a complete ancient greek history walk-through that will ......chronological order that is easy to...

Navigating Homeschooling Ancient Greece/1

A Complete Ancient Greek History Walk-through that will Excite Your Kids!

This is a compilation of Ancient Greek history resources and activities. I’ve laid it out in a (mostly)

chronological order that is easy to follow and will jumpstart your dive into Ancient Greek history. You

will need two main sources as a base curriculum: The Story of the World Vol. 1: Ancient Times and its

Student Pages, and History Pockets: Ancient Greece. If you’re trying to save cost, it’s possible to choose

one or the other as they overlap. In addition to these resources, I’ve noted activities, games, and videos

that will enhance each lesson. Please pick and choose activities based on your child’s age, attention

span, and abilities. I did these with my children ages 7, 10, and 12. Sometimes my 4-year-old would join

in.

Additional materials:

3-ring binder for pages

Construction paper

Library books on Ancient Greece (optional)

Note: We do history three times a week—Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Week 1- Life in Early Crete

Greek history really starts before its founding on the island of Crete as the Minoan Civilization was the

predecessor of the Greeks and influenced Greek culture and mythology.

Day 1:

Read: “Bull-jumpers and Sailors” from The Story of the World.

Take a closer look at the bull-leaping fresco in “Bull-leaping fresco from the palace of Knossos”

at Khan Academy. There is also an 8 page illustrated book on bull-leaping you can download at

the bottom of this link.

Watch: Ancient Crete The Minoans. This is an informative video older children will enjoy.

Watch: The Minoan Palace ~ Ancient Crete Music. This is a beautiful still-photo video with

ancient Crete music.

Watch: Crete, The Magnificent Minoan Palace Of Knossos Europe's Oldest City. I love this video.

It is a beautifully done, computer generated model of what the ancient palace might have

looked like back in its glory days.

Map work: We located and colored

the island of Crete. This page is

from The Story of the World

(SOTW) Student Pages.

Coloring Page: “Bull Jumpers” from

SOTW Student Pages.

https://navigatinghomeschooling.home.blog/blog/https://welltrainedmind.com/p/the-story-of-the-world-volume-1-ancient-times-from-the-earliest-nomads-to-the-last-roman-emperor/?v=7516fd43adaahttps://welltrainedmind.com/p/student-pages-vol-1-revised-edition/?v=7516fd43adaahttps://www.evan-moor.com/history-pockets-ancient-greece-grades-4-6-teacher-reproducibles-e-bookhttps://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/aegean-art1https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgUBXJqQW3shttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAm3dsk67REhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAm3dsk67REhttps://welltrainedmind.com/p/student-pages-vol-1-revised-edition/?v=7516fd43adaa


Day 2:

Read: “King Minos and the Minotaur” from The Story of the World.

Watch: Theseus And The Minotaur | Exploring Greek

Mythology. This video has activities at the end.

Activity: Blindfold one child. Have a second child guide

the first using the directions learned in the above video

until they reach the desired destination. For added

difficulty, rearranged chairs as obstacles.

Watch: Theseus & The Minotaur | Daedalus and Icarus |

Greek Mythology. This is a cartoon that even my 4-year-

old enjoyed. It has two Greek myths. Skip to 5:00 for

Theseus & the Minotaur.

Complete: “Theseus and the Minotaur” maze from

SOTW Student Pages. For the older children, I had them

write a short summary of the story. We cut out the

maze and story summary and glued it onto construction

paper before placing it in our binder.

Day 3:

Read: “The Mysterious End of the Minoans” from The Story of the World.

Watch: Frescoes from Akrotiri, Thera by Khan Academy. This video gives more details about

Thera and the volcanic eruption on the island.

Timeline: This is a good time to begin History Pockets: Ancient Greece, starting with the

“Introduction to Ancient Greece.” Put together the timeline and have students color the first

block: “The Minoan Civilization settles on the Island of Crete.” Don’t worry about the rest of the

timeline. We will fill it out as we go along. For further instruction on how to assemble the

timeline to fit in the 3-ring binder, see my video.

