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Exploring TOG

Year 1

Year 2

History

You might want to start by having your oldest students read this selection on "How to Read a History Assignment."
Using Story of the World, Vol. I as a spine? Click here for a handy chart that coordinates the two.
Diane has graciously shared her chart for using A Child's History of the World with our Year 1. This chart is available in MS Word format and in .pdf format.
A real treasure: Study guide for the Holman Bible Atlas! This is a 69-page pdf download file.
Another massive site: teacher's use, probably, initially, although you'll use it to find sites for your children to read. If they want to read the originals, here they are!

The Story of Mankind by Hendrik Van Loon is now online: read from the screen or print to your heart's content.
Eyewitness to History is GREAT! It has first-hand accounts, graphics, and a wonderfully user-friendly interface. Bookmark today and use it all four years! I recommend that you start by clicking on "index" and then scroll through, noting upcoming topics in your Year-Plan! Enjoy!
Have you chosen the Spielvogel books as a spine? If so, click here to find more teaching helps! To navigate through this site, you'll want to click on the picture of your text, or one similar, to find interactive quizzes, internet activities, and more!
Visit the Unmuseum's Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Follow the links on the left navigation bar.
Use this site for great pictures when making lapbooks. Contributed by Sue.
Highland Heritage

Time Lines

Time Line Book Instructions
Time Line Forms
Interesting information about ancient time line from Answers in Genesis
Very helpful time line of the Persian Empire.
Fascinating "Famous People" time line. The entire Ancient World at a glance! Great to print off for easy reference all year.
All the time line links you could ever need for this year.
Ancient History Time Line

Want to suggest a resource or link? Email Dana.

Week 1: Curtain Rises on Egypt: Gift of the Nile

Odyssey Online: Egypt
GREAT site on Egypt: pharaohs, pyramids, great maps, wonderful for Upper Elementary and up!

Another GREAT site with links to activities, maps, informationon Egypt.
Ancient Egypt's dependence on the Nile.
Wonderful overview site of Egyptian history.
Text of the Egyptian Book of the Dead

Week 2: Pharaohs and Pyramids

Odyssey Online: Egypt
Dynasties of Egypt
Chart on Dynasties of Egypt
Excellent site for all ages on pyramids: take virtual tours!
PBS site on pyramids: better for older kids. Dialectic +

Another good site on pyramids: good for UG +

Great interactive site on artifacts from King Tut's Tomb and how mummies were made.
Mummies. Includes colorful pictures with simple text.
Melinda recommends this site about Egyptian life after death.
Complete CyberGuide for pyramids, designed for upper grammar.
Text of the Rosetta Stone
Egyptian Armies and The Army in Ancient Egypt

Week 3: Egyptian Polytheism and the Judgment of God

See article, "Why Did God Allow the Killing of All the Firstborn in Egypt?" for the correlation of each plague to an Egyptian god, plus more information on God's judgment of Egypt.
Want to know more about Egyptian mythology? Look no further! Use images from this site to decorate writing projects, display boards, etc. Also great for art projects!
Egyptian Religion from Kidipede.

Week 4: Creation Through Noah

Creation Time Line
Noah's Flood: a worldwide event? Yes, judging from the number of flood stories assembled here!
Worksheets for younger grades:

Week 5: Babel to Ur: Early History of Mesopotamia

Treasure trove of site links concerning all Mid-eastern studies. For the teacher, initially. Whew! More than you'll ever need!
Wonderful site on Mesopotamia: links/activities/maps for all ages--including the teacher!

Writing in Mesopotamia
The Tower of Babel worksheets for younger children.
Examine this short collection of Tower of Babel pictures to understand the nature of ziggurats and how artists have used it to portray human sin.
Summary of Sumerian mythology with pictures. Pictures for all ages, text for Dialectic and up.
Wonderful annotated (with pictures, text, and maps) time line of Mesopotamia.
For your grammar-level students: Click here for the pdf worksheet "Culture Graphic of Sumerians." This is a helpful site that you'll want to peruse when you have some spare time.

