After a couple of months of vacation we are back in the groove. It feels good to have a plan… a schedule. I like having an outline… a map to guide us along our journey.
Since we initially read about historical discoveries in The Story of the World: The Ancients, Sweetie has wanted to be an Archeologist. So she was delighted to start our studies again and is so immersed in Ancient Egypt, she wants to have an Ancient Egypt themed birthday party.
Ancient Egypt Activities
Reading & Narration
This morning, we read Chapter 4: The Old Kingdom of Egypt. After reading each section, I asked her to tell me what she could recall from the chapter. Right now, I play scribe and record her words on the back of the map work that accompanies the chapter. When she gets older and is more comfortable writing, she will do written narrations. Here is her oral narration of the the section on Egyptian Mummies:
“The Pharaoh Cheops died so they [the priests] took all his organs like brains, heart and stuff and washed them and put them in special jars with heads of goddesses. They then wrapped his body in linen. They saved him for 40 days. They then washed everything again, wrapped him in linen again, and put his body in a silver case. They put that case in a wooden one. Then they carried him across the street to the pyramid. Inside the pyramid was a special place called a burial chamber. They put food and a boat for him to use in the Afterlife. Later, he will discover his chamber is filled with treasure.”
Wonderful! She is so detailed (though a few minor errors – it was a gold coffin, not a silver one). We frequently practice doing narrations – for movies, recapping the days activities for Daddy at dinner time, of books I’ve read aloud at bedtime, etc. I hope her narrations continue to be as accurate when she begins writing them on her own.
Crafts
She loves crafts so she was delighted to create a Canopic Jar of her own. Using an empty creamer bottle for the base, she covered the bottle with paper maché. Once they were dry, she painted them to look like cats and other animals revered by ancient Egyptians.
She also added what she learned to her Book of Centuries notebook, pictured above beside her finished jar which she plans to exhibit it the county fair next week!