Coloring Page: Ancient Greece cover page from

History Pockets: Ancient Greece. You can either

place this in the front of your binder as a cover

page, or after the Minoans and in front of the

Mycenaeans, who were the first early Greeks. Cut

it out and glue onto construction paper for more

durability.

Week 2- The Early Greeks

Day 1:

https://navigatinghomeschooling.home.blog/blog/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXdPKFI2KcE&list=PLfiifZOW9mo2T34IW5NE8bXfJ0MEi54Wd&index=6&t=0shttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXdPKFI2KcE&list=PLfiifZOW9mo2T34IW5NE8bXfJ0MEi54Wd&index=6&t=0shttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d62W9Y-s-Kg&list=PLfv3tA5AoEjCu7zUAksOw2AtFKPAeJXKZ&index=6&t=0shttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d62W9Y-s-Kg&list=PLfv3tA5AoEjCu7zUAksOw2AtFKPAeJXKZ&index=6&t=0shttps://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/aegean-art1https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3KdP78KJbw&t=1s


Read: “The Mycenaeans” from The Story of the World.

Watch: You have some choices here. There are 4 videos on Mycenaean civilization you can

watch on Khan Academy. Older children may enjoy these. My 10 and 12-year-olds liked trying

to answer the quiz questions after the videos. You can space these out over the week. Younger

children will not have the attention span for these videos.

Map work: You have two choices. Either use “The Early Greeks” map from the SOTW Student

Pages or the map from History Pockets. Color Crete and Greece a different color. Find the

location of Troy, and note any other important cities.

Timeline: Draw a picture for “The Mycenaeans conquered the Minoans” and record the date:

1450 B.C.

Day 2:

Read: “The Greek Dark Ages” from The Story of the World.

Watch: Truth of Troy by BBC. This is a series of six 3-4 minute long videos. These fascinating

videos explore whether Homer’s accounts of Troy have any support in archeology. They also

give a cartoon account of the story of the Trojan horse.

Write: Have the child retell the story of Trojan horse. Younger children can do this orally.

Draw: Children gifted as artist may enjoy drawing the Trojan horse following these step-by-step

instructions.

Timeline: Write in, “The Dark Ages of Greece” for the date 1100 B.C. Draw a picture.

Day 3:

Read: “The Stories of Homer” from The Story of the World. You’ll notice this is slightly out of

order. That is because Homer’s stories were written much later than the period during which

they supposedly happened—that is the Greek Dark Ages. Since we already discussed Troy, we

will move onto the story of Odysseus as he sailed back to Greece from Troy.

Watch: Odysseus and the Cyclops. This is a two part account of the story of Odysseus and the

Cyclops. Warning: There is some gore that may frighten younger or more sensitive children.

Please preview these videos to determine whether they are suitable for your children.

Watch: Odysseus And The Cyclops | Exploring Greek

Mythology. This is a less intense retelling of the story. It also

includes a little science at the end of the video on the

importance of two eyes.

Activity: Go outside and play catch. Have the child catch the

ball normally. Then cover one eye. We did this by using black

construction paper to block one side of a pair of sunglasses.

Have the child try to catch the ball with only one good eye. Do

they notice a difference? Repeat these steps with other

activities like trying to drop a small ball down a paper towel

tube. They cannot touch or hold the tube with their hand. Is

this more difficult with one eye covered?

https://navigatinghomeschooling.home.blog/blog/https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/aegean-art1/mycenaean/v/mycenae-palacehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_36-H0-Vsps&list=PLE94B8205CF3F0EC7http://www.drawandwrite.com/FreeArtLesson.htmlhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHXak1aEexIhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-TN9DDBkg4&list=PLfiifZOW9mo2T34IW5NE8bXfJ0MEi54Wd&index=3&t=0shttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-TN9DDBkg4&list=PLfiifZOW9mo2T34IW5NE8bXfJ0MEi54Wd&index=3&t=0s


Coloring Page: Children can color the Cyclops from SOTW Student Pages. Some children may

prefer to draw their own picture.

