This post contains our lesson plans and activities for all of Mystery of History Volume 1 Quarter 4. My students are ages 10 through 16 at the time of our lessons, and we learn as a group. See my main page for this course and the explanations of resources used. This post may contain affiliate links.

Before beginning Week 28, my students completed Worksheet 3: Lessons 55-81 from the Companion Guide for review.

Lesson 82: Malachi

After reading the MOH lesson, we watched two videos from The Bible Projec: Malachi and a final Old Testament Review.

I also did my own review of the Old Testament books of the Bible, and the story of God and His people up to this point. We completed our Kings and Prophets chart from the Companion Guide, as well.

Lesson 83: Plato and Aristotle

After reading the MOH lesson, we did several things. The companion guide talks about boustrophedon writing, so we found an example:

Have your students give it a try!

Next, we watched Drive Thru History Ancients, Greece section 2-3, as well as this Crash Course video:

Your students can get a summary of Plato’s Republic here:

Or they can listen to the audio book here:

If your students are reading the History of the Ancient World, now is the time to read chapters 66, 68, and 70. (I’m going to go ahead and say that we chose to give up this book. It’s dry, and I am confident that we are learning the same info in a more engaging way.)

Lesson 84: Philip II of Madedonia and the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus

There are some great vocabulary lessons in this, as well as the beginning of the story of Alexander the Great! We first read the MOH lesson, and then to further their understanding of the phalanx formation, the kids watched this video:

This word is very common in history books that deal with battles, so it’s a good idea for students to understand what it is, and picture it in their head.

We also talked about a mausoleum, and as suggeted in the companion guide, pointed some out at our local cemetery. We also reviewed the seven wonders of the ancient world.

To finish up, we added these events to our timelines, did the mapwork in the Companion Guide, my 10 & 13 year olds added the corresponding sections to their labpooks (folder books), and everyone did the Week 28 review quiz.

Lesson 85: Alexander the Great & The Division of Alexander’s Empire

While we read the story in today’s lesson, my kids drew Alexander the Great from Draw and Write Through History: Greece and Rome. (One of my sons got a bit creative with his interpretation.)

My younger kids copied the cursive handwriting practice about Alexander the Great in this same book on p. 28.

Remember back in an earlier lesson where the Companion Guide suggested creating an illustration of the prophesy in Daniel from Nebuchadnezzer’s dream? Alexander the Great was one of those prophecies. We re-read Daniel chapters 8 and 11 with this lesson.

Lesson 87: Archimedes and the Lighthouse of Alexandria

We began reading Archimedes and the Door of Science this week. I made it a family read-aloud, with about a chpater per day. It’s our second time to read it in a few years, and the boys still love it. During the MOH lesson, the kids drew the Lighthouse of Alexandria from Draw and Write Through History. We also reviewed the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Our writing lesson was Lesson 17 from Institute for Excellence in Writing in Ancient History Writing Lessons.

To finish up, we added these events to our timelines, did the mapwork in the Companion Guide, my 10 & 13 year olds added the corresponding sections to their labpooks (folder books), and everyone did the Week 29 review quiz.

Lesson 88: Emperor Asoka of India

With this lesson, we reveiwed Buddhism, and watched a couple of videos on Gospel for Asia. The kids found it very eye-opening. They also enjoyed looking up more info about the Banyan trees.

Lesson 89: The Septuagint and the Colossus of Rhodes

I love it when the kids get to learn about the Bible and all of its rich history! This lesson was another one of those, with the history of the Septuagint. After reading the lesson, I pulled out my Greek-Hebrew-English Bible for fun, and let the kids see the different languages.

Once again, we reviewed the seven wonders of the ancient world, and learned about the Colossus.

Lesson 90: THe Qin (Ch’in) Dynasty

Along with this lesson, my teens read History of the Ancient World Chatpers 67 and 72. And this was the last time I had them read from that book. It’s just pretty dry, and we have found Mystery of History and its supplements to be more interesting.

