Bible History Resources and Ideas

A book I've used for the chronological study of Ancient Israel is the Greenleaf Guide to Old Testament History. The guide organises 196 readings through the Bible in chronological order with suggestions for further study and narration questions. The narration questions were a very helpful start for me when I first started learning about the Charlotte Mason approach to learning.
Greenleaf Press also publish a guide to Ancient Egypt which fits in well with the readings from the book of Exodus. You can read about them here. They've been around for many years and I like their simplicity and their ease of use with multiple children.


30 Days to Understanding the Bible by Max Anders

Basically an overview of the structure, geography, eras, and books of the Bible, we used this book over the course of a year. It has three main sections:

1) The Story of the Old Testament

2) The Story of the New Testament

3) The Ten Great Doctrines of the Bible

There is an appendix at the end of the book which contains reproducible images to use as teaching helps. There is also a teaching plan which is more suitable for a group of older students or adults which I didn't use.

Sections 1& 2 contain 19 chapters and we covered one chapter one day a week with review on the other days.

At the beginning of each chapter the author has a short anecdote, story, or example from history which I read aloud to everyone. Then I read, for example, about the Patriarch Era and learned a story line summary i.e. 'Abraham is chosen by God to "father" a people to represent God to the world.'

Then I read about the 4 major men in the Patriarch Era: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob & Joseph and covered the geography of this era using maps provided in the book which I enlarged before printing.

As we finished each era everyone made a notebook page for that era, a total of twelve. The author called these 12 eras The Arc of Bible History. Whenever anyone wrote a Bible narration or a narration pertaining to one of the eras we'd covered  it was placed in the appropriate section of their History notebooks.

This was very useful for helping them understand the Bible as it relates to history and gave them a visual sense of the chronology as we went through the eras and placed a title page like the Exodus page to the right.

 If they did a narration on Alexander the Great, for example, I would ask, 'Where would you place Alexander in the arc of Bible History?'

'Well he was between the Old & New Testaments so he belongs in the Silence Era.'

'What is the story line summary of this era?'

'Pharisees and others entomb the Israelites in legalism for the next four hundred years.'

I found it quite an easy book to adapt to our situation - another resource which can be used successfully with multiple ages.

The above book has some good reproducibles for Bible timelines and maps in particular. (Gospel Light Publication)

Free notebooking pages for Bible & Ancient Cultures can be found at:

http://www.hslaunch.com/mypage/profile/585

http://lilliputstation.blogspot.com.au/p/freebies.html 

The Story of the Ancient World by Christine Miller is a revised and expanded edition of the work of H.A. Guerber and is a narrative of the history of the Old Testament up until the time of Alexander the Great. It includes the history of the Sumerians, the Egyptians, the Phoenicians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, and the Persians interwoven with the Biblical narrative. There is also a recommended reading list that corresponds with the chapters in the book.

A helpful book to have alongside when studying Bible history is Journey Through the Bible by V. Gilbert Beers. Well illustrated and lots of helpful cultural insights, archaelogical finds and maps.

Historical fiction book suggestions:

Shadow Hawk by Andre Norton

Set in 1590 BC at the time of the Egyptians' fight for freedom against their Hyksos invaders.

Hittite Warrior by Joanne Williamson

Based on an episode from the Book of Judges at the time of Deborah and Barak, about 1200 years before the birth of Christ. 

God King by Joanne Williamson
This story takes place around 710-702 B.C. and involves a young prince, heir to the throne of Kush and Egypt who flees for his life to the land of Judea where he encounters Sennacherib, the mighty Assyrian King and the Jewish King Hezekiah.

The Destruction of Sennacherib

The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,

And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;

And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,

When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green,

That host with their banners at sunset were seen:

Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown,

That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,

And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;

And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,

And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!

And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,

But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;

And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,

And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

And there lay the rider distorted and pale,

With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail:

And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,

The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.

