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Lessons 73 and 74: Xerxes 1 and Esther
Since these lessons go together, I’m sharing them as one. Xerxes I was also called Ahasuerus, and is the King of Persia who married Queen Esther. This is just one more example of how important it is to study biblical history with ancient history. It is so interwoven! The Battle of Thermopylae is another famous one (like the Battle of Marathon), and the same king who waged won this battle married Esther and helped to preserve the Jewish race! You can’t ignore that!
Definitely read the entire book of Esther with your kids. It’s short and beautiful, and so worth it. We also watched Drive Thru History Ancients – Turkey 1-2. Remind your students about the Persian Empire and what it is called today.
You could also watch One Night With the King or any movie (for children or otherwise) about Esther. The activities in the Companion Guide are great for hands-on learning!
Lesson 75: The Golden Age of Athens
In addition to the MOH lesson, we watched two videos: Drive Thru History Ancients: Greece 2-2, and this video about the Classical Orders. I asked the kids to look up or think of buildings that incorporate these styles. It was very educational!
Next, we had a drawing lesson on the Parthenon using Draw and Write Through History: Greece and Rome.
And finally, back to our lessons in Institute for Excellence in Writing. This week the older kids (13 and 15) did Lesson 15 (Fourth Edition of Ancient History Based Writing Lessons) on Athens.
We really enjoyed this lesson, and appreciated the color photos in the hardback third edition of Mystery of History Volume 1.
We also continued our reading of Victory on the Walls: A Story of Nehemiah. We’re going through about 2 chapters per day.
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 25 review quiz.
Be sure to check out all the great book suggestions and activity ideas in the Mystery of History Companion Guide! Follow the entire course with us at the main Mystery of History Volume 1 page here.
Do you have some fun ideas for these lessons? Comment below!
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