It was fun to read about an extension of the Great Wall, and the Terra Cotta Soldiers. Sometimes the soldiers are brought to America for museum exhibitions, so when you’re studying this lesson, check and see!

To finish up, we added these events to our timelines, did the mapwork in the Companion Guide, my 10 & 13 year olds added the corresponding sections to their labpooks (folder books), and everyone did the Week 30 review quiz.

Lesson 91: Hannibal, Elephants, and the Punic Wars

My teenagers started reading The Young Carthaginian by G. A. Henty with this lesson. His historial fiction is so rich with adventure and historical information. We also closely studied the map in the textbook, and watched Drive Thru History Ancients, Rome section 3-2 and 3-3.

Lesson 92: The Han Dynasty

We didn’t do much outside of the lesson reading for this one, besides mapping the Great Silk Road and reviewing previous lessons on Chinese dynasties.

Lesson 93: The Maccabean Revolt

The timing for this lesson in our house was perfect because it took place just a few weeks before Hanukka. The kids really enjoyed the in-dept lesson on this holiday. The Companion Guide offers seveal great suggestions for hands-on Hanukah activities. One of those includes looking up a copy of the Apocrypha. We taked a bit about it, and watched this video:

To finish up, we added these events to our timelines, did the mapwork in the Companion Guide, my 10 & 13 year olds added the corresponding sections to their labpooks (folder books), and everyone did the Week 31 review quiz.

Lesson 94: Spartacus

I want to note here that we have been using all of the Usborne books on the ancient world and ancient Greece and Rome. I mentioned them early on. There are enough for the kids to each have one to read on their level, so they read a few pages a week on whichever civilization we’re focused on that week.

We just read the lesson on Spartacus, and didn’t watch any extra vdeos or movies. I know that there is an old movie, but I don’t want my kids to be movie-d to death, so I choose carefully. They did like the story of Spartacus; especially the boys.

Lessons 95 – 97 The First Triumvirate, Julius Caesar, and The Second Triumvirate

Here begins, as the lesson text says, the complex history of Rome. There’s a lot to learn here, and I think it’s important world history to understand. So along with MOH lessons from this point forward, we also read Augustus Caesar’s World by Genevive Foster. I love all of her books for their well-rounded look at history for kids. With these two books, we spent a little extra time on history each day.

With lessons 95-97 we read pages 1-58 in Augustus Caesar’s World.

We also did activity 95B in the Companion Guide. Those Roman Army terms are so helpful to know for many, many history lessons to come! In fact, all of the Companion Guide activities are well worth the time. We tried to cover them all. The map activitity is very important here, and in the next few lessons involving Cleaopatra, too.

Lesson 98: Cleopatra

Cleopatra is a famous name, and another important figure to know. We read this lesson, continued in Augustus Caasar’s World, and studied the art in the text. I also gave my 10-year-old a little Usborne reader about Cleopatra.

This lesson was melded into the last three for us.

Lesson 99: Herod the Great

This lesson is a perfect time to read Luke 2 in the Bible, which we did. We also continued in Augustus Caesar’s World (p. 63-70). As I like to do, I pointed out how biblical history, and at this point, Jesus Christ is part of the big events in world history. Jesus fulfilled prophecy by being born in Bethlehem, and he was born there because of Caesar’s tax and census.

We also watched Drive Thru History and this video of the modern day Waling Wall:

To finish up, we added these events to our timelines, did the mapwork in the Companion Guide, my 10 & 13 year olds added the corresponding sections to their labpooks (folder books), and everyone did the Week 33 review quiz.

Lesson 100: The Battle of Actium

The story of the Roman empire and its players continues, now back to Cleopatra and Mark Antony. Along with this leson, we continued reading Augustus Caeser’s World (p. 71-121).

