A whole month of Ancient Egypt? Yes, please!

We are just having too much fun! I was planning on only doing 3 weeks of ancient Egypt, but this week we did more extra things that weren't in the book so we'll make it 4 weeks (yea for the flexibility of homeschooling!) I always loved learning about ancient Egypt as a kid and could never get enough of it. Now I get to share that with my kids! I remember learning in elementary school how the ancient Egyptians would wear perfumed wax cones on their head. When it got hot enough to make you sweaty it was hot enough to melt the wax and release the perfume. How awesome and inventive is that? And it's stuck with me all these years. I don't know how much of what we are doing is going to stick with the kids. But the most important thing they are learning is that learning is fun!

We've been using books and things not mentioned in The Well Trained Mind and Story of the World, so I thought I'd post them on here for those who are interested.

A few years ago Builder Boy became interested in ancient Egypt, and specifically pyramids, tombs, and mummies from watching me play The Sims 3, World Adventures expansion pack. (Okay, so Builder Boy and Principal Daddy aren't the only ones in this house who like computer games.) I made him a simple book about Egypt (that as soon as Principal Daddy shows me how to share a Word Document on here I will add,) got him a little book about the Nile River and some paper dolls (I was expecting them not to last, which was okay. I was NOT expecting half of the women outfits to be inappropriate, which they were.)

I re-discovered those materials today, so I got them out and had fun with the kids. Builder Boy was able to read almost every word in the book I made, which was really cool.

He liked The Nile River book which was a little above his reading level, but the vocabulary level was perfect to him. It covered a lot in just a few sentences per page with great pictures. And before I read it the first time a few years back I had no idea they had built a dam to stop the Nile from flooding.(ISBN 0-516-21559-0, Dewy Decimal number 916.2 if you're looking for it in the library. It is a small book.)


At the time I also got Ancient Egyptian Costumes Paper Dolls . Be aware though that they are fairly authentic, which means most of the girl outfits show mostly bare breasts (they hide the nipples) and a lot of cleavage. I still think they were worth it, though, and Builder Boy really doesn't care about not having a lot of girl outfits. 

We read The Egyptian Cinderella which I found at the thrift store and Builder Boy liked it. (ISBN 0-690-04822-X or 0-06-443279-3, DD number 398.2)

We've also been using the Usborne Living Long Ago book for information on food and clothing. (At the time I got it I was able to get it for $10.)

And of course (Craft Topics) Egyptians: Facts*Things To Make*Activities by Rachel Wright (Out of print/not available on Amazon.com. ISBN 0-531-14209-4 The inside has the Dewy number as 932.01 but my library had it at 745.592)

For tying in science with history we used The Children's Encyclopedia of Animals to learn about the desert habitat and Kingfisher First Encyclopedia of Animals to learn about camels and crocodiles. (CEofA Parragon Publishing, ISBN 978-1-4454-0740-1,  Kingfisher ISBN978-0-7534-5922-5)

Builder Boy and I also looked at the Sahara Desert, Nile River, Pyramids st Giza, and Temples at Karnak 2-page spreads in Children's Amazing Places Encyclopedia. (Parragon Publishing, ISBN 978-1-4075-8067-8)

Principal Daddy has been reading the Magic Tree House book #3 Mummies in the Morning .

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The beginning links are to the author's printing press website where you can buy Story of the World directly from the author. The below pictures are links to the book on Amazon.com.

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