And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,

And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;

And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,

Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!

By Lord Byron (Gordon George)

  
Victory on the Walls, a Story of Nehemiah by Friedan Clark Hyman.
Nehemiah's story told through the eyes of his nephew. Set in 445 BC when the Jews returned from exile to rebuild Jerusalem.

Festival of Lights Retold by Maida Silverman

A picture book story telling of the Maccabees stance against Antiochus IV.

The following books centre around the time of Jesus:

Vinegar Boy by Alberta Hawse
A very moving story about a young disfigured boy who is present when Jesus is crucified. A great read aloud.

The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare

The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas
A Roman soldier on duty at the crucifixion wins the robe of Jesus at a game of dice. He believes Jesus to be an innocent man and when he is cajoled into later wearing the robe at a banquet held by Pontius Pilate, he becomes mentally deranged.

The Big Fisherman by the same author is a follow on book from The Robe. "The Big Fisherman" is Peter the disciple of Jesus.

Ben Hur, A Tale of the Christ  by Lew Wallace
Great Christian classic free here.

 For the Temple by G.A. Henry

The book is free online here. The destruction of Jerusalem at the time of Titus, 70A.D.

Josephus, the historian, is one of the characters in Henty's book:

The Wars of the Jews or History of the Destruction of Jerusalem by Josephus 

Masada, The Last Fortress by Gloria D. Miklowitz. The siege of Masada in 72A.D.
Basically everyone dies - which is what actually happened - so a preview might be a good idea.

Pearl Maiden by H.Rider Haggard
Set in Rome in the first century. Online here. Also at Librivox - I haven't listened to it so I've no idea how good the narrator is.

November Hymn - Blessed Assurance

We've been listening to the hymn Blessed Assurance this month, although I heard my youngest belting out 'Blessed Insurance' earlier this week.
The words are by Fanny Crosby, a prolific hymn writer of the 19th century (she wrote about 9,000 hymns!) The wrong treatment for an eye condition when she was a baby left her permanently blind in both eyes.
'Fanny Crosby, Queen of Gospel Songs' by Rebecca Davis is a good book about her for a younger reader (around 6 to 9 years of age) to read for themselves.

1.                 Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!

                    O what a foretaste of glory divine!

                    Heir of salvation, purchase of God,

                    Born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.

Refrain:

                    This is my story, this is my song,

                    Praising my Savior all the day long;

                    This is my story, this is my song,

                    Praising my Savior all the day long.

2.                 Perfect submission, perfect delight,

                    Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;

                    Angels descending bring from above

                    Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

                    (Refrain)

3.                 Perfect submission, all is at rest;

                    I in my Savior am happy and blest,

                    Watching and waiting, looking above,

                    Filled with his goodness, lost in his love.

                    (Refrain)

Australian Impressionists - Frederick McCubbin

Frederick McCubbin (1855-1917) is the third Australian Impressionist we have studied this year.
His earlier paintings, in particular, tended to be sombre works which often depicted the harshness of pioneer living.
The Australian Impressionists, known as the Heidelberg School, set up camp at Box Hill and later Heidelberg in Victoria around 1885 and practiced out of doors studying the effects of light and colour. They differed at first from the French Impressionists in that they didn't use 'broken colour.'

Whisperings in Wattle Boughs

Down on his Luck

The Lost Child

The Bush Sawyers

The North Wind

On the Wallaby Track



Lost

Girl With a Bird at the King Street Bakery

For more information on Australian Impressionism and the Heidelberg School see here.

Ambleside Year 1 - A Review

I started AO year 1 with my youngest daughter (aka Moozle) at the beginning of this year just before she turned 7 years of age.
This has been the first time in about 19 years of homeschooling that I've actually followed a set curriculum - I basically stuck to the weekly schedule and added some extras.

