Momling Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 I'm attempting the ancients for the third time with my younger daughter - who is almost 8. In the past, I've found it really hard to engage her in history topics... even exciting and interesting stories (like Greek mythology or stories about mummies) leave her bored. She's a real action-girl, but I think she's maturing enough to pay attention for short periods of time. I'm determined to make it happen this time. I'm using Ancient History Portfolio Jr (I've used the classic with my older daughter and liked it) along with SOTW and the library and brainpop. What I'd like, however, are recommendations for videos (Netflix/Amazon Instant/Youtube) that she might find accessible. She does *not* do documentaries, except for those aimed at kids (like Magic Schoolbus). Any thoughts? All I can think of offhand are Horrible Histories and Jim Henson's storyteller Greek Myths. Also -- any ideas about games (like those at BBC kids)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purduemeche Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 Great question! My boys really enjoy the Age of Mythology board game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloggermom Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 My son loves the Age of Mythology video game. He has learned so much mythology from it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bug's Mom Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 We enjoy these music videos: History for Music Lovers Our favorite is (to the tune of Green Day's "Good Riddance/Time of Your Life") Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houseofkids&pets Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 :iagree:I had never heard of those music videos before, so I just checked them out. My kids and I just watched a few and they liked them. Thanks for the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jplain Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 It has been changed since my daughter used it, but the BBC Primary History site for the Indus Valley still has some fun stuff. Don't skip the newspaper editing. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/indus_valley/land_of_the_indus/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekster519 Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 We enjoy these music videos: History for Music LoversOur favorite is (to the tune of Green Day's "Good Riddance/Time of Your Life") Cool! We are studying Egypt this week so we will check this out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasda Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 My kiddos have liked Settlers of Catan and Professor Noggin's Ancient Civilization card game. I believe he has other time periods as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted January 22, 2012 Author Share Posted January 22, 2012 Thank you all! I'm looking into the Age of Mythology. Also, I stayed up late last night listening to those great history songs. I'm curious whether my kids will appreciate them as much as I do, since the songs are my generation. Still... awesome ideas - thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatmansWife Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Here's some stuff for ancient Egypt: Mummy Maker Making a Mummy Mummy Hieroglyphic Typewriter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatmansWife Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 I'm attempting the ancients for the third time with my younger daughter - who is almost 8. In the past, I've found it really hard to engage her in history topics... even exciting and interesting stories (like Greek mythology or stories about mummies) leave her bored. She's a real action-girl, but I think she's maturing enough to pay attention for short periods of time. I'm determined to make it happen this time. I'm using Ancient History Portfolio Jr (I've used the classic with my older daughter and liked it) along with SOTW and the library and brainpop. What I'd like, however, are recommendations for videos (Netflix/Amazon Instant/Youtube) that she might find accessible. She does *not* do documentaries, except for those aimed at kids (like Magic Schoolbus). Any thoughts? All I can think of offhand are Horrible Histories and Jim Henson's storyteller Greek Myths. Also -- any ideas about games (like those at BBC kids)? I hadn't heard of Ancient History Portfolio Jr (or any of those portfolios, for that matter). I checked out the website. The samples look nice. Are these only available in pdf? Do they sell any actual book with the pages already printed? I just hate pdf's & printing. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gramlingk Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Does anyone know if these are appropriate for middle grades? We will be studying Ancient next year and would love some similar videos and games for their level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted January 22, 2012 Author Share Posted January 22, 2012 Yes, they're printed on nice thick paper and bound in a 3 ring horizontal binder. With the classic one, the teacher's pages are PDFs and the portfolio is bound. The Jr one has the teacher's pages in the back. I've used the classic Medieval one and will start the Renaissance with my older daughter and it's working well. I'm curious about the Junior one which just arrived at my house this week. It's not as open ended or as extensive as the classic one, but that might be okay. I might move a few pages from my older daughter's in order to pad out the junior one... Also, the Medieval and Renaissance looked pretty secular to me (although it certainly had a fair amount of pages dedicated to the spread of early Christianity, and a definite European focus) while the Jr ancients one has kids assembling a scene from the Garden of Eden and a section on the birth of Christ. I didn't find it overwhelming or inappropriate, so I wouldn't rule it out if you're homeschooling secularly - there is also plenty of option for changing it. For instance, I'm thinking about adding in an Early Human section in addition to the Christian creation story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatmansWife Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Yes, they're printed on nice thick paper and bound in a 3 ring horizontal binder. With the classic one, the teacher's pages are PDFs and the portfolio is bound. The Jr one has the teacher's pages in the back. I've used the classic Medieval one and will start the Renaissance with my older daughter and it's working well. I'm curious about the Junior one which just arrived at my house this week. It's not as open ended or as extensive as the classic one, but that might be okay. I might move a few pages from my older daughter's in order to pad out the junior one... Also, the Medieval and Renaissance looked pretty secular to me (although it certainly had a fair amount of pages dedicated to the spread of early Christianity, and a definite European focus) while the Jr ancients one has kids assembling a scene from the Garden of Eden and a section on the birth of Christ. I didn't find it overwhelming or inappropriate, so I wouldn't rule it out if you're homeschooling secularly - there is also plenty of option for changing it. For instance, I'm thinking about adding in an Early Human section in addition to the Christian creation story. Thank you. We are using History Odyssey with the History Pockets (had I known about HP I probably would have just done that). My dd is loving it and can't get enough of activity pages like this. I'm thinking of getting the Ancient History Jr one to go along with it. I'm just debating if it would be overkill or not. The order page at the HP website seems so confusing to me. It looks like so much pdf's. I see that Rainbow Resource has the kit...I might just give it a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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