Week 3- Greece Gets Civilized Again

Note: Depending on the number of activities chosen, this section may take more than one week. Some

children may want to do all of the activities, in which case, it may take up to three weeks.

Day 1:

Watch: Classical Greece by Khan Academy.

Read: “Daily Life” in History Pockets: Ancient Greece.

Coloring Page: “A Greek Home” in History Pockets. Children into

Minecraft who dislike coloring might prefer building a Greek

home in the game. They can use the coloring page as a

blueprint.

Activities: You have 3 choices from the History Pockets: Mosaic

Art, A Wedding Invitation, or the Game of Knucklebones. Allow

children to pick activities based on their interest and skills.

Day 2:

Read: “Greece Gets an Alphabet” from The Story of the World.

Read: “Language & Literature” in History Pockets: Ancient

Greece.

Language Study: Both SOTW Student Pages and History Pockets has an activity for writing the

child’s name in Greek. In addition, History Pockets has a “Greek to English” word study ideal for

older children.

Activity: Children may be interested in making the Theater Masks. Instructions are in the History

Pockets, but basically, all you need is a paper plate and to google search “ancient Greece theater

masks.” The masks are two sided (faces on each side). Some children may enjoy performing a

play.

Poetry: Children interested in poetry may enjoy doing the Lyric Poetry activity in the History

Pockets.

Day 3:

Read: “The First Olympic Games” from The Story of the World.

Read: “Sports & Entertainment” in History Pockets: Ancient Greece.

Timeline: Write in, “The First Olympics” and the date 776 B.C. Color the torch.

Coloring Page: “The Ancient Olympic Games” in History Pockets.

Painting: “The Olympic Torch” in History Pockets. It calls for yellow and orange tempera paint,

but we used red and glitter gold tempera paint.

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Activity: “Olympic Sports Newspaper” in History Pockets. In this activity, the child is to create a

newspaper article for the upcoming Olympic Games. We modified this activity, creating a

newspaper for the “Christian Race.” We read 1 Corinthians 9:24-27.

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Week 4- The Medes and Persians (optional)

There is a brief break in Greece history to cover the Medes and Persians. You have the choice to skip this,

but if the child isn’t already familiar with these civilizations, I recommend covering this section as the

Persians play an important role in Greek history.

Day 1:

Read: “A New Empire” from The Story of the World.

Watch: Ancient Persia by Khan Academy.

Map work: “The Medes and the Persians” map from SOTW Student Pages. Have the child trace

the border of the Persian Empire in color.

Day 2:

Read: “Cyrus the Great” from The Story of the World.

Watch: Cyrus the Great and the Achaemenid Empire by Khan Academy.

Coloring Page: “Cyrus the Great” SOTW Student Pages.

Day 3:

Watch: Zoroastrianism by Khan Academy. (optional) This is a fascinating ancient religion that still

exists today. Discuss the similarities and differences of Zoroastrianism to Christianity.

Week 5- Sparta and Athens

Day 1:

Read: “Life in Sparta” from The Story of the World.

Coloring Page: Color the Greek soldier in the SOTW Student

Pages.

Day 2:

Read: “Life in Athens” from The Story of the World.

Do “Athens and Sparta: Brains v. Brawn” in History Pockets.

Venn Diagram: Make a Venn diagram or use the one

provided in History Pockets to show the ways that Sparta and

Athens were similar and different. Children that can’t yet

write well may draw pictures.

Day 3:

Activity: Make Greek paper dolls from the SOTW Student Pages.

https://navigatinghomeschooling.home.blog/blog/https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/ancient-medieval/ancient-persia/v/overview-of-ancient-persiahttps://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/ancient-medieval/ancient-persia/v/cyrus-the-great-establishes-the-achaemenid-empirehttps://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/ancient-medieval/ancient-persia/v/zoroastrianism


Week 6- Work, School, & Government

Day 1:

Read: “Work & School” in History Pockets: Ancient Greece.

