Today has been all about history

Well, almost. This morning after their favorite PBS morning shows were over and I asked Sayer to turn off the TV she immediately went to the table and opened her ETC book and started on phonics. She was more than half way through the page before I noticed :) Then she asked me how many pages she should do and I left her to do them while I got showered and dressed. She was done when I got out.

After phonics we sat down with SotW and read about Ancient Egypt. Before we started the new material I asked her what is history and who studies it and how, what is a nomad and what do they eat and where do they sleep, and what would a nomad tribe need to do or learn to live in one place all the time. She was able to answer all those questions without any problems, so I guess it's soaking in :)

Then we read about Egypt. We discussed the Nile and the Nile Delta and flooding and the way the new soil affected the fertility of the soil and trapping water in ponds to use during the dry season. We talked about why the northern part of Egypt was Lower Egypt and the southern part was Upper Egypt, and the Red Crown King and the White Crown King and the eventual uniting of Egypt as one kingdom. We discussed Egyptian religion and the myth stories about what caused the annual flooding of the Nile.

Then she went off to play with the computer for 20 minutes, and after that break I asked a bazillion and one questions about the things we'd discussed. She couldn't remember the word 'silt' or the name 'pharoh' or the names of the Egyptian gods, but otherwise she answered everything I asked. Then I opened the SoTW activity book and looked at their questions and saw that we'd already just touched on most of them :) But we went over it again, then we read one of their suggested 'extra' reading books (Croco'nile). She took another break at the computer, then we did the map work (where in spite of repeated instruction to color more lightly Egypt is now *red* rather than 'lightly shaded') and she colored a page with Osiris and Set. I know Sayer can draw quite well, but I'm really impressed with her coloring on this page!

Friday we'll do history again and I'll record her narrations for this chapter and we'll make a model of the Nile and our own Egyptian double crown. And doubtless there will be more reading and videos that study Egypt and the pyramids and their gods ...

This afternoon we'll do a bit of math and money. But really, today has been all about history.