Week in Review - Minoan Frescoes

We started a new unit study this week - Ancient Greece and Greek Mythology. I organized this unit study myself, pulling from many resources. I put the main books that we are using in the sidebars but we are using many more books and other resources as well. I am really excited about this unit as I did a lot of planning and organizing for the unit over the summer (while I waited for my daughter at the long-course pool that is quite a long drive from our house). I have lots of hands-on projects planned for this unit, too, which are always enjoyed.


This week we discussed the 5 eras into which Ancient Greece history is categorized. We learned about the Minoans and the Myceneans who lived during the Bronze Age. During this time period, beautiful paintings were created by painting on wet plaster. After learning about the Minoans, the children created their own fresco paintings.


The idea was taken from the Hands On History Ancient Greece kit. Each child first prepared plaster in a square foam container. Then they picked out the acrylic paint colors that they wanted to use and thought about what they would paint.

After 30 minutes had passed, the children removed the outer foam of the container. The plaster was hard, but not super hard. The plaster was also cool and damp to the touch.

My youngest, 3rd grade, made a painting of candy and ice cream.My middle son, 5th grade, decided to paint goodies as well. His fresco is decorated with ice cream cones, ice cream sandwiches, and licorice.

My oldest, 7th grade, decided that she wanted her fresco to resemble the painting that was shown in one of the books that we are using for this unit. Inspired by the dolphins and fish in the paintings at a Minoan palace, her fresco was filled with sea creatures.

I think they all did a great job on this project!

We also started studying Greek Mythology - a fascinating subject. We are using the excellent book by the D'Aulaires and the Memoria Press workbook to go along with the text. All of these resources are in my sidebars. I am so thrilled with the workbook! The book is divided into 25 lessons with comprehension questions, vocabulary, facts to know, and a pronunication guide (quite helpful). The workbook has taken the overwhelming task of studying Greek Mythology and made it very manageable.

The children are all progressing well in their independent work. I did decide to start my youngest in Growing With Grammar 3 since he had completed Growing With Grammar 2 - so far, so good! I do think everybody is getting a little anxious for Christmas break and a nice, long break from their independent studies. Next week is our last week, and then we will be on break from school until January 13.

We ended our week with a project that is always enjoyed, making gingerbread houses. Last year, we made Halloween gingerbread houses but we usually make them for Christmas each year. The Christmas gingerbread houses definitely deserves its own post so I'll be writing about that separately.

One more week until Christmas break! If you would like to read what other homeschoolers did this week, check out the Weekly Wrap-Up at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.