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Ancient Greek Civilization Resources
Any study of ancient history would be incomplete without a stop in Ancient Greece. The Greeks gave Western Civilization incomparable contributions -- the seeds of democracy, mathematics, philosophy, theater, and art.
Why Study Ancient Greece and Its Literature?
- Western Civilization owes a great debt to this ancient society.
- The great classics of this period, including the Greek myths, The Iliad, and The Odyssey, have remained foundational works of literature for hundreds of years.
- All educated Westerners should be familiar with these stories since so many other works of literature include allusions to them.
Living Books for History
History is an amazing subject. It can be made deadly dull or wonderfully thrilling depending on the approach taken.Using living books and biography to teach history makes these foreign, ancient civilizations come alive. Children may not have the maturity to comprehend political movements and philosophical paradigms, but they certainly can understand and remember a good story.
Teach children about Ancient Greece through the stories of this time -- about gods and goddesses and about heroes and kings.
For hands-on activities related to Ancient Greece, visit WOWIO for a free download of Tools of the Ancient Greeks. (You must have a USA address to sign up for WOWIO; sorry to those of you in other locations.)
Ancient Greek Links
for free printables
Here are some of the best free printables on the Internet. Examine which ones would fit well with your unit study.- Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
- Design a Greek pot online and print it out!
- Highland Heritage
- A unit study about Ancient Greece with suggested books, activities, writing assignments and more. Scroll down to the bottom of the page for PDFs of shape books, notebooking pages, and worksheets.
- Notebooking Nook Freebies
- Look for these two Ancient Greece freebies:
Legend of the Trojan Horse and Greek Gods Chart. - Ancient Greece Printables
- Several attractive, lined papers for notebooking and some printable Greek coins!
- Ancient Greece Coloring Pages
- Quite a few images from theater masks to women to warriors.
- Ancient Greek Architecture Coloring Pages
- RIGHT CLICK--SAVE AS for this nice PDF from Bright Ideas Press of five coloring pages featuring Ancient Greek architecture.
- Karen's Whimsey
- Look at the menu to the left side -- Ancient Past/Greeks -- for a plethora of public domain images, many suitable for coloring pages.
- Mystic Mills Free Coloring Pages
- Nice coloring pages for many Greek gods, goddesses and heroes.
- Greek Alphabet
- Notebooking Pages offers these free Greek alphabet strips in both upper case and lower case!
- Ancient Greece Board Game
- Wow! This is an amazing FREE resource --"Digging Up Greece" is a super high-content game about ancient Greece! The game board is a giant map of Greece, artifact cards show actual artifacts and ruins, and (multiple choice) question cards quiz you about ancient Greek history and culture. Multi-level play lets beginners play against those who've already studied Greece.
- Samutsari's Homeschool Fileshare Page
- Two lovely (and free!) Ancient Greece notebooking pages designed by a homeschooling mom!
- Ancient Greece Paper Dolls
- Paper Dali (named after the great artist Salvador Dali) offers incredible FREE black and white paper doll templates to save, print, and color. Use these for narrating the great books you read aloud or for lapbooking or notebooking.
- Midisegni Coloring Pages
- This site is in Spanish, but you can easily figure out what myth is being referred to. Look at the list on the right side for some cartoon style coloring pages of Greek Myths.
Ancient Greece Lapbook
We love to use lapbooking in homeschool. It's a great way for creative children to record what they have learned. The slideshow below has pictures of my daughter's first grade Ancient Greece lapbook.
For more lapbook pictures, visit
- SugarPlum's photos of her daughter's 1st grade Ancient Greece lapbook
- Through the Narrow Gate blog. This mom gives detailed descriptions of the minibooks they made.
- Greek Gods and Goddesses Lapbook slideshow
- The Dill Adademy's Ancient Greece lapbook
History Pockets
History Pockets: Ancient Greece
Amazon Price: $14.69 (as of 11/18/2008)
History Pockets
Greek Myths
Your study of Ancient Greece should include stories of at least some of the major myths. If your children are like my daughter, they will want more and more of these fanciful tales.If you are a Christian struggling with whether or not you should teach myths, read this explanation by a Classical Christian homeschooler. Objectionable Material in Great Books of Antiquity is another great read about this issue.