Week 6: The Patriarchs: From Ur to Egypt

Creation Time Line includes the Patriarchs
Time Line of Patriarchs
Jenn suggests another time line resource: Bible Time Line, includes Bible verses with no graphics
God Calls Abram worksheet set for younger children.
The Significance of Passover. Contributed by Corrine.
The Messiah in Passover
Helpful pdf worksheets for grammar levels are "Passover and Lord's Supper Comparison"and "Hebrew Holidays."
Hebrew for Christians

Week 7: In The Wilderness: The Tabernacle and the Law

Find out lots of information about practicing Shabbat
Shabbat Service
Messianic significance of Shabbat
Messianic comparison of all Jewish holidays for lower grammar pdf worksheet.
Feast of Tabernacles
Tabernacle of Moses: You'll find several helpful diagrams here.

3-D animation of the T abernacle!
Jewish Calendar
One more good Jewish calendar for upper level students...this one you click on each month/year and it brings up a calendar page in pdf to print, with the torah reading of the day, the holidays, Jewish names the Calendar is set up with both our Calendar date and the Hebrew date and month together.
Hebrew for Christians

Week 8: In The Wilderness: Holiness: Worshipping God as God

The Hebrew Alphabet: pictures are for all ages, text is Dialectic and up.

Learn to read Biblical Hebrew
Jewish Prayer Services
Judaism: all kinds of useful information. Pre-read before letting them loose, but wholesome for most children, I think.
The Jewish Children's Learning Network: all kinds of useful information here. This site contributed by Kia.

Rosh Hashanah site loaded with traditions, blessings, crafts, and more.
Rosh Hashanah Home Ceremony
Messianic Significance of Rosh Hashanah
Yom Kippur site filled with traditions, blessings, crafts, and more.
The Messiah in Yom Kippur
Messianic comparison of all Jewish holidays for lower grammar pdf worksheet.
Hebrew for Christians

Week 9: In The Wilderness: Slaves to Warriors

Hebrew for Christians

Want to suggest a resource or link? Email Dana.

Week 10: The Indus Valley, Hinduism, and Buddhism

OUTSTANDING interactive site about the Indus Valley. Many photos, great text, super for all ages. Highly recommended! Forget the texts and resource books--just have your kids spend time here! (Warning: a few bare breasted statues.) Find information about the "bead pot" mentioned in Year 1 Redesigned at this link.
Art and Technologies in the Indus Valley
The Indus Valley Civilization
The Indus Valley
Grammar level students will enjoy this interactive site about the Indus Valley. This link contributed by Micky.
Good site for grammar students about India.

Week 11: Ancient China: Confucius and Taoism

For grammar-level students: Ancient China
The Yellow River Culture
Short and sweet summary about the history of Ancient China
Brief overview about Ancient China
Learn about the Great Wall of China. All ages.
A Panorama of the Great Wall...Your kids will love this interactive website.
Learn about Chinese inventors and inventions. All ages.
Ancient Chinese Science: Textual information on this site is fine, but there are alternating ads that aren't always appropriate. Parents open this site first please.

Ancient Chinese Religion
Compare China to another country (maybe Ancient India?) with this Venn Diagram.
The Great Wall of China.

Week 12: Ancient Americas: Inuit, Mound Builders, and Mayas

Odyssey Online: Ancient Americas
Everything you need to know to learn and teach about the Mayan Indians! Here's a quotation from a page of this excellent site: "The Maya are probably the best-known of the classical civilizations of Mesoamerica. Originating in the Yucatan around 2600 B.C., they rose to prominence around A.D. 250 in present-day southern Mexico, Guatemala, northern Belize and western Honduras. Building on the inherited inventions and ideas of earlier civilizations such as the Olmec, the Maya developed astronomy, calendrical systems and hieroglyphic writing." You can see it, and learn about it all here! Upper Grammar (with help and supervision) and up!
Excellent, brief overview of Ancient Mesoamerican cultures. Features hard-to-find information on the Olmecs with brief text and interesting pictures. All ages.
Another Maya site, geared for younger students: Upper Grammar and up.
Mound Builders

