Thursday, December 10, 2020

Old Testament Stories II

Continued notes, following from the previous post Old Testament Stories I.

We can't do this on Zoom, but if you are teaching this topic in person, two books which I highly recommend for bringing this time period to life are Ancient Israelites and Their Neighbors: An Activity Guide by Marian Broida (full of background info, crafts, and activity ideas for Philistines, Phoenicians, Israelites) and Ancient Egyptian Costumes Paper Dolls by Tom Tierney.

I also absolutely adore Buried Blueprints: Maps and Sketches of Lost Worlds and Mysterious Places by Albert Lorenz. This book is intricate and beautiful and needs to have a magnifying glass to go with it, and beyond the amazing world of Pharaoh Ramses II, it includes many places in the Bible stories (The Garden of Eden, Noah's Ark, The Tower of Babel, and King Solomon's Mines) as well as others, like Atlantis and Ghengis Khan & the Great Wall of China.


Monday, November 9 - Young Moses


Tuesday, November 10 - Moses Kills the Egyptian

  • sort out question as to whether "Hebrews" and "Israelites" means the same thing

    "Generically, all the descendants of Abraham — Ishmael, Isaac, and Midian, and their progeny — are Hebrews. However, the name Israel only pertains to the descendants of Jacob, son of Isaac. His posterity are therefore Israelites and also Hebrews."

  • look at some traditions of Judaism and their relationship with the earlier stories we have read; what will it be like for Moses to discover his true birth and that these traditions and stories are a part of him?


    Clarence's Topsy-Turvy Shabbat
    by Jennifer Tzivia MacLeod
    related to the seven days of Creation


    The Shofar Must Go On...
    by Lina Schwarz
    related to the binding of Isaac

  • discuss the meaning of the shofar and listen to its sound

    "The very first reference is in Genesis when Abraham was about to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac. As an angel stops Abraham, we are told that a ram gets caught as his horn is tangled up in a thicket. The animal gets substituted for Isaac. Hence, we are taught that the shofar represents continuity and a hopeful future. Because Isaac lives, he has a son himself, Jacob, who in turn fathers the twelve tribes of Israel."
    from The meaning of the sound of the shofar by Rabbi Jack Zanerhaft

    What Do the Sounds of the Shofar Mean
    explanation and audio clips from PJ Library

  • read from Journey to the Promised Land

    "Moses and the Egyptian" on p.99

  • look at illustration in Moses by Margaret Hodges

    "Moses Saw an Egyptian Slave Driver Beating a Hebrew" on p.12


Wednesday, November 11 - The Exodus

  • read from Journey to the Promised Land

    "Moses in Midian" on p.102

    "The Battle with the Pharaoh" on p.105

    "The Exodus" on p.109

  • look at illustrations in Moses by Margaret Hodges

    "Moses Saw a Mysterious Burning Bush" on p.14

    "It Became a Live Serpent" on p.17

    "Horror Came on Egypt" on p.19

    "Their Doorways Shall Be Marked with the Blood" on p.20

    "Moses Began to Walk Along That Path" on p.24


Thursday, November 12 - Passover


Thursday, November 12 - The Ten Commandments

  • read from Journey to the Promised Land

    "Mara and Sin" on p.114

    "At Sinai" (read p.117 only)

    "The Ten Commandments" on p.120

  • look at illustrations in Moses by Margaret Hodges

    "God Had Been With Him All the Way" on p.27
    look at ancient Hebrew on p.28 and modern Hebrew on p.29


Friday, November 13 - The Death of Moses


Monday, November 16 - The Taking of Jericho

  • read from Journey to the Promised Land

    "Over the Jordan" on p.132

    "The Taking of the City of Jericho" on p.132

    "In the Land of Canaan" on p.136


Monday, November 16 - King Saul


Tuesday, November 17 - King David

If you have some leather, it is worth taking the time to make a sling and let your child practice using it to throw marshmallows or rocks in a large field. Aiming is not as easy as it looks! Here's How to Use a Shepherd's Sling.


