Rotten Romans Unit Study

Have you ever wondered what it was like to live in ancient Rome? Check out my Rotten Romans Unit Study, and discover some rotten Roman habits (like burping at the table to show you enjoyed your dinner)!

Disclaimer: “Homework and Horseplay is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.”

Rotten Romans {Horrible Histories} by Terry Deary

Rotten Romans by Terry Deary follows life for folks in Roman Britain from Nero to Boudicca and includes a look at gory games, rotten recipes, and loads of frightening facts.

Suggested Schedule

We try to have a light workload on Fridays, so we read the entire book in just four days. This is the reading schedule we followed:

• 1st Day- Read pages 5-36
• 2nd Day- Read pages 37-69
• 3rd Day- Read pages 70-102
• 4th Day- Read pages 103-128
• 5th Day- Complete quiz on pages 129-133

I love that Terry Deary has included not only a quiz at the end of the book, but also multiple little quizzes mixed into the pages! Jack and Julia love competing against each other to see who gets the most correct answers. The tidbits that are added to the answer keys are equally as entertaining at the rest of the book.

Extras…

This year I am using the whole Horrible Histories set with Julia and Jack as our core history curriculum. As I am sure you have already figured out these books are not a curriculum on their own, so I will be adding extra materials to our schedule to take our learning a step further. Want to join in on the fun? Here is everything I added in this week:

Books

In addition to Rotten Romans we also read: 

• You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Roman Gladiator! by John Malam
• Who Was Julius Caesar? by Nico Madina
• DK Eyewitness Books: Ancient Rome by Simon James
• Graphic Shakespeare: Julius Caesar 

 

Videos

This week we continued watching Horrible Histories on Amazon Video. You may notice that we switched up the version we are watching though… I made this change because each of these episodes focuses on just one era, and are easier to find the correct episode that relates to the era we are currently studying. Since we are studying the Romans we skipped to Horrible Histories, S1 Episode 3 “Rotten Romans”. Jack and Julia both enjoyed the silly animation in this episode, and got to learn more about Julius Caesar. 

A few days later we started a new series on Netflix called Empire Games. Season 1 Episode 1 focuses on Rome’s imperial dynasty before and after the assassination of Julius Caesar. This episode does a great job explaining who was involved in the betrayal of Caesar and why they did it. 

Thank you for checking out my Rotten Romans Unit Study…

I hope you find these resources useful. We have already completed a few other Horrible Histories Unit Studies. Check them out:

Savage Stone Age

Awesome Egyptians

The post Rotten Romans Unit Study appeared first on Homework and Horseplay.

{Guest Post} Keeping the Home in Homeschooling: 3 Reasons I Said No to Outside Activities

Have you hit a homeschool burn out? I have… Over the last few years I have overbooked myself and my children, and we are just plain exhausted. After a rough year I decided it was time to make some big changes. I crossed off all the extra things in our life that were burning us out, and I couldn’t be happier! Check out my {Guest Post} Keeping the Home in Homeschooling: 3 Reasons I Said No to Outside Activities to find out why this change might be right for your family too. 

Sneak Peak…

More is more. Or is it?

We live in a world where people are always on the go. There are so many things to do and not enough time in the day to get it all done. As homeschool parents it is easy to get caught up in this hustle and bustle, especially with people constantly asking us, “What about socialization?”

I fell victim to the “more is more” mentality, and said yes to everything my children showed any interest in because I didn’t want them to miss out. Before I knew it, we had a commitment every single week day, and sometimes even on the weekends. It got to the point where we were all exhausted, and my children were no longer enjoying any of it.

So this year I am saying no and staying home. We are saying goodbye to outside activities and hello to our freedom!

Head over to BookShark to read the rest of my {Guest Post} Keeping the Home in Homeschooling: 3 Reasons I Said No to Outside Activities and start saying no too!

Sometimes taking a step back and staying home is just what a homeschool needs.

Did you miss my past guest posts?

