Timelines

Creating timelines helps both me and the children to create a mental picture of historical events. We have a large timeline on the wall above the kitchen table. There are sections for Chinese, Viking, Scythian, Celtic and Greek History as these are the cultures we have studied with our history co-op. There is also a section for random events where we add dates from any book we are reading.

Sometimes we add figures to go with the dates. Here are some free printables I created to use in our history lessons.

Ancient Greek Timeline Figures

Ancient China Timeline Figures

Free Blank Timelines

To see more of our history activities please visit my history page.

China History Co-op. Books

In conjunction with our China History Co-op we read many wonderful living books. Here are our favorites listed in order of Ancient Chinese dynasty.

Geography
The Story About Ping is a classic children's book about a duck who lives on the Yantze River. One night, for fear of getting in trouble, he doesn't go home and spends the night alone. After an adventurous night including a close call the story has a happy ending. This engaging story is recommended by many homeschooling curriculums such as Five in a Row and definitely a favorite in my family.
The Five Chinese Brothers is an Ancient Chinese legend about five brothers who looked exactly alike.

Timeline 
The Legend of the Kite: A Story of China by Chen Jiang Hong - The illustrations in this book provide glimpses into Chinese life in the past. The story is set in Bejiang at the Forbidden City. The story explains how kite flying got its start through a tale appropriate for young children. My 5, 8 and 10 year olds all enjoyed this story.

Xia
Tikki Tikki Tembo is personally one of my favorites on the list because my mother read it to me as a child. It tells the story of why the Chinese have short names.
 

Shang
Ten Suns is an Ancient Chinese legend which explains why we have one sun in the sky.

Zhou
Confucius: The Golden Rule - This is a biography of Confucius. My 5th grader read it on her own, and it was quite a challenge for my 3rd grader. We didn't quite make it through the entire book.

Qin
The Great Wall of China - This book tells the story of how the Great Wall was built in a story format. It's easy to read in a single sitting and excellent.
Cat and Rat is a legend of how the first Zodiac was introduced into China by the first emperor Huang Di.

Han
The Silk Route: 7000 Miles of History - (Yuang Dynasty) This book was somewhere in between a living book and a fact book. It was fairly easy to read and we learned about the different cities along the silk route. It is recommended by the Story of the World series of books.
The Emperor and the Kite is a story about how the youngest daughter of the emperor, seen as insignificant, ends up saving his life.


Tang
Empress of China: Wu Ze Tian is the story of China's only female emperor.



Song
The Lost Horse is a legend about how a twist of fate can save a life. It is set during the Mongol invasion of China.
Liang and the Magic Paintbrush is an ancient Chinese legend about how strange things happen when a poor wandering boy gets a magic paintbrush.

Yuan
Genghis Khan and the Mongol Horde - (Yuang Dynasty) This story was a great transition from the Sythians into Ancient China. Since Genghis was a Mongol the story begins there. The Mongols lived in Yurts and were great horsemen, very similar to the Scythians. This adventurous story was fun and entertaining for both my eight and ten year olds and is on the reading list for the Sonlight curriculum.

Ming
Beautiful Warrior is a legend which explains how Kung Fu is much more than just a fighting activity.

Ms. Frizzle's Adventures in Imperial China is a Magic School Bus story about time traveling to ancient China. The book is filled with many tidbits regarding Chinese inventions and ways of life in different parts of the empire.



Republic 
The Chinese Violin is a story about immigration to America.


To read more about our homeschool history co-op activities click on Homeschool History under Homeschooling Topics on the right-hand side of the blog, or one of the cultures below.


Celts
Vikings
Scythians
Ancient China

China History Co-op - Writing Assignments

A writing assignment was given most weeks of the China History Co-op. The children presented their work the week following the assignment.

Here are the assignments:

1.  Write a diary as if you are Ping (from the book The Story about Ping). The diary could be before, during or after his experience alone for the night. Remember his thoughts and feelings are very important in a diary.
2.  Make your own personal timeline. You could include births of grandparents, parents, siblings and other important events in your history such as; day you moved to a new house, day you started swim lessons, or the day you first cooked an egg by yourself.
3. Xia Dynasty - Write instructions for constructing a clay pot from finding the clay to using or selling the pot. 
4. Shang Dynasty - Write a fictional story which includes the six elements we discussed from the Shang Dynasty (wood writing, chariots, silk, oracle bones, tortoise shell writing, bronze, jade and ivory carvings) and any other inventions or events from the Shang dynasty you would like.
5. Zhou - Using the internet, translate your first or middle name into Chinese and write your own wise saying (a Confucius saying). 
6. Qin - If you were the Emperor of China write about how you would run your country. 
7. Han - The Silk Route: Pretend you are an artist who created a silk painting. Your painting will travel down the silk road and be traded for goods. Write the story of your painting.
8. 3 Kingdoms - Create a Venn diagram to show what the three belief systems of China have in common; Buddism, Confuciusism, and Daoism

9. Tang - Write a Haiku to share next week.
10. Song - Write about your four treasures.


To read more about our homeschool history co-op activities click on Homeschool History under Homeschooling Topics on the right-hand side of the blog, or one of the cultures below.