Week 13: Early Greeks: Cycladic, Minoan, Mycenaean, and Trojan Cultures

Excellent website about Ancient Greece
Odyssey Online: Greece
One more excellent site about the Ancient Greek world
Synopsis of the Trojan War. Good for dialectic, or a refresher for Mom!
Excellent site on the epochs of Greek history. Time lines, pictures, and a nice overview. Upper Grammar and up.
Great resource site for Greek Mythology. Look up any character/plot. Upper Dialectic and up.
Study guide for each chapter in Edith Hamilton's Mythology. Use for weeks 13-15.
Text of Famous Men of Greece
The Minoans
The Mycenaeans

Week 14: Early Greeks: Everyday Life, Religion, and Mythology

Excellent website about Ancient Greece
Odyssey Online: Greece
One more excellent site about the Ancient Greek world
Study guide for each chapter in Edith Hamilton's Mythology. Use for weeks 13-15.
For your grammar-level students: Scroll down to "Culture Graphic of Greece" This is a helpful site that you'll want to peruse when you have some spare time.
Text of Famous Men of Greece

Week 15: The Promised Land: Conquest and Settlement

VERY brief, but still helpful, summary of Canaanite locales and references to them in the Bible. Upper Grammar and up.
Canaanite and Phoenician pantheon. Help here with definitions of the various gods and goddesses of ancient Canaan. Nice site: easy to read and maneuver. Dialectic and up.
Very helpful summary of the relationship between the Canaanite/Phoenician cultures and the Israelites as they entered Canaan. Upper Rhetoric/Teacher.
Very helpful map of the Canaanite tribes.
Here's a map of many Canaanite/Phoenician towns and cities! Yikes! You probably won't need this too often, but if your older student simply must know where the action took place, this is the site to go to!
More on the Canaanites.
Great resource site for Greek Mythology. Look up any character/plot. Upper Dialectic and up.
Pictures of artifacts from different periods of Jewish history.
Study guide for each chapter in Edith Hamilton's Mythology.
Land of Canaan: Scroll down for good information about topography

Topographical map of Israel

Week 16: Judges, Samuel, and Minor Neighboring Cultures

The Lydians
Wikipedia on the Lydians
The Amorites
Wikipedia on the Amorites
The Moabites. Another great link contributed by Robin!
Wikipedia on the Moabites
Brief, but helpful,overview site on Hittites.Upper Dialectic and up.
Another site on the Hittites
Wikipedia on the Hittites
Ancient Civilizations of the Fertile Crescent with comparison to Egypt
Map showing key places in Samuel's life

Week 17: The Rise of Saul and the Philistines

FABULOUS site. Has hyperlinks to pictures of ruins and artifacts, as well as maps and tons of information about the Philistine culture and its interactions with Israel. There is something for all ages here. Younger students will enjoy many pictures; older students can garnish much information to answer their Student Activity Pages' questions.
For those who become curious about the latest archaeological finds regarding the Philistines, don't miss the link to the free online book Giving Goliath His Due by Neal Bierling. It is written by a Christian and is wonderfully detailed (probably Rhetoric and up!).
Clear and interesting article about the origins of the Philistines, with one particularly interesting suggestion about parallels/interactions between Homeric heroes (in the Iliad and the Odyssey) and heroes in Judges. Dialectic and up. Nice large print.
Picture of Mycenaean pottery that shows warriors who look much like Goliath as described in 1 Samuel 17:4-7.
Photo of excavation site and pottery from Ekron, one of the five Philistine cities. Or, take a look at the photos on this site.
Ekron: A Philistine City
Map showing key places in Saul's life as king in Israel.
All (and I do mean ALL) Bible texts about the Philistines in one handy list. All interested viewers.
Nice summary from the Catholic Encyclopedia on the Philistines as they relate to Israel. Dialectic and up.

