Exploring Beliefs for World Religions Day

The Encarta World Dictionary defines religion as “people’s beliefs and opinions concerning the existence, nature, and worship of a deity or deities and divine involvement in the universe and human life.”  In a world that is constantly struggling for peace, having a better understanding of belief systems and values can help us to understand different people and cultures…which may lay the foundation for a thoughtful progression amid a multitude of complex cultures.  Studying world religions can lead to a better understanding of the relationships between religion and politics, economics, and social structures..


Novel Studies & Curricula


Short Primers


Art: Stained Glass Windows

Supplies

Directions

  • Print out the picture that you want to copy. We used shields and crests.
  • Trace the picture on the tracing paper with the black marker.
  • Color it with crayons. Use bright colors. Don’t color too hard, or the wax will run!
  • Cut out your shield and laminate it to make the colors even brighter. 
  • Hang it up and let the sun shine through!
Find more history-themed art projects in Recycled History!



    

Literature: G.A. Henty & Comparative Books

  • Beric the Briton
    • This tale of the Roman invasion of ancient Britannia remains one of G.A. Henty’s most popular novels of all time. Join Beric and his best friend Bodouc as they live the adventure of a lifetime – captured by the Romans, trained as gladiators, and placed in the service of Emperor Nero himself! When the story of a mysterious “Christus” begins to circulate the Roman Empire, Beric and Bodouc are forced to confront their pagan past. Will the two young prisoners be able to overcome their thirst for revenge and discover the source of true forgiveness?
  • For the Temple
    • The troubles in the district of Tiberias, the march of the legions, the sieges of Jotapata, of Gamala, and of Jerusalem all come to life. In this impressive and carefully studied historic setting, you will follow a lad, John of Gamala, who passes from the vineyard to the service of Josephus, becomes the leader of a guerrilla band of patriots, fights bravely for the Temple, and after a brief term of slavery at Alexandria, returns to his Galilean home with the favor of Titus. The fall of Jerusalem is brought to life in this classic.
  • The Kids Book of World Religions
    • By gaining a greater understanding of the cultures and beliefs of people around the world, children build respect and tolerance for the differences that make each of us unique.With objectivity and accessibility, this title in the Kids Book of series looks at the histories, scriptures, places of worship, religious leaders, gods and major festivals that are the foundations of many of the world’s religions.
  • Investigate the World through Religious Tradition
    • Over 7 billion people live on the earth, and 84 percent of them describe themselves as being religious. Few topics incite such passion as religion. What does that mean? Why are humans invested in ideas that may never be proved? Why has religion played such an important role in history?



It’s NOT Ancient History! Making Connections with World History

Although the people we study in history lived decades or even centuries ago, their actions impacted how we live our lives today.  Names, dates, facts…these are some of the things that I hear students complain about when they talk about disliking history.  It’s too confusing…they can’t put it into context.  A visual display, however, can help tie everything together in an easier-to-digest format!  Our two favorite, visually-appealing ways to link historic events include this book (fantastic for those with small spaces) and this wall chart (for those with a dedicated homeschool area).

But it’s not just faceless names and random dates; history is full of transitional events that have altered the world’s story.  By learning about different eras, you start to see what changes might happen in the future and what would drive that change.  For example, learning about the fall of Rome teaches you that even the most powerful society can fall apart—and what happens to cause that crumbling.  

By studying history, humanity has a chance to learn from its mistakes, theorize about alternative options based on correcting past mistakes as it moves forward with future events.  After all, history rhymes…so it’s likely that there will be a chance to act differently in the future.

There are five concepts – or 5 Cs – of history.  These are at the heart of every question historians ask as they seek to better understand the past, and they include (from most easily understood to the more complex): change over time, causality, context, complexity, and contingency.  The strangeness of the past enables us to step back and look at our society and ourselves from a new perspective—indeed, we might start to look a bit strange to ourselves!  (Think not?  Check out Motel of the Mysteries)

General Ancient History

Classes

Printables

Extras

Egypt

Greece

Rome

Asia / Middle East

Medieval

Mythology

Rabbit Trails

Innovative Ways to Study World Geography

Geography gets a bad rap for being boring, but usually that’s just because it’s not being taught in an engaging way.  After all, who wants to look at a bunch of maps for places they’ve never been (or possibly never even heard of) and think about people and things they will never see?  To really get kids interested in geography, you have to bring it to life!

Why study geography?

Geography is the study of humans and people through space, throughout time, and how those spaces have shaped history.  Every place has a history behind it, shaped by humans, earth, and climate.  By studying geography, we gain meaning and awareness to those places, which also puts history in context.  It helps us see the why, when, and how of what happened in history.  Learn more about History, Mythology, and World Cultures.