Celts
Vikings
Scythians
Ancient China 

China History Co-op. Week 11 - Ming Dynasty

Week 11: We painted China vases.

The last day of our China history co-op occurred three days after my daughter's Leukemia diagnosis so I was not able to attend. My two older children were able to go and I asked my 10 year old daughter to write about the lesson. Here is what she had to say. (I did do some editing to make it easier to read.)

First we read our assignments Chinese style. Then we saw pictures of Ming dynasty vases and learned how archaeologists could tell if the vase was from the Ming or the Tang dynasty. They could tell by the presence of a chemical in the blue paint and by how many layers of paint were on the vase. The Chinese added one, two or three layers of blue paint to make it look more 3d. One vase was odd shaped and sold to America for at least 1 million dollars of taxes.

Then we painted vases with several different shades of blue paint. The paint was blue because that was all the Chinese had.

After the lesson, the wonderful ladies from the history co-op stopped by the hospital for a visit. They dropped off a vase for Jemma to paint and she asked to paint it right away.

China History Co-op. Week 10 - Song Dynasty

Week 10: We made ink and landscape paintings.

We began the history co-op with a review from a previous dynasty. The kids each received a fortune cookie and had to decide if the fortune was most in-line with Confucianism, Buddhism or Daoism.

There were many inventions during the Song Dynasty; gunpowder, the compass and landscape paintings are a few. During this time period landscape painting and calligraphy were held in very high regard. Landscape paintings were balanced images from nature. Bamboo and cherry blossoms were the first items professionals would learn to paint.

Chinese calligraphy and landscape painting kits are referred to as The Four Treasures. A kit contains;

1. Paper
2. Brushes
3. Ink Sticks
4. Stone

One of the members of our history co-op had a set, which the kids got to use for this lesson. They are also available on amazon.

First the kids placed a few drops of water on the ink stone. Can you see the tiny spoon?

Then they rubbed the ink on the stone until it was as dark as they wanted. This required a bit of testing to see what shade of grey to black the ink was.

When they had ink, the brushes were used to practice writing the Chinese character for tree.

The printing kit came with a chop. A chop is a Chinese signature stamp for works of art. Each child was able to finish their work by marking it with the chop.

At home we read The Lost Horse and Liang and the Magic Paintbrush. The Lost Horse is a legend about how a twist of fate can save a life. It is set during the Mongol invasion of China. Liang and the Magic Paintbrush is an ancient Chinese legend about how strange things happen when a poor wandering boy gets a magic paintbrush.

This post is linked to:
We Made That

* I did not receive any compensation for this recommendation. I'm just a homeschooling mom who has found many products that I like. If you're interested in the products I recommend on this blog I want to make it easy for you to find them. 
** I am an Amazon associate and receive a small portion of the sales on orders made after clicking in from this site, which I promptly spend on homeschooling books and supplies for my children.

China History Co-op. Week 9 - Tang Dynasty

Week 9 - We made printing blocks.

During the Tang dynasty drinking tea became part of the culture. It's popularity grew with the invention of printing. We began the history co-op by watching a Traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony.

Pouring the hot water into the pot, then into the cups, and dumping it out is actually a very important science lesson. This was done for two reasons. Boiling water serves as a sanitizer by killing germs. It also warms up the pot and cups so the tea stays hot longer. If the tea were poured directly into the cold pot, the heat would transfer from the tea into the pot, thus making the tea cold. Since hot water is poured in first, it warms the pot. Then when the tea is put into the pot it is in direct contact with a warm pot instead of a cold one and therefore stays hot longer.

After watching the tea ceremony, the kids had their own tea party complete with Chinese rice candy and fortune cookies.

Wood block printing was invented during the Tang Dynasty. A page would be carefully carved into a wooden block and then the image from the page could be recreated over many times through inking the wood block and pressing paper on top of the wood.

The kids had a chance to create their own wood printing blocks.

Since they are not yet expert woodworkers, a layer of foam was glued on top of the wooden blocks. The foam was much easier to carve than a block of wood.

First they chose their design and drew it onto the block as a mirror image.

An adult used a knife to trace around the design making it a little easier to carve. Then they used screwdrivers to carve away the excess foam.

Finally they were able to test out their wood printing blocks. They enjoyed the activity so much that they each made 3 or 4 printing blocks.

