used from Oxford (like houses, governments, food and clothing, etc) I could have a pretty cool study for the cultures. =)
However, if you are not LDS, it still would be fairly simple to look at your timeline or Book of Centuries and line up the Ancient Civilizations using the dates from those. The SCM dates are so easy to find, you could create a general timeline to follow in just a few minutes and add the Bible stories that are in that timeframe. I don’t think that it will be that hard. Also, it might be a good time to throw in the Bible studies from here like the Jesus is Better, Wisdom for Life, GOAL Bible study, etc. since you wouldn’t necessarily be reading the Bible chapter by chapter. All this is just off the top of my head, I haven’t really started to find my “spines” yet.   We shall see. Rachel is always streets ahead of me in this stuff, so I am anxious to see what she is doing. LOL Maybe I’ll just copy her.
I hope that made sense. =) What are you thinking of doing?
August 10, 2011 at 4:17 pm
sheraz
Participant
I hope I didn’t offend you last night with my response to your Ancient Americans & the Bible question last night. That was not my intention. And I am not really writing a module anywhere near the scale that Sonya does. She is amazing.
This morning as I was thinking about it, on a timeline you can correspond the Bible people to the Chinese/Americans by saying, “Now when _____ from China was doing this, here in the Bible, so-and- so was teaching/doing this.” You can also add in the missionaries who were starting to go forth and preach to the British and other places. Again, on a timeline this allows the children to make their own connection. Several people are teaching two time periods of history at the same time and the kids are keeping it straight and making good connections.
Again, this might also be a good time to let your kids immerse themselves in the SCM specific Bible studies. I think those look awesome. =) Anyway, my point was that although the Bible was not set in the Americas, you can still definitely make a great study of the Bible alongside these other civilizations.
I am very interested in the other sources that people are thinking of using. I was at a thrift store the other day and found a middle school textbook titled “Canada and Latin America” for .10. I bought it because I thought it might have ideas that will help me get an idea of the things to teach about. My sister lived in Peru for 18 months and can tell us about the culture there (including the terrorist groups – yikes!) and my brother lived in Brazil for 2 years. My brother in law is Guatemalan, and I have several friends from Argentina and Mexico. I think that it will be fun after studying about the ancients to have them tell us about their experiences in the modern times. Fun way to throw in some history and geography =)
My books are very sparse and not really researched yet, they are the cheap ones I find at the used book store or my husband has had for years (and those are more textbooky anthologies). He has some Time – Life books that are called “TimeFrame
BC” and the one titled “Barbarian Tides 1500-600 BC” has a section called Awakening in the Americas. He also has one called Mysteries of the Ancient Americas with sections on Voyagers of Legends, In Search of Early Man (haven’t read any of these yet!), Stirrings of New World Civilization, Pyramid Makers and Mound Builders, Ancient Artisians and Master Builders, Lost Cities, and Of Gods and Men. I have a story book called “Lost Temple of the Aztecs” which is a story of what it was like when the Spaniards invaded Mexico. I have a book called Anasazi America. I tried to google ancient Latin American civilizations and came up with about 4 paragraphs on the Mayans. So I definitely have to refine that search, LOL. I haven’t spent a lot of time on it yet, this was just an area I felt should not be ignored. Soooo…any other ideas??
@Rachel – have you got your laptop back yet??? LOL

August 10, 2011 at 4:47 pm
4myboys
Participant
I haven’t really gotten that far yet. I am trying to look ahead so that I can put it all into perspective in the big picture. My older son is going into 5th grade, so I have time to add in an extra year of history to cover those cultures, maybe a Module 5A & 5B? But I don’t recall Asian geography listed in any of the modules. Did I over look?
I am not very familiar with LDS, but the timelines sound like they will be a useful tool for family.
I’m not sure what you thought may have offended me. I certainly didn’t take offence to anything in your post!