• How to Manage Multiple BookShark Programs in a Single School Year
• How Homeschooling Helps Me Manage My Bipolar Disorder
• 4 Reasons BookShark is Perfect for My ASD Child
• 3 Reasons I Treat My Homeschooled Teen as an Adult
• 3 Homeschool Picnic Ideas to Take Your Learning Outdoors
• How to Manage Your Time While Homeschooling
• 4 Ways to Commemorate and Celebrate the First Day of Homeschool
• Planning Your BookShark Homeschool in 3 Steps: From Box Day to Daily Lessons
• When a Homeschool Mom Says Your Curriculum Isn’t Good Enough

The post {Guest Post} Keeping the Home in Homeschooling: 3 Reasons I Said No to Outside Activities appeared first on Homework and Horseplay.

Awesome Egyptians Unit Study

Have you ever wondered what it was like to live in ancient Egypt? Check out my Awesome Egyptians Unit Study, and discover some awesome Egyptian secrets (like why some pharaohs had to wear false beards)!

Disclaimer: “Homework and Horseplay is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.”

Awesome Egyptians {Horrible Histories} by Terry Deary

Awesome Egyptians by Terry Deary discusses how Awesome Egyptians lived 5,000 years ago. We learned everything from the food they ate (including some revolting recipes for sweets), how they built pyramids, and how they mummified their dead!

Suggested Schedule

We try to have a light workload on Fridays, so we read the entire book in just four days. This is the reading schedule we followed:

• 1st Day- Read pages 5-35
• 2nd Day- Read pages 36-65
• 3rd Day- Read pages 66-96
• 4th Day- Read pages 97-128
• 5th Day- Complete quiz on pages 129-134 

If you are reading this book with younger students you may want to split the reading up over two weeks rather than one. My children are 11 and 13, and have no trouble sitting through our daily reading. 

Extras…

This year I am using the whole Horrible Histories set with Julia and Jack as our core history curriculum. As I am sure you have already figured out these books are not a curriculum on their own, so I will be adding extra materials to our schedule to take our learning a step further. Want to join in on the fun? Here is everything I added in this week:

Books

In addition to Awesome Egyptians, we also read: 

• You Wouldn’t Want to Be an Egyptian Mummy!: Disgusting Things You’d Rather Not Know by David Stewart
• National Geographic Kids Everything Ancient Egypt: Dit Into a Treasure Trove of Facts, Photos, and Fun by Crispin Boyer
• You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Pyramid Builder!: A Hazardous Job You’d Rather Not Have by Jacqueline Morley
• Who Was King Tut? by Roberta Edwards

 

Videos

This week we watched Horrible Histories, Season 1 Episode 3 on Prime Video. You may notice that the episodes do not focus on one Horrible Histories book at a time. It jumps around between the different eras, and my children don’t seem to mind that. During this week’s episode we watched an Egyptian try to save money on mummification… Does a mummy really need his arms? 

We also watched The Pyramid Code, Season 1 Episode 1. In this docuseries we got an up close look at real some pyramids and other Egyptian artifacts. This documentary does a great job showing how pyramids defer from each other, and highlights the red, black, and white pyramids in Dahshur.  

Activities

I had big plans to do a number of activities this week, but unfortunately life had other plans. Most of us came down with some kind of bug, and the hands-on learning was pushed to the side. However, here are some fun ideas to add to your plans if you are lucky enough to not be sick during this unit (ha):

• Mummify apples
• Build an edible pyramid 
• Create an Egyptian Canopic Jar from a Pringles can and clay
• Make papyrus and write in hieroglyphics
• Make “Mummy Dogs” (think pigs in a blanket, but wrap the hotdog like a mummy)

Thank you for checking out my Awesome Egyptians Unit Study…

We have also completed the following Horrible Histories Unit Studies:

Savage Stone Age

 

 

The post Awesome Egyptians Unit Study appeared first on Homework and Horseplay.