Ancient Egypt has officially earned a spot as one of our favorite homeschool units!
There’s something about pyramids, pharaohs, mummies, and ancient mysteries that captures kids’ imaginations from the very beginning. We spent two weeks diving in, and it was one of those topics that naturally kept coming up in conversations.
If you’re planning an Ancient Egypt unit study, here’s everything we used to bring it to life.
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Our Spine
Gather ‘Round Homeschool: Ancient Egypt Unit Study
We’ve used Gather ‘Round since our very first year homeschooling, and it continues to be one of my favorite curriculums! Ancient Egypt was no exception! It gave us a fantastic foundation for everything we explored throughout the unit.
I love that everything is already organized for you. Instead of spending hours pulling together books, videos, activities, and notebooking pages from different places, it’s all thoughtfully planned. One of my favorite features is their app, which includes extra resources that make it incredibly easy to go deeper.
Our Read Aloud
Ra the Mighty: Cat Detective + Brave Writer Literature Guide
This was such a fun read aloud! And the perfect length for a two week Ancient Egypt unit study.
The story follows Ra, the Pharoah’s cat, as he investigates the mystery of the missing amulet belonging to the Great Wife. My boys were constantly making connections between our curriculum and the story, which is exactly what I hope for when I choose a read aloud to go with a unit study!
We also paired it with the Brave Writer literature guide, which gave us natural opportunities to talk about writing without it feeling like “language arts.” Instead of isolated grammar lessons, we were discussing story structure, character development, and literary devices, all within a fun book!
Independent Reading
While we were studying Ancient Egypt together, my eight-year-old also read the Magic Tree House: Mummies in the Morning book. It was the perfect independent reader to reinforce everything we were learning together.
Reference Books We Kept Coming Back To
A few books stayed on our table throughout the entire unit.
Our Usborne World History Encyclopedia was perfect whenever one of the boys asked a question and wanted to keep digging.
We also referenced our The Biggest Story Bible Storybook several times when discussing the plagues, the ten commandments, Moses, and how biblical history overlaps with Ancient Egypt. I always love helping my boys see how different areas of history connect together rather than feeling like completely separate subjects.
The Highlight of Our Entire Unit
That’s Debatable
If I had to pick one thing that transformed this unit from simply learning about Ancient Egypt into actually thinking about Ancient Egypt…it would be this! And while I may be bias because I am the founder, I really, really, believe it’ll make a great addition to your Ancient Egypt unit study!
One of the debates we created for That’s Debatable asks:
Should Ancient Egyptian artifacts be returned to Egypt, or should they remain in museums around the world?
At first glance, it seems like a simple question. But once we started researching both sides, everything changed. We talked about things like preserving history; who owns history; accessibility for people around the world; the role museums play in education.
My twelve-year-old didn’t just memorize facts about Ancient Egypt. He had to evaluate evidence. Listen to opposing viewpoints. Build an argument. Support his opinions with research. And respectfully disagree with an opposing view. Those are the kinds of conversations that stick with kids long after they’ve forgotten which Pharoah built which pyramid!
As two attorneys turned homeschooling parents, my husband and I created That’s Debatable because we wanted our kids to learn how to think, not just what to think. Each debate includes a lesson on debate, curated research articles presenting multiple perspectives, an argument builder, and everything you need to host a debate around fascinating topics! It’s quickly become my oldest son’s favorite part of our homeschool week.
We’re getting ready to launch That’s Debatable August 3rd, and if you’d like to be one of the first to know when it’s available (plus receive our waitlist discount), you can join the waitlist here!
Art Projects
Art Makes Me Smart Membership
We enjoyed two Egyptian-inspired art projects from our Art Makes Me Smart membership! One was a more detailed project that took a little extra time, while the other was simple enough to finish in a single sitting. Both were huge hits.
I always love including hands-on projects because it gives the boys another way to process everything they’ve learned while creating something they’re proud to display afterward!
Bringing It All Together
One of my favorite things about homeschooling is that learning doesn’t have to stay inside a textbook.
We read stories.
We debated.
We researched.
We created art.
We made connections between history, literature, writing, and even biblical events. And two weeks later, I know my boys won’t just remember that Ancient Egypt existed. They’ll remember the conversations we had around our table.
If you’re planning your own Ancient Egypt units study, I hope this gives you a few ideas for bringing it to life. If you end up using any of these resources, I’d love to hear how your family enjoys them!
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