When I was growing up, I hated history. I hated everything about it: the boring textbooks, the required memorization of dates and other (what I thought was) useless trivia, the multiple choice tests that were easy to ace but served no purpose when it came to retention, and the boring documentaries accompanied by worksheets designed to make sure we were paying attention.
Yup. It was awful.
Thankfully, as a homeschooling family, that isn’t the case for my kids. Free from the constraints of traditional schooling methods, my children have the benefit of learning with materials that actually bring life to topics that I used to avoid like the plague.
Take ancient history, for example. As a student, I knew that this subject had so much potential, but the way it was presented left me no desire to pursue it any further.
(Disclaimer: I received this product for free and was compensated for my time in writing an honest review. All opinions are entirely my own. This post contains affiliate links.)
On the other hand, my own kids love this particular era – the pyramids, the ziggurats, the mythology, and the mummies – thanks to one of my all-time favorite curriculums, Beautiful Feet Books.
An Overview of BRAND NEW! Beautiful Feet Books Ancient History
As a relaxed homeschool mom, there are two elements I look for in any curriculum: simplicity and effectiveness.
Do textbooks fit that criteria? Ehhh, not so much.
Over this past decade, I’ve realized that the best books to learn from are not those written specifically for schools, but living books.
Beautiful Feet Books Ancient History for Intermediate (Grades 5 through 8) is chock full of them.
Each selection chosen to be included in this curriculum is well-written, interesting, and informative. Some of them are award winners, while others are beautifully illustrated.
Beautiful Feet Books Ancient History for Intermediate not only contains an array of quality living books, but it also includes a study guide which provides:
- a ready-made chronological order in which to read the books
- literature-rich lessons which include research, narration, mapping, drawing, and, of course, reading
- a timeline chart with figures to color, cut, and paste
- hands-on activity ideas (this is something we were really excited about)
The topics covered are:
- Ancient Sumer and Mesopotamia
- Ancient Egypt
- Ancient Israel and Judah
- Ancient Greece
- Ancient Rome
In short, this resource provides a gentle, yet thorough, approach to a topic we’ve come to love.
How We’re Using Beautiful Feet Books Ancient History for Intermediate in Our Homeschool
One of the most important things a homeschool parent needs to realize is that you don’t need to use every curriculum as is. In fact, you shouldn’t. Every family is different, and what works for one family may not work for another. Unfortunately, I’ve met so many parents who are simply afraid to change things up if they have to.
Beautiful Feet Books is clearly aware of this. In the beginning of the study guide, they recommend that you do NOT do every single activity as written for the very same reason I mentioned – no two homeschooling families are alike.
As you may have guessed, I took the liberty of making some adjustments to meet our needs.
How We Changed Things Up
Although we have been a read-aloud family for years, I did take notice that most of the assigned readings for the lessons are too long for my kids. As a rule, I generally try to read less than 20 pages a day to my kids because I know that I will lose their attention if I venture past that amount. Since many of the lessons include reading 30 or more pages, I’ve simply been cutting the reading in half. Instead of reading everything in one day, we take two.
Very simple.
Additionally, another thing I noticed is that some of the lessons were too long for our homeschool-style. Again, not a problem. As with the read-alouds, I’ve just been taking two days to do the lessons instead of one. Will it take us longer to get through the curriculum? Sure, it will. But I’m not in any hurry to get through this time period. To be quite honest, we can’t get enough of it!
Let’s Talk Hands-On Activities
Words cannot convey how elated I was to discover that this literature pack contains hands-on activities. This is the third Beautiful Feet Books product we’ve used, but it is the first (for us) that includes this feature.
As much as we love read-alouds and notebooking, my kids need to move. They need to create. They need to be physically busy.
We’ve had such fun with the hands-on activities thus far. We’ve made Sumerian jewelry. We’ve made cuneiform tablets out of cookie dough (our personal favorite). We’ve drawn ziggurats and attempted to make origami ziggurats, as well.
I cannot think of one thing this curriculum is lacking. It has been perfect for us. I highly recommend it to every single homeschooling family, no exceptions.
Enter the Giveaway!!
What better way to end a post about an amazing product than with a giveaway!
Beautiful Feet Books is giving away a free literature pack to 5 lucky winners!
***Enter here to win!***
**EMAILS OF ALL ENTRANTS WILL BE SUBMITTED TO BEAUTIFUL FEET FOR THE PURPOSE OF FOLLOW UP PROMOTIONAL EMAILS. You may opt out at any time and still be entered to win.
- Begins 5/5/2019 at 8 PM CT
- Ends 5/22/2019 at 8 PM CT
Giveaways are shipped only to USA addresses.
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There's No Place Like Home 
I feel so blessed to have come across this curriculum it is exactly what was needed in my home thank you to all who have created designed and worked so hard to bring this to each one of us to make our homeschool a happier brighter the last place
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I’m planning to use BF next year because of your amazing reviews! Would love to win this! ❤️❤️
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