Lesson 101: Augustus Caesar and the Roman Empire

Let me just say that this is a perfect time to make sure your kid can spell Caesar, because most people can NOT. : )

The Roman Empire is a huge part of history, and it is important for students to understand the places and the players. I really wanted the kids to undersand the geography, so we carefully studied the map in the MOH text and took our time with labeling and coloring in the blank map pages.

The kids are continuing in the various Usborne books we have about Rome, and we read further in Agustus Caesar’s World. In addition, we watched two Drive Thru History episodes: Ancient World Rome 1-5, and Holy Land Volume 3, Episode 3.

For writing, we began the Research Reports unit in Institute for Excellence in Writing (see my main Mystery of History Volume 1 page for the edition we use). This is a great intro to research papers for beginners (teachers and students alike!). Lessons 21-25 are on different aspects of ancient Rome, which are finally put all together in one report.

Lesson 102: John the Baptist

I love it when the timing is perfect for our homeschool lessons, and this lesson on John the Baptist was one of those. We studied it the week before all three of my children were scheduled to be baptized!

Along with the history text in MOH, we looked at the Holy Land – New Testament timeline and map in Then and Now Bible Maps (p. 24-25). See Mystery of History Volume 1 page for ordering). We also read the account of John the Baptist straight from scripture. The Companion Guide lists the following scriptures in Section C – Bible Reading List:

• Isaiah 40:3
• Malaci 3:1, 4:5-6
• Mark 1:1-11, 6:14-29
• Luke 1, 3
• John 2:19-28, 3:22-36

It was a great lesson, and even more exciting to read about Jesus being baptized and talking about baptism at home and with our pastor just before the event!

To finish up, we added these events to our timelines, did the mapwork in the Companion Guide, my 10 & 13 year olds added the corresponding sections to their labpooks (folder books), and everyone did the Week 34 review quiz.

[Skipping to Lesson 105: Tiberius, Caesar, Pilate, and Herod]

I am only skipping around in the order of the lessons for the purpose of this post; we did them in order in our lessons at home. But the remainder of the lessons focus on the life of Jesus, and I wanted to address them as a whole, below.

The first paragraph of Lesson 105 states it perfectly: you must understand world events and rulers to truly understand the life and times of Jesus. That’s what this lesson does. The remainder of Augustus Caesar’s World is perfect for this lesson and the rest of the MOH text.

The Life of Jesus

Lessons 103, 104, 106, 107, and 108

I wanted to group these lessons together for my notes, because they are all about the life of Jesus.

Beause this is not a Christmas lesson, but rather a history lesson, I love the Companion Guide activities, especially p. 417, the chart on prophecies fulfilled. This is the heart of apologetics: knowing that the Bible is a true document, and that prophecies are given and fulfilled over thousands of years by numerous people.

If you have kids about 10 and older, this is a good time to watch Voddie Baucham’s video, “Why You Can Believe the Bible.” In it, he makes this statement, which one of my sons memorized a few years a go:

I choose to believe the Bible because it is a reliable collection of historical documents written down by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. They report [of] supernatural events that took place in fulfillment of specific prophecies and claimed that their writing are divine rather than human in origin.

This statement makes great copywork, along with the scriptures in the Prophecies Fulfilled chart. I created a similar list (with a free download) for reading through during the Christmas season.

By the way, these lessons on the life of Jesus can be done over a few weeks, and not just one-day lessons. If you or your children are not familiar with the intimate details of Jesus’ life and ministry, I highly recommend a slower pace right here. There is no such thing as “behind” in homeschooling, and learning about the life of Jesus is so much more important than school calendars! We are so fortunate (again, timing!) that our pastor is currently preaching through all four gospels chronologically. My children all attend the normal church service with us, and it has been such a wonderful, in-depth study on Jesus and His ministry! In that same vein, you might check out the Drive Thru Series The Gospels if you choose to do a slower, in-depth study right now.

This is the Mystery of History. This right here is what the entire text of Mystery of History Volume 1 has been leading to. There is no hurry to rush through it. Soak it all in. It’s going to be so important for Volume 2!