The following four books are great choices for beginners to learn about Greek mythology. Two of them are free and in the public domain.
Greek Myths
D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths
Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 11/18/2008)
The D'Aulaires are well respected children's books authors. This volume would make a fine addition to your homeschool library.
Usborne's Greek Myths
Greek Myths for Young Children
Amazon Price: $12.91 (as of 11/18/2008)
This is one of my daugher's favorite books. She loves the myths and the illustrations in this volume.
It's wonderful when your child hears an allusion to a mythical story and recognizes it because she's been reading this book in bed at night.
Gods and Heroes
Public domain text for Gods and Heroes can be found at The Baldwin Project
Gods and Heroes: An Introduction to Greek Mythology (Yesterday's Classics)
Amazon Price: $11.95 (as of 11/18/2008)
Perseus, The Labors of Hercules, and many more myths are included in this time-proven volume.
The Heroes, or Greek Fairy Tales for my Children
The Heroes is in the public domain. Visit The Baldwin Project to print out free copies.
The Heroes: or Greek Fairy Tales for My Children
Amazon Price: $10.99 (as of 11/18/2008)
Stories of Perseus, Theseus, and Jason, full of thrilling adventure will engage your children.
Audio Greek Tales
For some great FREE MP3 downloads, visit Storynory's Greek Myths page. You will find retellings of these exciting stories: The Homecoming of Odysseus, Circe the Beautiful Witch, In the Cyclops Cave, The Wooden Horse, and Troy. You can also preview the full story text before you download.
Images from Ancient Greece
For clipart suitable for your Ancient Greece project, visit Classroom Clipart.
Iliad for Boys and Girls
The Iliad for Boys and Girls public domain text is available at The Baldwin Project.
Memoria Press has a great article titled Why Read Homer's Iliad. Although the article assumes you are studying the Iliad in it's original Latin, many of the arguments listed are valid even for a children's version of the classic epic.
The Iliad for Boys and Girls (Yesterday's Classics)
Amazon Price: $9.95 (as of 11/18/2008)
I listened to this Librivox recording on my MP3 and found it very true to the original. This would be best for older elementary students.
A Story of the Golden Age of Greek Heroes
For some fantastic line drawings (suitable for coloring pages) of Odysseus, visit Karen's Whimsey. Be sure to go on to her next page of more Odyssey images, all in the public domain.
A Story of the Golden Age of Greek Heroes (Yesterday's Classics)
Amazon Price: $11.95 (as of 11/18/2008)
This book combines Homer's Iliad and Odyssey into a continuous narrative that is suitable for children.
Rosemary Sutcliff Novels
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Reader Feedback
Feel free to sign the guestbook with your thoughts.
Natalie wrote
I have another question for you...if an image is in the public domain does that mean it's ok for me to paste it onto my own notebook page, and then share it online for others who may want to use it? What about if I use a quote I find online? How do I know if it is in the public domain?
If it's easier to email me, please feel free. It's my blog name at yahoo.
I really appreciate it.
Thanks!
Posted September 13, 2008
LilliputStation wrote...
My youngest four are studying Ancient history this year. Since my three youngest are the only ones who really enjoy lapbooking (the others tolerate it) we are doing a lot of it. But none of them are writing much, so I need activities for early learners. I think I'm going to end up getting the Evan-Moore history pockets.
Unless you feel inspired to create something. . . in all your free time . . . ha, ha!
I love what you've done with this lens. I'll be back often throughout the year.
Posted August 23, 2008
stargazer00 wrote...
A great lens on all things Greek! I'm a former homeschooling mom-kids are grown up now. You have some really nice homeschooling lenses. I know where to send people looking for homeschooling ideas.
Posted August 19, 2008