My planning is very simple. I have the page below as a Word document and each week I go to the weekly AO schedule & copy & paste the books & chapters from there onto this page, add in Composer, Artist Study and whatever other areas I want to cover and print it out. As each item gets done it gets ticked. If we miss something one week I just carry it over to the next one.

When we first began she had just clicked with reading but it was hard work for her. If I'd read a book to her she would peruse it afterwards but put it aside quickly. She would have been happy to sit beside me all day and have me read aloud to her and she would narrate almost word perfect when I asked her about anything I'd read aloud.

One day after we'd been reading Peter Pan she snuggled up in a chair with this book and stayed there most of the afternoon. From that point on her reading ability took off. I think it was a combination of readiness and access to a book clothed in literary language.

Here are some of the things that this year has included:

Audiobooks

A Little Princess by Francis Hodgson Burnett (Free Librivox recording narrated very nicely by Karen Savage) 

Focus on the Family Audio dramas - very well done:

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett - 2 hours long

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery - 4 hours long

Winnie the Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner and A Party for Pooh - BBC Radio Collection read by Alan Bennett; abridged but done very well)

Wulf the Saxon by G.A. Henty; read by Jim Weiss (8hrs long)

Shakespeare for Children (A Midsummer Night’s Dream & The Taming of the Shrew) by Jim Weiss (about 1 hour long)

Farmer Boy & On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder; read by Cherry Jones

Free Reading

Childhood of Famous Americans: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Thomas A. Edison, Betsy Ross, Daniel Boone.

Milly-Molly-Mandy by Joyce Lankester  Brisely

The Box Car Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner

The Sarah Whitcher Story by Elizabeth Yates
An inspiring story based on a true incident. A little girl becomes lost in a forest and a search begins. The searchers grow desperate and hopeless but her father's trust in God doesn't waver.

Madeline Takes Command by Ethel Brill
Based on fact, this is a stirring tale of a 14 year French Canadian girl who is left in charge of her younger brothers in her parent's absence. When their settlement is threatened by the Iroquois she takes charge.

Winding Valley Farm: Annie's Story by Anna Pellowski
Based on the experiences of the author's mother, this is the story of Annie, a girl growing up on a Wisconsin farm in the early 1900's. The author has also written three other books about different members of her family.

The Martha Years by Melissa Wiley

Composer & Artist Study (Read Alouds)

 The Young Brahms by Sybil Deucher

Joseph Haydn, The Merry Little Peasant & Franz Schubert and His Merry Friends by Opal Wheeler & Sybil Deucher

Benjamin West & his Cat Grimalkin by Marguerite Henry

At the age of seven, Benjamin, a Quaker boy in 18^th Century America who had never seen an actual picture himself, suddenly developed an urge and a gift for drawing pictures. He learnt from his Indian friends how to dig colours from the earth and his cat, Grimalkin, provided the hairs for Benjamin’s paintbrushes. A lovely, humorous story, well-illustrated with line drawings.

Harmony Fine Arts Grade 1 – I started this about 18 months ago because Moozle loves drawing & any sort of art & the suggestions and schedule here helped me to do this on a regular basis.

A picture study narration - the painting was observed closely for about five minutes and then a drawing was done from memory.

Some drawing practice from Drawing with Children by Mona Brookes. Moozle loves this book but I haven't started going through it properly yet, something I plan to do soon.

Handicrafts

A First Book of Knitting by Gosse & Allerton


I bought this book because it use rhymes to teach the different stitches & also I thought the patterns might be useful for me as they are fairly basic! There are instructions in the book on how to makes wooden knitting needles which one of the boys made for his little sister. So far we've done casting on & plain stitch. I've also taught her to do basic chain stitch in crotchet.

Beaded gecko key rings - made with wire (instead of ribbon as pattern says) & pony beads.  Pattern here.

Marguerite Makes a Book by Kathryn Hewitt

 Marguerite is the daughter of a famous manuscript illuminator who has been commissioned to make a book for a great lady. Set in medieval Paris the book shows the craftsmanship that went into the making of these beautiful works and how Marguerite becomes involved in her father's work.
The lovely illustrations inspired Moozle to try her hand at 'illumination.'