Coloring Page: “The Agora.” Color the Greek marketplace in the

History Pockets.

Activity: Child may set up a stand and pretend to sell a craft or

food item. Further details for this activity are in the History

Pockets.

Timeline: Draw coins for the date 690 B.C.

Craft: Child will design a coin for Sparta, keeping in mind what sort

of symbols would best represent it. Cover a circular piece of

cardboard with aluminum foil and then glue the child’s design

(from paper slightly smaller than the coin) onto the foil. Our coin

was approximately 3 inches in diameter. Templates for the coin

are in the History Pockets.

Day 2:

Watch: Classical Greek Society and Culture by Khan Academy.

Write: Read about the “schools of thought” in History Pockets: Ancient Greece found under

“Work and School.” Have the child pick which great thinker they would have liked to study

under and write their reasons for choosing him. Older children may want to look up more

information online about each teacher before choosing.

Day 3:

Read: “Government in Athens” in History Pockets: Ancient Greece.

Watch: Philosophy: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle by Khan Academy.

Speech: “The Art of Persuasion” in the History Pockets will guide the child on how to write a

speech. Allow the child to give their speech to the family.

Craft: Read about Socrates and his trial in the History Pockets. Make Greek juror ballots by

cutting out two 2” cardboard circles and punching a hole in the middle. Glue a wooden dowel in

one and a straw in the other. The “hollow” ballot is the guilty ballot.

Timeline: Draw a picture of the Greek ballots for “The city-state of Athens develops the world’s

first democracy.” Write in the date 508 B.C.

Week 7- The Greek Gods

Day 1:

Read: “The Greek Gods” from The Story of the World.

https://navigatinghomeschooling.home.blog/blog/https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/ancient-medieval/classical-greece/v/golden-age-of-athens-pericles-and-greek-culturehttps://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/ancient-medieval/classical-greece/v/socrates-plato-aristotle


Read: “Religion and Mythology” in History Pockets: Ancient Greece. History Pockets provides a

list of several of the most common gods and goddesses. For a list of both the Greek and Roman

names, see the SOTW Student Pages.

Watch: Choose any number of the Greek Stories from this channel to watch throughout the

week.

Video & Activity: Explanation Writing - Fiction & Non-Fiction. This is an already familiar story,

but at the end of the video, you will be given details on how to plan your own cryptid.

Coloring: Child will want to begin drawing and coloring the pictures for the Book of Olympian

Gods in the History Pockets. This will be assembled at the end of the week.

Day 2:

Note: Most of this week will be spent coloring, drawing, and planning for

their writing project. The child may either watch more Greek stories, or if

you prefer, check out books on Greek mythology from your library.

Draw: Child will draw a picture of their cryptid using the chart they

created. As they do this, they should be imagining what sort of

myths their creature might play a part in.

Day 3:

Write: The child will write a short story about their cryptid. If the

child does not yet write well, don’t limit their creativity. Allow

them to dictate the story to you as you write it. The story could be

an origin story, or it can be a tale of some deed (good or bad).

Write: Rather than create their own mythological creature, the child instead could write a

mixed-up myth of the existing Greek gods as instructed in the History Pockets. We chose to skip

this activity in favor of creating our own mythic being.

Assemble: A Book of Olympian Gods according to the directions in the History Pockets to make

an accordion book. We punched holes in it, so we could place it in our binder. For a glimpse of

what it should look like, watch my video.

Week 8- Art and Architecture

Day 1:

Read: “Art and Architecture” in History Pockets: Ancient Greece.

Coloring pages: Greek Architecture column styles found in History Pockets.

Draw: Use the column coloring page as a guide to design a library. Decide which type of column

you want to use. (If you don’t have History Pockets, look up Greek column styles online for this

activity.)

Craft: Construct the pop-up Parthenon in History Pockets. Write down a few facts about the

Parthenon in the space provided.

https://navigatinghomeschooling.home.blog/blog/https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfv3tA5AoEjCu7zUAksOw2AtFKPAeJXKZhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tak58pIYMQ&list=PLfiifZOW9mo2T34IW5NE8bXfJ0MEi54Wd&index=7https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3KdP78KJbw&t=1s


Timeline: Under the picture of the Parthenon write, “They began building the Parthenon” and

the date 447 B.C.

