Greeced Out

 

Sunburst finished up her study of Ancient Greece in October.  My initial plan was to let it rest after our trip, but she refused to take a break.  This block was the most fun yet!

We ended up with more than we could fit in one main lesson book, so I showed Sunburst how to put together a small accordion-style book (similar to a Greek scroll, but folded-- maybe the blurry picture below helps?).  The smaller book ended up holding the bulk of Greek history (30 - 5x6 inch pages), from the early settlement to the famous battles and leaders.  She included form drawings, portraits, and relevant quotes.  She is really proud of this little book, and her work truly reflects that, both inside and out.

 

Her regular main lesson book is packed with the mythology and the wonderful stories.  Sunburst read Rosemary Sutcliff's retellings of both Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, then she copied out the beginning of the original Odyssey in Greek.  She also read Padraic Colum's book The Golden Fleece.  They all made it into her main lesson book, as well as the Greek alphabet, a study of Greek columns, a small subset of Greek words, a map, and her sketches from our trip to the Acropolis.  Her enthusiasm for the work and her focus continues to impress and amaze me.  Here's a little sampling:

 

 

Here are a few of my chalkboard drawings from The Iliad, The Odyssey, and Perseus, respectively:

We love, love, loved our study of Greece, but a person can only do so much before becoming Greeced out.  ;)  We took a break from history in November (with the minor exception of mathematical history), and we're feeling rested and ready for more.  We're hoping to ease our way into Ancient Roman history next!