Week 18: David, Shepherd of Israel; the Phoenicians

Great site on Phoenicians. It's especially good because it links page with other similar pages on other ancient cultures that affected them. Upper Grammar and up. Bashing around in these pages for an hour will help you better understand the interrelationships in this complex area of the world.
Jan recommends this site, which contains a 3-page overview: The Ancient Phoenicians
Phoenicians and Spain: great site for all ages. Nice visuals. Great picture model of a Phoenician ship that little ones could draw, or make from paper. Did you know that Jonah probably hopped aboard a Phoenician ship bound for Spain when he was running from the Lord?
Do many searches for all things Phoenician from this comprehensive site. Again, parental guidance suggested! We've done a few key searches for you:
Wikipedia article on the Phoenicians.
Map showing key places in David's life and career as king.
Read about fringes and Murex snails! Fascinating connections between biblical characters and Phoenicians!
Ancient Civilizations of the Fertile Crescent with comparison to Egypt

Want to suggest a resource or link? Email Dana.

Week 19: Solomon's Divided Heart

Very nice website on Solomon's temple. Floor plans, pictures, diagrams. Great for Dialectic levels and up.
Interesting summation of the Temple from a Jewish perspective. Less (and simpler) text than the above website. Upper Grammar and up--with teacher's oversight. There are many hyperlinks embedded in the text and we couldn't follow them all.
Solomon
Queen of Sheba
King Hiram of Tyre
Jeroboam

Week 20: The Divided Kingdom

Kings of Israel: time line: names and dates (note: these are not the only possible dates).
Kings of Israel and Judah: time lines and short bios. Very helpful!
Kings of Israel referenced Biblically.
Worksheet for grammar level students about the Divided Kingdom
Rehoboam
Jeroboam
Ahab
Jezebel
Elijah
Elisha
Joel
Obadiah

Week 21: The Assyrian Scourge: The Northern Kingdom Is Deported

Details on the message and context of the prophet, Amos.
Super brief history of Assyria, with a great map of its territory at its height. Grammar and up.
Brief history of Assyria. Dialectic and up.
Outstanding Assyrian frieze: to use for hands-on projects this week.

Two Assyrian Officials: frieze to use for hands-on projects this week.

The Dying Lion: picture to use for hands-on projects this week.

Assyrian warrior blinding the eyes of a captive, as they blinded King Zedikiah. Dialectic and up with parental permission.
Painted models of Assyrian soldiers. Interesting for Grammar and up. Click on pictures to see them enlarged.
More good friezes: again, text (message of website) to be previewed by parents, please.

Week 22: The Chaldeans (New Babylonians) and the Babylonian Captivity

Brief history of Babylonians. Nice graphics! All ages. (Also nice links to other ancient cultures.)
Good thumbnail sketch of the interplay of history between the kingdoms of Israel, Assyria, Babylon, and Judah.
Lion Figures on the Ishtar Gate from Babylon
Brief history of Babylonians. Nice hyperlinks.
Information on the Babylonian Captivity with a nice hyperlink to a page on the Chaldeans.
Information and on the Chaldeans and a lovely brick frieze lion
The Chaldeans
Hezekiah
Josiah
Nabopolassar
Nebuchadnezzar
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Daniel
Ezekiel

Week 23: The Medes and Persians: The Israelites Return Home

Good history of Persians, with nice graphics, many details about culture and history, and a good map.
Brief history of Persians. Nice hyperlinks. Dialectic and up.
Another brief summary of the Persians. Dialectic and up.
Zoroastrianism, the religion of Persia.
Very helpful time line of the Persian Empire
Ancient Civilizations of the Fertile Crescent with comparison to Egypt
Ezra
Nehemiah
Zerubbabel
Esther
Mordecai
Cyrus the Great
Darius I
Xerxes
Artaxerxes
Haman
Vashti