Day 2:

Craft: Make an amphora. Child can look up Greek amphora designs on the internet. Child can

draw their own amphora or finish drawing the vase provided in History Pockets. Next they will

make their own designs on it after the Greek style. Color, and then cut out and mount on

construction paper.

Day 3:

Craft: Child will recreate the fresco from Knosses found at the: 30 mark in The Minoan Palace ~

Ancient Crete Music. Have the child lightly sketch the dolphins and fish with a pencil and paint

their fresco to create a beautiful underwater scene.

Week 9- The Wars of the Greeks

Day 1:

Read: “Greece’s Wars with Persia” from The Story of the World.

Watch: Greco Persian Wars by Khan Academy.

Timeline: Write, “Battle of Marathon Greeks defeat Persians”

and draw a picture under the date 490 B.C.

Coloring page: Color and label the Greek military equipment

page in History Pockets. (My 4-year-old wanted to color this day,

so I printed up one for her. Always involve the younger children

when they show an interest in what the older children are doing.

This is a great way to nourish curiosity.)

Day 2:

Read: “About Military Power” in History Pockets: Ancient

Greece.

Watch: Second Persian Invasion by Khan Academy

Coloring Page: Color and read about the Triremes and the important part they played in the

Greco Persian Wars. This information can be found in History Pockets: Ancient Greece.

Day 3:

Read: “The Greeks Fight Each Other” from The Story of the World.

Watch: Prelude to the Peloponnesian War and The Peloponnesian War by Khan Academy.

Timeline: Draw a picture for the date 431 B.C. “Athens and Sparta fight each other.”

https://navigatinghomeschooling.home.blog/blog/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UawvdyRt2SQhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UawvdyRt2SQhttps://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/ancient-medieval/classical-greece/v/beginning-of-the-greco-persian-warshttps://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/ancient-medieval/classical-greece/v/second-persian-invasionhttps://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/ancient-medieval/classical-greece/v/prelude-to-the-peloponnesian-warhttps://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/ancient-medieval/classical-greece/v/the-peloponnesian-war


Craft: Look up the hoplite soldiers and

hoplite shields online. Using a paper plate,

have the child design a hoplite shield.

Information about the hoplite shield from

History Pockets can be glued onto the

back of the shield.

Game: Play Win the Peloponnesian War

game found in SOTW Student Pages.

Week 10- Alexander the Great

Day 1:

Read: “Philip and His Son” from The Story of the World.

Watch: Philip of Macedon unifies Greece by Khan Academy.

Coloring Page: Alexander and Bucephalus found in SOTW Student Pages.

Day2:

Read: “Alexander’s Invasions” from The Story of the World.

Watch: Alexander the Great takes power and Alexander the Great conquers Persia by Khan

Academy.

Map work: Color Alexander’s empire. Map found in SOTW Student Pages.

Day 3:

Read: “The Death of Alexander” from The Story of the World.

Watch: Diadochi and the Hellenistic Period by Khan Academy.

Timeline: Write, “Alexander the Great Dies” and draw a picture for the date 323 B.C.

Map work: Using a 2nd copy of the Alexander the Great map in SOTW Student Pages, divide and

color the fragments of Alexander’s empire as shown in the above video.

Watch: A Climb Up the Pharos Lighthouse found in the article: “The Great Lighthouse at

Alexandria.” This incredible lighthouse was built in Alexandria, Egypt. Alexandria, Egypt was one

of the many cities with that name founded by Alexander the Great.

Craft: Make the Pharos Lighthouse. Craft found in SOTW Student Pages.

Game: Play the Alexander the Great game found in SOTW Student Pages.

Timeline: Write the date 146 B.C. for “Greece is conquered by Romans.”
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a complete ancient greek history walk-through that will ......chronological order that is easy to...

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