Our award-winning history/geography/Bible lesson plans help you teach all your children together for history, Bible, and geography! This study, the third in our six-book series, walks you through the accounts of the life of Christ and the early church, including a study of Ancient Rome—the time period in which those events took place. It details Scripture passages, living books, Book of Centuries entries, narration ideas, geography ideas, additional assignments for older students, and optional hands-on activities for the whole family. (Grades 1–12) See full description →
Study history, geography, and Bible together as a family!
This year of lesson plans will help the world of Ancient Rome come alive for all your students, grades 1–12. The life of Christ and the events of the early church are studied side-by-side with ancient world history. The study of Rome will take you through many lands as you trace its rise and fall: Italy, Greece, Spain, Macedonia, more of Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Older students also complete a study of the book of Romans, which was written to believers in Ancient Rome.
The Charlotte Mason-style lesson plans
Make the ancient world come alive through living books and Bible readings.
Help your students listen attentively and recall what was read by narrating.
Let you teach the whole family together by sharing some books as family read-alouds, then challenging older students with additional reading and writing assignments from other books on the same topic.
Help all your students, grades 1–12, see how Bible events fit into history.
Connect geography to the people who lived there—both past and present.
Keep things simple by providing helpful reminders of upcoming resources, teaching tips, and Book of Centuries entries.
Book List
See the complete year’s book list, along with suggestions of where to find the books, in the convenient Book List tab above.
High School Credit
For the completion of grades 7–9 or 10–12 assignments in this Matthew through Acts & Ancient Rome study, we suggest that students should be awarded 1⁄2 credit for History/Geography and 1⁄2 credit for Bible.
Sample Schedule
The lesson plans in Matthew through Acts & Ancient Rome are very doable. Your weekly schedule would look something like this, with older students also spending time on additional assignments:
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Bible
(20–30 min.)
Bible
(20–30 min.)
Geography
(10–15 min.)
History
(15–20 min.)
History
(20–30 min.)
History
(20–30 min.)
Our History, Geography, and Bible Series
With our six-book series, you will cover the entire Bible, learn history from ancient to modern, and study all the main regions of the world!
Read the books listed under Family to all the students together. Add the grade-level books as individual reads for any children you have in those grades. For example, if you have students in grades 4 and 8, you will want to get the books under Family, Grades 4–6, and Grades 7–9.
Family
Bible
City by David Macaulay
The Roman Colosseum by Elizabeth Mann
Peril and Peace (History Lives series, Volume 1) by Withrow
The Story of the Romans by H. A. Guerber (Nothing New Press, third edition; This edition has 102 chapters and contains some additional helpful material in the Publisher’s Preface. If you have the fourth edition, see these suggestions for adjusting the lesson plans.)
The Stuff They Left Behind: From the Days of Ancient Rome portfolio
Then and Now Bible Maps from Rose Publishing
Visits to Europe notebook (one for each student)
Hungry Planet by Peter Menzel (used with Visits to Europe)
Material World by Peter Menzel (used with Visits to Europe)
plus . . .
Grades 1–3
(can listen in with grades 4–6 on the two books below if desired)
(opt.) Detectives in Togas by Henry Winterfeld
(opt.) Mystery of the Roman Ransom by Henry Winterfeld
Grades 4–6
Detectives in Togas by Henry Winterfeld
Mystery of the Roman Ransom by Henry Winterfeld
Galen and the Gateway to Medicine by Jeanne Bendick
Grades 7–9
Augustus Caesar’s World by Genevieve Foster
OR Beric the Briton by G. A. Henty and For the Temple by G. A. Henty
Book of Centuries (one for each student)
The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare
Discovering Doctrine by Sonya Shafer (one for each student)
Foundations in Romans by Sonya Shafer (one for each student)
Grades 10–12
The Apostle: A Life of Paul by John Pollock
Augustus Caesar’s World by Genevieve Foster
Ben Hur by Lew Wallace
Book of Centuries (one for each student)
Discovering Doctrine by Sonya Shafer (one for each student)
Foundations in Romans by Sonya Shafer (one for each student)
Plutarch’s Lives, biographies of Julius Caesar and Marc Antony, by Plutarch
Optional
The British Empire and the Great Divisions of the Globe by Charlotte M. Mason (grades 4–12, used with Visits to Europe)
Children of the Northlights by Ingri and Edgar D’Aulaire (grades 1–3, used with Visits to Europe)
Hanna’s Cold Winter by Trish Marx (grades 1–3, used with Visits to Europe)
Katje the Windmill Cat by Gretchen Woelfle (grades 1–3, used with Visits to Europe)
Megan’s Year: An Irish Traveler’s Story by Gloria Whelan (grades 1–3, used with Visits to Europe)
My Tour of Europe: By Teddy Roosevelt, Age 10 edited by Ellen Jackson (grades 1–3, used with Visits to Europe)
Orani: My Father’s Village by Claire A. Nivola OR Dancing on Grapes by Graziellla Pacini Buonanno (grades 1–3, used with Visits to Europe)
(These are the titles that a library is most likely to have. The links will take you to the CM Bookfinder, where you can find out if a library near you has a copy. If your library does not have access to a book listed here, add it to your Book Store list.)
I am really enjoying the detail provided in the curriculum while also allowing me to feel in control of teaching.
I purchased the Life in Ancient Rome coloring books. I was wondering if there were any notes on how to correspond the illustrations to the lessons.
Rated 5 out of 5
Lisa Price –
This was our first year to use this curriculum, my daughter who is 12 loved it, the additional books that went along with it were fun and exciting.
My question for Sonia is since we started in the middle, does it matter which one of these we do next? My idea is to do the one that comes after this one and just continue until we have gone through them all. Thanks for the great website and all that it includes.
Jordan Smith –
Glad you’ve enjoyed using Matthew through Acts & Ancient Rome! You have the progression exactly right: We recommend going on to the next time period, Middle Ages, Renaissance, Reformation & Epistles, to study history in order. Once you finish Modern Times, Epistles & Revelation, you can start from the beginning again with Genesis through Deuteronomy & Ancient Egypt.
dmcvey –
I am really enjoying the detail provided in the curriculum while also allowing me to feel in control of teaching.
I purchased the Life in Ancient Rome coloring books. I was wondering if there were any notes on how to correspond the illustrations to the lessons.
Lisa Price –
This was our first year to use this curriculum, my daughter who is 12 loved it, the additional books that went along with it were fun and exciting.
My question for Sonia is since we started in the middle, does it matter which one of these we do next? My idea is to do the one that comes after this one and just continue until we have gone through them all. Thanks for the great website and all that it includes.
Jordan Smith –
Glad you’ve enjoyed using Matthew through Acts & Ancient Rome! You have the progression exactly right: We recommend going on to the next time period, Middle Ages, Renaissance, Reformation & Epistles, to study history in order. Once you finish Modern Times, Epistles & Revelation, you can start from the beginning again with Genesis through Deuteronomy & Ancient Egypt.