Mystery of History Volume 1: Week 9: Legend of the Trojan Horse, Ruth and Naomi, and Gideon
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We began this round of lessons just before our Christmas break, so I taught Lesson 25: The Trojan Horse, and then assigned The Children’s Homer to be read over the break.
Lesson 25: Legend of the Trojan Horse
We began with the Quiz Cards. I love doing these, because it’s a great refresher of every lesson since Day 1.
I read the MOH lesson about the Trojan War aloud. The older kids took notes, while the younger kids did copy work (cursive from Draw and Write Through History: Creation to Jonah) or this print copywork, depending on their age:
A Greek storyteller named Homer, who lived hundreds of years after the supposed Trojan War, composed this story in The Illiad and The Oddyssey.
(The younger kids usually color the coloring pages while they listen to the lesson, and do copywork while the older kids have their IEW writing lesson.)
The older teens spent about a week on IEW Lesson 11: The Trojan Horse, rewriting a three-paragraph version of the war of Troy.
Lesson 26: Ruth and Naomi
Before this lesson began, we reviewed the books of the Bible, discussing what was covered in each one up until now. For the lesson, we read the entire story from the Bible (it’s just four chapters). We then went to Matthew 1 and read the geneology of Jesus, noting where Ruth fits in.
Copywork for this lesson:
For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. Ruth 1: 6-7
Lesson 27: Gideon
Since this lesson goes with 28 (Samson) I sort of combined them. We read a mix of the lesson text and the story from the actual Bible aloud, and then I assigned more of the reading as homework over the next couple of days.
For my youngest, I assigned the story of Samson in The Children’s Story Bible by Catherine Vos (chapters 62-63).
Another good option for copywork is “The Song of Deborah” in Judges 5.
We finished up by watching Drive Thru History Holy Land Volume 2: Episode 2. Awesome, as usual. You can get the entire DVD set, but I just buy one episode at a time when I need it.
End of First Quarter
At this point, I happened to notice that we have completed the First Quarter of this curriculum. But it took us the whole first semester!
That doesn’t matter to me, and here’s why:
According to my teacher guide, we’re “behind.” We just completed the first quarter, but it took us the whole semester. But I don’t feel behind. Oh, I used to. I used to panic over things like this. That was way back when I thought I had to “keep up.” But, with who??
I don’t worry about keeping up with the state, or their made-up grade levels, or even the curriculum guide. I AM IN CHARGE HERE. I know my kids. I know our schedule. I know my desires for them. I know their needs. I have confidence in being their mom. God gave me this task, and I seek HIS wisdom to do it, not the Board of Education.
If I had rushed through this curriculum to “keep up,” all the fun would disappear. I would have more stress and more guilt. We’d have fewer unplanned conversations and follow fewer rabbit trails.
My goal is well-rounded young adults, not boxes checked off. So some days we will hit a lesson lightly, and other days we will dive in deep to explore.