August 10, 2011 at 5:08 pm
sheraz
Participant
I don’t think that there is an Asian one either. Maybe I should do 1/2 year Ancient Asian cultures and the other 1/2 Ancient American.  Another thought: if we can’t add in everything we want to fit. maybe we could do a summer course on one of them??!
I am obviously still in the thinking about it stage too, as my oldest dd is going into 5th grade also. =) I was just so excited to see this thread b/c I had just mentioned this idea to my husband about three days ago.
I guess it’s time to go to work – I have been canning for a month and I don’t want to do anything today, but skulking around on computer isn’t getting anything done. Sigh =)
August 10, 2011 at 5:21 pm
Rachel White
Participant
I have my computer back now, but am taking hubby to the doctor. I’m pulling together the books that would apply to this discussion. Hopefully in the doctor’s office, I’ll hae time to write them down in an organized fashion.
I’m feeling like you sheraz-not wanting to do a thing. Late summer blahs…I’m so behind; plus my husband’s meds. have changed and that always affects him negatively and messes with the entire mood and movement of the house.
You have such sweet words sheraz…
Looking forward to bringing what I can to the table. Next year I am doing two time periods; Ancient Egypt (including the Asian countries then) and finishing the Middle Ages till 1800 (including a deeper latin American study then).
Checkl in later! Isn’t it funt o build off of each other?
Gotta go…
Rachel
August 11, 2011 at 10:58 am
Wings2fly
Participant
We use a timeline and already have Bible, Egypt, and Greece on the ancients, so in adding Ancient China to the timeline, I point out the events in these three topics going on at the same time. The Shang dynasty was about the same time as slavery in Egypt and Moses up to Samson. For Bible study, we are studying the Psalms. We are using Story of the World 1 for ancients. There are two sections on ancient China. From the library, I am using the Kingfisher Book of the Ancient World. These are more of a spine. Then I add stories about Chinese culture with living books I have. Some are suggestions from Sonlight or MFW, etc. I also have All Through the Ages for more books from the library. I am not planning to spend much more than a month on Chinese history and culture. Our field trip is to the Chinese restaurant for lunch. I don’t think they need to know all about it, but a basic knowledge that they can expand on later on their own if they so desire.
August 11, 2011 at 11:21 am
Wings2fly
Participant
Free ancient China lapbook, booklist at bottom:
http://www.homeschoolshare.com/ancient_china_lapbook.php
August 12, 2011 at 3:34 pm
sheraz
Participant
Bumping…
Rachel, I hope that your hubby is okay and that you can get a chance to “catch up” (am trying to say that with a straight face) lol =)
Thank you, Sarah, for the ideas and links. I am off to explore (and finish laundry) =)
Sheila
August 14, 2011 at 1:10 am
Rachel White
Participant
Hello everybody! I put together a listing of books, that’s what took me so long. Also, I would say to get rid of the worksheets and maybe add in notebooking instead or just pure oral and/or written narrations, as well as studying historical maps and mapping the people groups and explorers; keep a timeline, too (also having pre-made timeline to look at helps, too).
Also, don’t overlook the value of documentaries. Just throwng out some ideas. I like to do parallel history, too and I’ve found that the children have no problem making the connections. I haven’t laid down my specific paln for enxt year yet, but I usually just have books and plug them in, adding in maps and timelines. I try to have a balance of Lit., facts only books (my son likes those, they are usually easy independant books) bios and culture books to get a full picture of the time period adn people.
I only have Gr. 4-6 (with a couple of exceptions); if you need me to look up any for olders, let me know.
Books about Asia from Heritage History to browse through to determine time frames :
http://www.heritage-history.com/www/heritage.php?Dir=civ&MenuItem=asian

