Learning About Ancient Greece

Of course my family always enjoys learning about history. When we were given the opportunity to review a title by Home School in the Woods, we gladly accepted the task. We received a digital copy of HISTORY Through the Ages Project Passport World History Study: Ancient Greece. We were able to request this newest study from Home School in the Woods. And actually my son really wanted this one. He requested that we learn about the Trojan Horse since we studied that topic for a few weeks last year in our writing curriculum. So this was perfect timing. I always like to review items that my kids are interested in learning more about. It really makes the learning more meaningful to them. It also makes it stick better in their minds.

There are four titles available in the Project Passport series: Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, The Middle Ages, and Renaissance and Reformation. They all have a similar style so if you study all four of them, you will have a completed passport and suitcase showcasing your "travels". This is such a fun way to learn history with lots of hands-on projects, reading, listening, games, writing and drawing. And really there is so much information included that you can easily tailor this journey to each child's strengths and interests. For example, my son isn't a big writer so we were able to make a few modifications. I could be his scribe and write down what he says or we can choose to leave that activity out. This is one thing that has taken me a long time to realize. It's OK if we don't complete EVERY single aspect of a curriculum. 

Another aspect that I like about the Project Passport studies is that we have the ability to supplement this study with our own books. Included in the information part of the study is a list of books and videos that would supplement nicely with the study. But if you don't have access to those titles, that's just fine. Use what you have. We happened to have several books about ancient cultures at home, so those are nice additions. But really there is no need to add anything extra. This curriculum is very full and stands on its own quite fine. So no need to stress if you don't have any of the extra books listed. Even a trip to the library is nice, but if you don't have access to a good library, that's ok too. I think that is what's so nice about these studies. They don't require any outside resources and everything is contained in one place.

In total there are 25 "stops" as you travel through Ancient Greece where you will learn about notable people, important places, and historical events relevant to the time period. Each stop includes full instructions for the activities to be completed. Activities range from timeline entries, journal entries, lap book pieces, mini books to make, postcards to draw and read, recipes to cook, art projects to complete. At the end of the study, the students assemble everything they have learned into a "Scrapbook of Sights". This is a really cool way to document everything. Each stop can be completed in a couple of days. Some families opt to complete one stop per day and others complete one stop per week. You get to customize the learning experience for your family.

Each stop in the Ancient Greece study includes a guide book with text and itinerary. These are the directions for the activities to be completed during your visit. I love that they included pictures of what each finished project should look like. The diagrams and instructions are very specific. I have found that once you have completed a few of the activities, the rest of the activities are able to be put together intuitively. I think there is just enough variety that it keeps things interesting. At the end of this study there is a game to be made and played. That is next on our project list. I'm a huge sucker for games, so that's probably one of the biggest reasons why I love this study. Games are an amazing way to cement the learning in the minds of children. 

The website gives an extremely generous sample of Ancient Greece. You can see pictures of completed projects and get a feel for what an entire stop feels like. Have you used a Project Passport study? I'd love to hear about your learning adventures with Project Passports from Home School in the Woods!

Curious what other reviewers had to say about this product? Head on over to the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read all the reviews.

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