At home we read the book Empress of China: Wu Ze Tian which was about the only female emperor of China. She ruled first through her husband and then through her son during the Tang dynasty. It was an interesting picture book which we easily read in one sitting.

To see our other Ancient China activities please visit our history page.

This post is linked to:
True Aim Education

China History Co-op. Week 7: Han Dynasty - The Silk Road

Week 7: We did silk paintings.

Co-op began with a sushi lunch. The kids filled their nori wraps with rice, egg, vegetables and got a chance to roll up their sushi.

Then we learned all about the silk road. The wonderful mom in charge of the week's lesson created a large cardboard map and this little caravan cart. The kids loaded up the cart with silk and men to begin a journey down the silk road. They followed the path in the book The Silk Route: 7000 Miles of History by John Major. At each stop they traded away silk for various items such as carpets, horses and camels to bring back to China or use to continue the journey.

Throughout the journey the blue yarn was taped to the map to represent the path of the silk road.

Then using real silk fabric and special silk paint the kids got a chance to create their own silk paintings.

To see more of our history activities please visit our History Page.

This post is linked to
Sun Scholars

China History Co-op. - Week 6 - Qin Dynasty

Week 6 - We built The Great Wall of China.

The Qin Emperor united the warring states of China through warfare. He established many standards including money, weights and measures and many more such as standard axle width. We discussed the meaning of united and then did an activity to demonstrate how not having standard money works.

The kids split up into groups of two. Each group received a quantity of something to trade - silks, spices, rice, wheat, beads, etc... Some measuring tools were available - a scale, measuring spoons and measuring cups. At first each group was only allowed to trade with one other group, but then we opened it up. The kids loved trading their items in the market.

Then we read the book The Great Wall of China by Leonard Everett Fisher and began our great walls.

The walls were made from cardboard, sugar cubes and icing glue.

Icing Glue Recipe
6 egg whites
2 lbs powdered sugar
1 tsp cream of tartar

The kids started with the raised walkways. They drew their walkways on cardboard, cut them out and then transferred the path onto the base. On the base they dribbled icing along the path and then added sugar cubes.

Once their walls were high enough they glued the walkway in place and added a few more cubes along the edges of the walkway.

It took a lot of people to build The Great Wall of China. Each child built a section and together we had a great wall.

To see our other history activities please visit our history page.

China History Co-op. Week 5 - Zhou Dynasty

Week 5: We made Confucius gardens.

Multiplication tables were invented during the Zhou Dynasty. Land distribution and rice tax requirements for the emperor was the first known application for multiplication. For example, if the emperor had 4 sections of land, and each produced 6 units of rice, and the emperor received 1/2 of the rice from each section........... he should get 4 sections x 6 units x 1/2 = 12 units of rice.

Confucius' new way of thinking had a great impact on China. His beliefs became well respected in China and today many popular sayings are attributed to Confucius. In addition to Confucius, Buddha and Lao Zi (the father of Daoism) influenced the way people thought in China. Many of the great thinkers from the past discussed their ideas with friends and followers. Most of their discussions took place in gardens under trees, which is why the kids each made their own Confucius garden.

First pie pans were filled with dirt.

Rocks, craft sticks and other wooden pieces were available to create paths, fences, benches and other decoration.

Small flowers and dandelions were added to the gardens.

Then grass seed was sprinkled in the empty spaces.

Confucius: The Golden Rule by Russell Freedman went well with this lesson, but was quite a challenge for my eight year old.

China History Co-op. Week 4 - Shang Dynasty

Week 4: We wrote on wood like the Ancient Chinese and made ivory carvings.

We began by discussing seven important elements from the Shang Dynasty writing each one down from top to bottom and right to left like the Ancient Chinese. The elements are described below.

1 - Wood Writing - The kids made their bamboo strips for writing by tying craft sticks together with yarn.

2 - Chariots were invented.
3 - Silk was invented - We listened to the story of Lei Zu and the Silkworm and the kids got to feel real silk cloth. You can find the story in the Story of the World Volume 1.

Then they got a chance to put the silk making process in order.

4 - Oracle Bone Writing - We learned about how the Ancient Chinese used the oracle bones as a sort of fortune telling device.
5 - Tortoise shell writing
6 - Bronze - The Ancient Chinese figured out how to make bronze by mixing tin and copper.
7 - Jade and Ivory - Carvings were made out of jade and ivory. First the kids got to see real (very old) ivory carvings that one of our history co-op members happened to have.

Ivory Carvings
Ivory carvings were made from bars of soap.

A vegetable peeler was used to make the surface of the bar of soap smooth.

Designs were carved with a vegetable skewer.

Paint was put on top of the bar of soap and then wiped off from the surface. The paint sunk into the grooves making the design visible.

 

This post is linked to: 
Joy Focused Learning