Week 24: Persians and Greeks: The Persian Wars, Athens, and Sparta

Excellent website about Ancient Greece
Odyssey Online: Greece
Very useful summary of Persian Wars, with links to connected topics. Dialectic and up.
Biography of Herodotus. Dialectic and up. Nicely done.
Very helpful time line of the Persian Empire.
Text of Famous Men of Greece
Great site on Ancient Greeks. Contributed by Colette.
The Rise of Athens and Sparta
The Persian Wars
The Athenian Empire
Helots
Darius I
Xerxes I
Miltiades
Themistocles
King Leonidas of Sparta
Croesus
Ionians
Dorians
Achaeans

Week 25: The Golden Age of Greece and the Peloponnesian War

Excellent website about Ancient Greece
Odyssey Online: Greece
One more excellent site about the Ancient Greek world
The Peloponnesian Wars
Text of Famous Men of Greece
The year is 430 BC. Poliphus and his family from Athens and Sparcus and his family from Sparta are thinking about the future. They each have different points of view! Follow the story of the war between Athens and Sparta as seen by these two families, told in play format.
Another fun site on Ancient Greece. This link contributed by Teresa.
Virtual tour of Ancient Greece
Lovely reproductions of Classical and Hellenistic pottery.
Great site on Ancient Greeks. Contributed by Colette.
Architecture: Greek orders of columns, with diagrams and pictures. Outstanding site for all ages.
Sculptures of Classical Greece:
- Reproduction of the Laokoon group
- Athena mourning. Statue c. 450 BC.
Pericles
Alcibiades
Pheidias
Praxiteles
Thucydides

Week 26: Greek Achievements: Science, Mathematics, and Philosophy

One more excellent site about the Ancient Greek world
Ancient Greek inventions
Ancient Catapults: Lots of historical information, but good illustrations that may prove helpful if you are making your own.

Text of Famous Men of Greece
Learn about the original Olympics.
Great site on Ancient Greeks. Contributed by Colette.
Type in "cynics" or "stoics" into the search engine here to find excellent information for your oldest students.
Hippocrates
Pythagoras
Archimedes
Euclid
Aristarchus
Socrates
Plato
Thales
Eratosthenes
Ptolemy
Hero
Herodotus
Thucydides
Aristotle
Zeno
Antisthenes

Week 27: Alexander the Great: Preparation for Proclamation

Alexander the Great
Reproductions of busts of Alexander, or try this site for more.
All about this term "Hellenization."
Great site on Ancient Greeks. Contributed by Colette.
Jewish history during the Hellenistic Age. Great maps!
Great page linking all sorts of information on Jewish history during the Hellenistic Period.
History of the Macabees, with links to the books of Macabees and commentary on them.
Text of Famous Men of Greece
Philip II
Olympias
Aristotle
Alexander III (the Great)
Ptolemy
Seleucus
Antigonas
Antiochus IV
Judas Maccabaeus
Bucephalus

Want to suggest a resource or link? Email Dana.

Week 28: The Etruscans and the Founding of Rome

The Etruscans
The myth of Romulus and Remus
Study guide for each chapter in Edith Hamilton's Mythology.
Text of Famous Men of Rome
Romulus and Remus
Tarquin
Aeneas
Lavinia
Ascanius
Numa Pompilius
The Horatii and the Coriatii
Mucius the Left-Handed
Coriolanus
Horatius
The Fabii

Week 29: The Roman Republic: Everyday Life

Week 30: The Roman Republic Expands: The Punic Wars

WONDERFUL interactive atlas of the scope of the Punic Wars. Click on the bullets below the map and get a super picture of the interactions between these two rivals over the span of about 150 years. Outstanding!
Simple and clear summary of the three wars, with nice hyperlinks to key people and places. Helpful to 6th Graders and up.
Text of Famous Men of Rome
Regulus
Hamilcar Barca
Scipio Africanus
Hannibal
Cato the Elder (Censor)
The Gracchi (brothers) - Tiberius , Gaius