How to Make Hands On History Simpler this Year

If you’ve been around here for long, you know hands on history is totally our thing! My boys love history and my girls love hands on activities and I love them BOTH, so with hands on history, we’re all winning.

You also may already know we’ve been using Home School in the Woods’ history studies for a long time now. So, when they asked if I’d be interested in reviewing their Project Passport: Ancient Greece, of course I was happy to. Full disclosure: I was compensated for my time and given the product to review, and as always, what is written here is my honest opinions and how we actually used the product.

A lot of us struggle to find curricula that fits a wide array of ages and personalities, and with these history studies, I’m happy to say, it hits many of those ages and personalities. In this post I’ll share how we use Project Passports with all our ages, how we incorporate subjects other than history, and how we pick and choose with this curriculum to tailor it to fit our needs.

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(Keep reading for a giveaway opportunity too!)

A Home School in the Woods REVIEW ON Project Passport: Ancient Greece

First off, we absolutely love Home School in the Woods history studies. We’ve completed many of them in our homeschool. I shared a lot about our colonial life study we did a couple of years ago.

Here’s some quick info on this study:

• recommended for about grades 4-8 (we have stretched that some in both directions and just made it work for our ages)
• this study takes about 8-12 weeks to complete
• you’ll make 25 “stops” in this study, each stop is a new lesson on Ancient Greece
• there are A LOT of options with these studies and we don’t do every single thing…you totally could! But it’s awesome for tailoring to what is best for your family because leaving something out won’t hurt at all.

The Ancient Greece Study covers so many topics:

• Athens and Sparta
• Everyday Life
• Farming
• The Arts
• Philosophy
• Religion (Myths and Heroes)
• Warfare
• The Golden Age
• Alexander the Great
• Archaeology
• and so much more…these studies are SO thorough!

How we do hands on history with Project Passport

My favorite homeschool curriculum is the type that let’s you make it your own. I don’t want to be bossed by my curriculum. I wanna be the boss! 😉 So, here’s what a typical study with Home School in the Woods looks like for us:

• 2x/ week I will read the text to the kids. This text is included in each “stop” in the study.
• While I read, the kids will cut out the timeline pieces for that lesson and any lap book pieces that pertain to the lesson.
• At this point in time, my high schooler is doing his own thing so he doesn’t do the cutting and pasting with us, but he will sit in to listen to the text as I read and will help Vera with the hands on projects.
• While I read, Vera (6) will sometimes help the bigger kids color their lap book pieces or I will print out extras for her to color her own and she’ll do her own mini-versions.
• On the other days of the week, the kids will write in their “newspapers.” Each study is different, for instance in this study the newspaper is called the “Greekly Weekly.” The articles all pertain to the lessons we’ve read, so this is a great way to encompass the subject of writing–they’re also getting lots of art, geography, and more with these studies!
• Included in the teacher’s info is additional resources–including lots of book titles. We read from one of these titles throughout the week.
• During the study, we allocate about two days for just hands on projects. That means we don’t do much else for school, but have a Project Day instead. These projects are sprinkled throughout the study, but I find it best for us to do them all at once or over a couple of days. Here’s a couple examples of the hands on projects for Ancient Greece:
  • theatrical masks
  • Athenian helmet
  • clay coil pots
  • ideas for hosting your own Olympics
    

WHAT THIS MAMA REALLY LOVES ABOUT Home School in the Woods History Studies and Hands On History

Oh my gosh, so much! Here’s my top five:

1. I can omit or use the elements of the study that fit our needs–so helpful when you have multiple ages!
2. The lap book at the end is so impressive! I love that the kids take a lot of ownership in this and want it to really look good. It’s such a showcase!
3. It’s perfect that these studies last 8-12 weeks. What I like to do, is use these history studies intermittently through the year. We will use a Project Passport study, then we may do a section of history just with literature, then finish out our homeschool year with another Project Passport–you’re not locked into a whole year and I love that!
4. Timelines are such an important part of teaching history. Each of the studies from Home School in the Woods includes an impressive timeline the kids add to through the study. Very helpful!
5. I’ve always found it so incredibly important to encompass all five senses with our studies. That’s how kids remember! These studies have it all:
   1. audio tours and daily texts,
   2. hands on projects,
   3. beautiful lap books and notebooks and timelines,
   4. recipes from the time period you can taste and smell!

What’s Included in Project Passport: Ancient Greece

Home School in the Woods has many history studies covering world history and American history. They differ in some ways, but mostly they are very similar in their content. These history studies include:

• timelines
• hands-on projects
• daily text
• lap books
• notebooks
• recipes
• writing elements
• games and more!

Each of these elements is tailored to the time period of study. It’s a total deep-dive into a different time–and I love that! My kids totally get into creating the lap book especially, because it is so very impressive when it’s all finished!

Specifically in the Ancient Greece Project Passport, you’ll find these elements:

• Creative Writing
• A “Dining Out Guide” of Recipes
• A File Folder Game
• A “Scrapbook of Sights” for storing notebook projects
• A Newspaper “The Roman Tribune”
• A “Snapshot Moments in History” Scrapbook Timeline
• “Postcards from Famous Folks”
• Souvenir Craft Cards with a dozen 3-D projects to make
• Over a dozen Lap Book Projects

The other thing included that we really loved is the audio tour guide. You can listen to stories throughout the study that really help you to picture yourself in Ancient Greece!

A CHANCE TO GET Home School in the Woods FOR FREE!

Home School in the Woods is having such an amazing giveaway!

One winner will receive The ENTIRE COLLECTION of both Project Passport (5) and Time Traveler (7) products—$311.90 VALUE! Whatttt!?!? The winner can be anywhere in the world–not just U.S. residents!

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