Narrating Beautiful Stories From Shakespeare with paper dolls

Favourite books this year:
Peter Pan, Beautiful Stories From Shakespeare, Burgess Bird Book & Viking Tales.

A family game we have all enjoyed is Articulate. It's a great game for a wide range of ages - played in teams, you get a card, and the idea is to describe as many words as possible on the card to your team mates in just 30 seconds without saying "sounds like" or rhymes with" and it can be hilarious.

The other day when a group of us played, Moozle got the word Valhalla on her card so her clue was, "This was heaven for the Vikings." We'd been reading Viking Tales in previous weeks so she knew what the word meant. The game is meant to be played with a 30 second timer but we don't always use it and sometimes we just use the cards & play when we are on a long drive.

Kayaking

Movies

Anne of Green Gables
The Sound of Music
Mary Poppins
Tin Tin & The Secret of the Unicorn - We watched this as a family when we were on holiday & it was fun.

French

Rosetta Stone, which we've had for years and Skoldo Elementary by Lucy Montgomery. We have the book & CD but we've only used the CD at this stage which has 15 songs included.

Science & Nature Study

Chick & Chickens by Gail Gibbons.
One day I might write about our chicken saga but for now I'll tell you we have four of them - Princess, Tinkerbell, Black Beauty & Cinderella. The last two replaced Amy & Snow White who died/disappeared much to Moozle's distress as they are her charges. Anyhow, this book helped me to answer her questions as I've had no prior experience with chooks at all. Well illustrated with a good amount of information.

Living with Wildlife by Eva Murray is a book I picked up at a library sale. It's a 'comprehensive guide to encounters with our native animals.' It's been most helpful at times as we do have regular encounters with the natives. The author was forced to take more of an interest in wildlife when she had problems with possums, snakes, lizards, injured birds and what not in and around her own home so her book is practical and born of her own experience.

Exploring Creation with Astronomy
I read sections of this aloud, mainly the parts about the earth, sun & moon.

We've been using the Outdoor Hour Challenge for nature study and regular nature walks in conjunction with Australian field guides and bird books. Even though we don't see the birds in the Burgess Bird Book here it is still one of Moozle's favourite books.

Maths

We completed A Beka Year 1 earlier this year and went on to year 2 but it's not going very well. A Beka does tend to go quickly so I also did some Rod & Staff Year 2. This is basically what we've done with all 7 of our children in the first couple of years mainly because it was all that was available when we first started homeschooling & it worked well for all of them up until now.
I think I'll use Everyday Number Stories for a while. (update- my free kindle version was woeful with missing bits everywhere so I've downloaded the the PDF. For Aussie users you will need to go to the archive section and click on the third row down to do this.)

Update 2: we've just got back into lessons after a couple of weeks holiday week and I've been trying out some ideas on teaching Maths from Volume 1 of Charlotte Mason, a book I've been slowly reading over the last couple of months. I'm also using the 100 charts and addition charts from Donna Young.

In conclusion, Ambelside Online Year 1 seems like it was custom built for my daughter. Even the couple of books that she said she found difficult or wordy (Parables of Nature & Just So Stories) were worthwhile and did engage her at times. I think if you had a child that struggled to pay attention some of the books might be better left until later but I think it's good to give them a try as sometimes a child can surprise you and what we think won't interest them just might. I wouldn't have chosen Peter Pan and in fact a couple of times my daughter said she didn't understand what I'd read but by the time I was half way through it she was hooked (pardon the pun).
Also, the AO curriculum is a bit like, 'How do you eat an elephant?' - 'One bite at a time,' and once I made a start it fell into place fairly quickly.

If you would like to add some Australian living books to the Ambleside curriculum you will find some great suggestions here and here.