When I share children’s books with learning ideas, they are often of the fiction or non-fiction variety. However today, I have a wonderful reference or resource-type book to share with you.
Non-fiction, fiction, short stories, chapter books, poetry…they all are important to read!
Today’s book, Daily Life at the Time of Jesus, is a non-fiction book we often use as a reference. You’ll love having it on your shelf!
➡ Looking for more children’s books with activity ideas? I have tons! Browse through this category: Children’s Books with Learning Ideas.
You’ll find a variety of books for various ages and stages.
Daily Life at the Time of Jesus
This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more details.
Book: Daily Life at the Time of Jesus
Author: Miriam Feinberg Vamosh
Illustrator: E. Barashkov and H. Ron
We have several excellent Bible reference books on our shelf which we turn to often. As my children have gotten older, I have found it necessary to have a wide variety of reference books. While the Bible is certainly the only “reference book” we will ever need, we have several favorites that help us understand it a bit more.
Like other similar non-fiction reference books in this style, Daily Life at the Time of Jesus is divided into sections that describe the culture of this time. You’ll find sections such as The Village, The Roman Army, The Winepress, and A Wedding Feast.
Your children will read about medicine, the market, and what dinner was like during this time.
The “sweet spot” for Daily Life at the Time of Jesus is 5th-7th grades. The book is filled with drawings and images to help readers understand visually the time period, while also including simple charts and diagrams. The text lends itself to an older reader, probably a strong 4th grader and older.
The level of details in the drawings is amazing and one of the best features of this book!
Learning Activities for Daily Life at the Time of Jesus
I have used this type of book in multiple ways over the past many homeschool years. Here are a few suggestions for you:
→ If you’re studying passages from the New Testament (we’re currently using Christian Studies III from Memoria Press as a guide), read a section aloud each day after your Scripture reading.
→ If you teach history using the 4-year history cycle, this is a perfect supplement to Year 1 and the study of Ancients.
→ Learning about Ancient Rome is necessary in understanding Western Civilization. Pair this book with any Ancient Rome study or readings.
➡ You can read more here: How We Use Famous Men of Rome in Our Homeschool and Ancient Rome Worksheet Packet
→ Create a Summary Book. This is especially helpful for older elementary or middle school students! This type of assignment is easy to implement and to check: Assign 1-2 sections of reading each day. After reading the assigned section, your child writes a summary of the material in one of two ways. He should either 1) write his summary as an outline or 2) write 2-4 summary sentences. At the end of the project, he will have a marvelous synopsis of the material that he can reference.
→ Another way to document learned information is through the lovely act of notebooking. This packet of Bible Notebooking Pages could be used to read and write through this book.
→ Pair this book with an activity guide such as Classical Kids by Laurie Carlson. You’ll have an instant unit study! The Classical Kids books are geared for ages 1st-4th, but this book would go well with the Ancient Rome book in this series as long as it’s read aloud.
➡ You can read more here: Easy Hands-On History Activities for Kids
St. Patrick’s Day Directed Draw and Write Worksheets
Leave a Reply