Wednesday, November 18 - King Solomon


Thursday, November 19 - Elijah and Elisha

  • read from We Will Build a Temple

    "Building the Temple" on p.13

    "The Division of the Kingdom" on p.16

    "The Prophet Elijah" on p.19

    "On Mount Carmel" on p.21

    "Elijah on Horeb" on p.23

  • look at map of the Fertile Crescent and identify Egypt, Canaan, and Mesopotamia

    sample painting lesson from the Live Education! curriculum


      just so I can keep this straight, here is the list:

      Sumerians 4500 BCE - 1900 BCE

      Akkadians 2334 BCE - 2154 BCE

      Assyrians 1905 BCE - 612 BCE

      Babylonians 1895 BCE - 539 BCE

      Chaldeans (a Babylonian dynasty) 625 BCE - 539 BCE

      with the fall of the city of Babylon in 539 BCE, Ancient Mesopotamian lands became part of the Persian Empire


Friday, November 20 - Jonah and the Whale

  • read from We Will Build a Temple

    "Jonah" (read p.71 only)

  • read The Book of Jonah by Peter Spier

  • read from A Child's History of the World by V.M. Hillyer (1951)

    Chapter 17, "Kings with Corkscrew Curls"


Monday, November 30 - Jeremiah

  • read from We Will Build a Temple

    "The Prophet Jeremiah" on p.37

    "Jeremiah is Thrown into the Cistern" on p.40

    "How Jeremiah Saved the Ark of the Covenant" on p.41

    "The Babylonians Destroy the Temple" on p.44


Tuesday, December 1 - Belshezzar's Feast

  • read from A Child's History of the World by V.M. Hillyer (1951)

    Chapter 18, "A City of Wonders and Wickedness"

  • look at examples of Babylonian culture and learning

    How cuneiform writing began, page 93
    of The Wonderful World of Archaeology by Ronald Jessup

    Clay tablet, page 20
    of Mesopotamia Myths by Henrietta McCall

    Babylonian numbers, page 26
    of The History of Counting by Denise Schmandt-Besserat

    Babylonian clocks & calendars, page 17
    of The Story of Clocks and Calendars by Betsy Maestro

      The Babylonians were the ones who divided the day into 24 hours, the hour into 60 minutes, the minute into 60 seconds

      The Babylonians divided the week into seven days and named them after the sun, the moon, and five bright stars, which were really planets

      The Romans renamed the days after Roman gods (and we then gave those god names to those five planets)

      The Anglo-Saxons kep the idea but replaced some of the weekday names with their own gods; those names came down to us through Old English and thus we still use them today

      Babylonian
      Shamash, Sin, Nergal, Nabu, Marduk, Ishtar, Ninurta

      Roman
      Sol, Luna, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn

      Anglo-Saxon / Old English
      OE Sonnesdaeg > Sun’s Day > Sunday
      OE Monesdaeg > Moon’s Day > Monday
      OE Tuwresdaeg > Tyr’s Day > Tuesday
      OE Wodenesdaeg > (W)odin’s Day > Wednesday
      OE Thoresdaeg > Thor’s Day > Thursday
      OE Friyasdaeg > Friya’s Day > Friday
      OE Saturnesdaeg > Saturn’s Day > Saturday

  • read from We Will Build a Temple

    "Daniel" on p.49

    "Nebuchadnezzar's Dream" on p.51

    "The Three Men in the Fiery Oven" on p.53

    "Belshezzar's Feast" on p.56


Wednesday, December 2 - Belshezzar's Feast

  • read from A Child's History of the World by V.M. Hillyer (1951)

    Chapter 19, "A Surprise Party"


Wednesday, December 2 - Daniel in the Lion's Den


Thursday, December 3 - Queen Esther

If you can, it is wonderful to make Purim Hamantaschen with Prune Filling after reading this story!


Monday, December 7 - Queen Esther


Monday, December 7 - The Second Temple


Tuesday, December 8 - The Seleucid Empire

  • read from from A Child's History of the World by V.M. Hillyer (1951)

    Chapter 23, "Greece vs. Persia"

    Chapter 24, "Fighting Mad"

    Chapter 25, "One Against a Thousand"

    Chapter 28, "Wise Men and Otherwise"

    Chapter 29, "A Boy King"

For more on this, see my previous blog post Old Testament Block III: The Miracle of the Oil where I sort out who is in charge of whom and why/how


Wednesday, December 9 - The Maccabean Revolt


Thursday, December 10 - Hanukkah

For us, this timing worked out perfectly since Hanukkah begins at sundown!

Here is some helpful information on Hanukkah from PJ Library:

Lighting the Menorah (PDF)

How to Play Dreidel (PDF)

I recommend reading these; each has an interesting fact at the bottom:

Night 1: Stained-Glass Cookies recipe (PDF)

Night 2: Crayon Candles craft (PDF)

Night 3: Oven-Fried Zucchini Sticks recipe (PDF)

Night 4: Glowing Pathway craft (PDF)

Night 5: Hidden Veggie Latkes recipe (PDF)

Night 6: Goodie Bags craft (PDF)

Night 7: Sufganiyot Donut Holes recipe (PDF)


This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

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