I have been asked several times, “Do you have a Textbook-free book list for Ancient Greece?”. Now, the answer is finally yes!
Below you will find lists of living books, memory work, and other fun ideas so that you can craft a multi-age Ancient-Greece history curriculum for your family.
{This post contains paid links. Please see disclaimer.}
Textbook Free History Study: Ancient Greece
What exactly do I mean by textbook-free history? I teach you each step of the way in my Textbook-Free History Masterclass here.
Books About Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece: An Overview
Famous Men of Ancient Greece, Cindy Shearer
This is perfect to give the big-picture context of the time period and makes a lovely read-aloud for all ages.
History, Biography, Science
- Archimedes and the Door of Science, Jeanne Bendick
- The Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way, Joy Hakim
- The Librarian Who Measured the Earth, Kathryn Lasky
- Herodotus and the Road to History, Jeanne Bendick
- The Boys’ and Girls’ Herodotus, John White
- What’s Your Angle, Pythagoras?, Julie Ellis
- The Children’s Plutarch: Tales of the Greeks, F. J. Gould {For younger readers}
- Plutarch with Study Guide, Anne White
Once your child is late elementary, try diving into Plutarch himself. Anne White’s guides come highly recommended. - Aesop’s Fables for Children, Milo Winter
- The Parthenon, Elizabeth Mann
Ancient Greek Mythology
- Children’s Homer, Padraic Colum This is a must read!
Another great read-aloud option for the whole family. - The Golden Fleece and the Heroes who Lived Before Achilles, Padraic Colum
- The Trojan Horse, Emily Little (Step Into Reading Level 5)
This title works well for early readers who want something they can read on their own. - D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths, Ingri d’Aulaire and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire
I love the illustrations in all the d’Aulaire books! - Black Ships Before Troy and The Wanderings of Odysseus, Rosemary Sutcliff
- Greek Myths, Olivia Coolidge
- Bulfinch’s Mythology
- Mythology, Edith Hamilton
{Note- These last 2 titles are best for older students.}
Wondering why and how to study world mythology in your homeschool? I explore those questions and answers here!
Beyond Books: More Resources For Textbook-Free Ancient History
ChalkPastel Ancient History Art Course
These video courses are an easy way to illustrate the stories and histories you’re learning. I’m a big fan of Nana and her encouragement that #YouAreAnArtist! It’s a great way to incorporate ancient history lessons that are engaging and fun!
Mosaics
Greek mosaic art is beautiful! Try making your own imitation with pottery, paper, or stickers. You can make this as complicated or as simple as you wish.
Greek Language
This is a perfect time to learn the Greek Alphabet! Subscribers get access to my free printable alphabet cards. I also recorded a video so you can learn the Greek Alphabet set to music.
Want to go a bit deeper? I love the Code Cracker Greek Alphabet book from Classical Academic Press. Our family also has enjoyed learning some Greek root words via English from the Roots Up.
Astronomy
Astronomy makes a great science topic when studying Ancient Greece. So many of the constellations come from the Greek’s mythical stories! I share a ton of Astronomy books and ideas in this post.
Do you have a planetarium within driving distance? Totally worth the time and effort! The kids and I have loved the years we bought a family annual pass to our local planetarium!
Olympics
When I was a homeschool student myself, I remember my mom did a backyard Olympics as part of our study of Ancient Greece. We had a “marshmallow high jump” and other fun activities with friends, and we had fake laurel wreaths for the winners. This would be a great co-op activity!
Especially if you’re studying Ancient Greece in an Olympics year, consider taking a month to delve deeply into the history of the Olympics as well as the modern games. Follow a few favorite athletes, or chart the medals each country receives.
Field-trips
Now, most of us won’t be able to head to Greece. But we can visit our local art museum and explore their Greek exhibit. We can attend a nearby Greek Festival. We can head to a Greek restaurant and enjoy the cuisine. Depending on where you live, you may even be able to visit a recreation of the Parthenon in Tennessee!
Memory Work and Copywork
We love including memory work in our morning time that is relevant to what we’re studying in history!
- Consider memorizing and dramatizing your favorite Aesop Fable
- Ode on a Grecian Urn
- Opening lines of the Iliad
Aesop’s Fables and Copywork: Includes 70+ Aesop Fables, as well as space for copywork and illustrating. Perfect for an elementary child.
What Textbook-Free History topic would you like me to cover next? Comment below, or drop me an email! And if you like this post, would you consider sharing it with your friends? Thank you!
Hi Amy! Thank you for sharing this post and all of your other ones on textbook free history! This will be our 3rd yr doing it! My kids love it! I was wondering if you have shared or would be willing to share how you schedule it? I struggle in this area….😂 Especially with the kids getting older, this next school yr I will be doing Greek history with a 7th & 8th grader. I just signed up for your planning pages which I am sure will help! Lastly, do you require them to DO anything with their readings? I would like to do more oral narrations but have a super active & chatty 3yr old..😂
Also, we have 5 children of similar ages! I am so excited to find someone on a similar crazy journey!
Thank you again!
Amanda 😍
Hi Amanda! I’m so glad this post came at a good time for you. 🙂 And, oh boy, I can empathize with the challenges of having a chatty little guy wanting to “participate.” lol
So, I include our read-alouds and memory work during our morning time routine. We use a loop schedule to include various subjects in morning time, and it is generally 2 days a week that I’m reading aloud from a history book.
When it comes to independent reading, I assign based on maturity/reading level/reading speed. I often find it is easier to schedule by time (for instance “read a history book for 30 min, 3x a week”) rather than by page numbers.
We discuss what we’re reading during morning time, lunch time, random moments. For the older kids, I try to have ~30 minutes to sit down once a week to go over everything they had learned that week in history. Some children are less inclined to talk to me than others, so I’ve also learned to use car time when they’re strapped in and can’t go anywhere. 😉
I also require reading journals. You can read how I do it with littles here and older kids here.
For the high school level students, I also have them listen to Dr. Grant’s lectures.
I’m a big picture scheduler, and this works well for my family. I think everyone has to find their sweet spot when it comes to planning. You can read how I schedule overall here.
I hope this is helpful! Enjoy learning about Ancient Greece! It’s one of my favorite time periods to study. 🙂
Thank you Amy for taking the time to reply! It really means a lot. We did similar things to what you suggested, last year for our history. Read for this amount and do a journal/written narration page… So glad to hear you do as well! It’s like validation or something….😂🤗 but it worked for us and my kiddos loved it. So I guess I know what we need to do or even better keep doing! I read your planning post and that helped as well.
Seriously thank thank you! I feel like we are kindred spirits… ❤ anyways God bless you and yours & your next school year!
Amanda 🤗
❤❤❤
I can’t wait to get my hands on some of these books!!