Studying countries also helps with spatial awareness and mapping skills.  If you don’t know where a place is, or the physical context of the area, how can you understand what is being reported on the news?  Learning about land, resources available, and how that has shaped a culture of today helps you understand the uniqueness of each local culture.

Geography helps us to explore and understand the differences in cultures, political systems, economies, landscapes, and environments across the world.  By understanding these things, we can explore the connections between them.  As we learn how all people are interconnected, it makes the world a little bit smaller, making us care just a bit more about our fellow man…even if he is halfway around the globe.


Read All About It

  • Living Literature Units


Walk through the 50 States


Play a Game


Rabbit Trails


Experience It

Teaching Civil Rights and African-American History

Studying the civil rights movement helps students to better understand American history, making connections between the past and the present.  Though the struggles have changed, the song remains the same, and we want a new generation to learn these principles of civics and how to be an active member of society.

The most well-known of the civil rights movements started in the mid-fifties and went into the late sixties. The goal was to eliminate racial discrimination and segregation in the United States. The civil rights movement had its origins in the post Civil War / Reconstruction era and was a in response to the Jim Crow laws prevalent during the time immediately after the abolition of slavery. Over the course of the century, various less successful civil rights movements were formed, but the one started in the 1950s saw the most success. Most of the movement’s members tried to employ forms of nonviolent mass protest and  civil disobedience. These entailed things such as boycotts, sit-ins, and marches through public places.

Civil rights exist to protect individuals’ freedoms. These include freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, privacy, and they protect individuals from being discriminated against based on race, age, gender, religion, and social class, etc. Also included are political rights such as right to fair trial, due process, self-defense, and the right to vote. These are freedoms which are called by many basic human rights and should not be infringed by any movement or agency. Many people have differing opinions on what are considered basic human rights, but human rights as we define it in a public setting are comprised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This document was written in 1948 and includes definitions of various such civil and political rights.

Interactive Curricula

These online literary guides have everything you need to study the book. They include vocabulary, grammar, free-write questions, videos, rabbit trails, and project ideas.


The Written Word

Beef up your homeschool library with these additional helpers.


A Novel Approach

Using spine literature, novel studies incorporate research, writing, hands-on projects, and video to bring a unit to life.


Course Curricula

Go in-depth with your studies, covering a full semester or more with lessons, videos, readings, and projects.



Download the FREE World History Timeline with Study Connections!


How World Mythologies Show We’re All Connected

Author G. K. Chesterton wrote, “Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.”

Stories and myths have shaped and reflected world cultures for millennia.  They tell of how the world was created, how humans relate to the world, and how humans relate to each other.  They are ingrained into our cultures, and as children we listen to these tales or read folklore, learning more about our own world and the cultures of others around us.

In spite of the development of societies all around the world, often independently of each other, there are many common threads that run through these tales.  Throughout all world mythologies and cultural stories, there are common threads of birth, death, the afterlife, good and evil, and the origin of both man and the world itself.  Younger children learn of these stories in fairy tales, which tend to be watered down to their level.  Older children may delve into an occasionally very dark world of these dragons…but these myths show that the world’s dragons can be slain.


If you’re interested in incorporating world cultures and mythologies into your homeschool, here are some resources to guide you…


Get Started

Online / Tech-Based Unit Studies

Resource Books

  • Introduction to World Mythology for Kids
    • This collection of mythology for kids takes you from ancient Mesopotamia to the Abenaki tribes of the Native Northeastern US and Canada, showing you myths from around the world. From the Japanese myth of Momotarō The Peach Boy and his loyal animal friends to the Slavic myth of Vasilisa the Wise and her enchanted doll, this beautifully illustrated collection of mythology for kids takes you on a journey through the sands of time. You’ll explore diverse cultures across the globe through the incredible tales of gods and goddesses, earth-shattering giants, mighty dragons, magical lakes, and more.
  • Myths & Legends: 25 Projects to Build
    • Through hands-on projects and exciting stories, this title in the Build It Yourself series aims to ignite young people’s curiosity in multicultural mythology and legends. Each chapter, which focuses on the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, or the Americas, provides a succinct introduction to major themes and characters in a culture’s mythology, a glossary, short retellings, and more historical and cultural background, followed by easily assembled projects, as in the section on Sub-Saharan Africa, which presents instructions for making Ashanti Adinkra cloth and a Bata thunder drum. The gray-toned format, featuring spot illustrations, is lackluster, and a few of the projects, particularly the Hopi kachina doll, reference sacred objects that shouldn’t be designated as crafts. With proper context and discussion, though, this title offers solid, interactive opportunities to explore world mythology.

World Mythology Unit / Book Studies