History Quest: Early Times Study Guide
Grade level: 1st through 6th
Pages: 270
Course type: Study guide designed to be used with the History Quest: Early Times narrative chapter book (Please see the Booklist tab for the literature books required to complete this course.)
Authors: Lisa Hawkins and Lindsey Sodano
History Quest: Early Times Study Guide is a comprehensive and engaging, full-year secular history curriculum for elementary-age children. Designed to be used with the History Quest: Early Times narrative history book and other resources, it provides 31 weeks of creative, hands-on activities, literature suggestions, geography study, discussions, and writing assignments that help bring history to life.
Each unit in the guide corresponds to a chapter from History Quest: Early Times and provides a week’s worth of engaging and interactive activities laid out in clear, easy-to-follow lesson plans. You’ll find a suggested daily schedule that focuses on a different learning technique each day, important terms and concepts related to that week’s reading, resource recommendations, and more. Best of all, each week’s plan can be followed as written in the guide or easily adapted to meet your family’s particular needs and interests.
A helpful appendix section in the back features literature and supply lists for the entire course, as well as map keys and student activity pages (conveniently perforated and reproducible for easy single-family use).
Within the curriculum, we’ve included four weeks of Hygge History, a special tie-in literature study encouraging parents and students to snuggle up together and enjoy classic tales from four cultures that are studied in this course—Sumer, Greece, India, and China. Based on the Danish philosophy of hygge, which emphasizes coziness and comfort, these units are a great way to slow down, connect, and learn more about a particular time and place through storytelling. Each Hygge History unit comes with detailed descriptions of suggested books for that week to help you choose the right one for your child.
Through History Quest: Early Times, students will gain a deep understanding of the ideas, events, and individuals that shaped early civilizations in the ancient world and take their first step in a life-long quest to explore and appreciate history.
What Material Does History Quest: Early Times Cover?
Students will learn about events that occurred from the pre-historic Paleolithic period to approximately 700 CE. Major areas of study include:
- Paleolithic and Neolithic Times
- Earliest Civilizations
- Ancient Egypt
- The Andes Mountain Civilizations
- Mesoamerica
- Babylon, Assyria, and Persia
- The Hebrews and Phoenicians
- Ancient Greece
- India
- The Roman Empire
- Ancient China
- Arabia and the Rise of the Islamic Empire
How is the Material Covered?
Five important learning techniques are woven into each weekly lesson throughout our History Quest Study Guides at age-appropriate levels. Through these techniques, students examine multiple resources, read historically significant literature, develop and strengthen critical thinking skills, practice and refine written and verbal expression, and study world geography and geographical significances throughout the history of humankind.
What is Included with the Study Guide?
- Thirty-one weekly units with lessons for:
- Reading assignments from History Quest: Early Times and The Usborne Encyclopedia of World History with Internet Links
- Four weeks of Hygge History literature reading (see Booklist tab)
- History Travel Log entries (a timeline/geography activity)
- Terms & Concepts (weekly learning goals)
- Map work
- Reading comprehension/writing/dictation/copy work
- Crafts/cooking/artwork/hands-on activities
- Thirteen ancient history blackline maps
- Hands-on activity instructions
- Literature and online enrichment recommendations
- Weekly unit schedules and supply lists
- Student coloring and activity pages
What Additional Resources and Materials are Needed?
In addition to this study guide, you will need:
- History Quest: Early Times narrative history book or audiobook
- The Usborne Encyclopedia of World History with Internet Links
- Hygge History literature books (see Booklist tab)
- Access to reference material via the library or internet
- World map
- Colored pencils for map work
- 3-ring binder or notebook
View a complete list of supplies needed for projects.
Important Copyright Information: If you choose the eBook version of this course, you are purchasing a license to use the PDF for your own children. You may make copies for your own children, but you may not share (email, download, print and distribute, resell, etc.) this eBook or any portion of this eBook to others.
Licensing is available for group, school, and co-op use. Please contact Pandia Press for details on group licensing (info@pandiapress.com).
History Quest: Early Times Study Guide
Main Spines
1. History Quest: Early Times
2. The Usborne Encyclopedia of World History with Internet Links
Hygge History Literature
There are four units in this study guide that employ the Danish concept of hygge—a joyful mix of coziness, togetherness, and a general feeling of well-being—where enjoyment of classic literature is your only assignment for the week.
1. Gilgamesh (Sumer)
Gilgamesh the Hero by Geraldine McCaughrean
or choose,
The Gilgamesh story told in a series of three books by Ludmila Zeman:
Gilgamesh the King
The Revenge of Ishtar
The Last Quest of Gilgamesh
2. Greek Mythology
Black Ships Before Troy by Rosemary Sutcliff
or choose,
D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths by Ingri d’Aulaire and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire
3. The Ramayana (ancient Indian epic and Hindu mythology)
Ramayana: Divine Loophole by Sanjay Patel
4. Chinese Mythology
Chinese Children’s Favorite Stories by Mingmei Yip
or choose any number of the following from the Stories of the Chinese Zodiac series by Li Jian,
The Water Dragon: A Chinese Legend
The Snake Goddess Colors the World
The Horse and the Mysterious Drawing
The Sheep Beauty
The Little Monkey King’s Journey
The Magical Rooster
The Bronze Dog
The Little Pigs and the Sweet Rice Cakes
Supplies needed for Early Times Study Guide:
- Access to reference material via the library or internet
- World map
- Colored pencils for map work
- 3-ring binder or notebook
- Supplies for projects
Download Supply List