ANCIENT CHINA
All Ages:
The Seventy Wonders of China – Jonathan Fenby
The Great Wall – Micheal Yamashita
    Gr. 4-6:
Eyewitness Books – Ancient China
Ancient China – Judith Simpson
Great Wall – Elizabeth Mann
Made in China: Ideas and Inventions from Ancient China – Suzanne Williams
The Ancient Chinese – Virginia Schomp
Life in Ancient China – Paul Challen – ages 8-14
China: A History to 1949 – Valjean McLenighan
See Inside an Ancient Chinese Town – Penelope Hughes Stanton
Ancient Chinese Art: Art in History – Jane Shuter
Shen of the Sea: Chinese Stories for Children – Arthur Chrisman (Fairy tales and folk tales)
The Ch’itin Purse: A Collection of Ancient Chinese Stories – Linda Fang (10 stoires from 770-221 BC)
Legends of the Chinese Jews of Kaifeng – Xin Xu (gr. 6+ 1100+)
JAPAN AND SE ASIA
Gr. 4-6
Illustrated History of Japan – Shigeo Nishmura
Tales from Japan – Helen, William Mc Alpine (16 traditional legends, epics, fairy and folk tales)
Tales of a Korean Grandmother – Frances Carpenter (32 traditional tales from Korea)
Haiku – Patricia Donegan (how to write)
Tea Ceremony – Shozo Sato (Japenese traditoin of sharing tea; how to do it, what it means)
Art of Japan- Shurley Glubok (good intro. To historical periods and types of art)
Gr. 7-9
A Traveller’s History of Japan – Richard Tames
A Traveller’s History of SE Asia – J.M. Barwise
   INDIA
Gr. 4-6
Ancient India – Virginia Schomp
Buddha – Demi (bio**caution required)
The Jungle Book – R. Kipling
Just So Stories – R. Kipling
Science of Ancient India – Melissa Stewart

CENTRAL AMERICA
Heritage History: http://www.heritage-history.com/www/heritage.php?Dir=civ&MenuItem=hispanic
All ages:
Cultural Atlas for Young People: Ancient America – Marion Wood
Gr. 4-6
Overview:
First Book of Central America and Panama – Patricia Markum
Incans, Aztecs and Mayans – John Holzmann (history of three civilizations from a Biblical perspective)
First Book of the Ancient Maya – Barbera Beck
Latin American Folktales – John Bierhorst

MEXICO
Overview:
Mexico – R. Conrad Stein
History of Mexico – Amy Hunter
    Gr. 4-6
You Wouldn’t Want to be an Aztec Sacrifice – Fiona Macdonald (pre-columbian Mexico)
The Ancient Aztecs – Liz Sonneborn
Cortes of Mexico – Ronald Syme
By Right of Conquest – G. A. Henty (Aztecs-1519-1521)
Walk the World’s Rim – Betty Baker (1528-1537)
Nacar the White Deer – Elizabeth de Trovino (1876)
Horse Hooves and chicken feet: Mexican folktales – Neil Philip(12 traditional tales, Catholic heritage)
Francis Coronado and the Seven cities of Gold – Ronald Syme (gr. 4-12)
Conquista! – Clyde Bulla (time of Coronado)

SOUTH AMERICA
Gr. 4-6
Enchantment of the World Series has a book on each country.
First Book of the Incas – Barbera Beck
Machu Pichu – Elizabeth Mann (story of the religious city sacred to the Incas)
You Wouldn’t Want o be an Inca Mummy – Colin Hynson (lighthearted)
Man Who Discovered the Amazon – Ronald Syme ( 1538-1541)
Balboa: Swordsman and Conquistador – Felix Reisenburg
Francisco Pizarro – Sandra Kachurek
Treasure of the Incas – G.A. Henty (1475-1519)
With Cochrane the Dauntless – G.A. Henty (1820)
Out on the Pampas – G.A. Henty ( Argentina 1871 )
Secret of the Andes – Ann Nolan Clark (Inca boy growing up)
Life in Ancient S. America – Hazel Richardson
The Ancient Inca – Patricia Calvert

HTH, Rachel
August 14, 2011 at 1:18 am
HeidiS
Participant
Rachel that is awesome! Wow, thank you…what a great resource list. I am always trying to ‘fit in’ other cultures with my Ancient History..this is great!
I also found at currclick.com a new unit study for 3rd to5th grade( and higher I think) on Medieval Ancient Civilizations. They cover African culture, South American and Asian as well. It looks really interesting, by Intelligo Unit Studies I think?
http://www.currclick.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=264&products_id=49406&it=1&filters=0_0_0_0_0_0&manufacturers_id=264
August 14, 2011 at 1:59 am
Rachel White
Participant
Oh yes, I need to put together a list for Africa.
I’m glad you like the list.
Rachel