Our whole family is interested in History.  We watch TV programmes about History, for example :Time Team and Meet the Ancestors - and visit historical sites: stone circles, castles, water mills, and wind mills.

Last Easter James (9) did a project about the Vikings.  It started, I think, with a book we borrowed from the library. From then, things just fell into place.  I find that 'things' have the habit of doing this. We found that we have books and CD-roms offering information about the Vikings already in the house.  Schools TV had a series about them, and there was a wonderful two part documentary in the evenings.

Now whenever we come across anything about the Vikings, my son draws attention to it, and each time he learns something new - even though we are no longer actively studying the subject.

Not long after the summer was over, James came to me and asked why we weren't doing any history.  He'd really enjoyed learning about the Vikings, who are we going to learn about next?  We quickly decided on the Egyptians.

I found so many interesting links online, that I thought that I'd share some of them with you here.  They are at the end of this article.  All of the links are ideal for either for visual or hands-on learners.

Making the burial chamber was a great success - and has been supplemented as an activity in unexpected ways.  We visited an exhibition about alternative funerals, and 'Meet the Ancestors' featured an elaborate burial of a wealthy Roman woman.  All this tied together in the wonderful way that is made possible by the flexibility of Home Education.

James thoroughly enjoyed playing Sennet.  As an extension he wants to make his own Sennet game.  I think that we will get one of those long boxes that bread sticks are sold in, and start from there.

Probably the greatest success was making a relief picture of the Tutenkamun mask.  We made this out of papier maché , and got the idea from the work of a local artist.  We just built up the mask shape on a piece of hardboard using screwed up newsprint and sellotape, then covered this with papier maché (strips of torn newspaper dipped in flour and water glue, then laid over the top). James then painted this gold all over, and at the moment he is drawing in the details.  It is very impressive (it is 3ft by 2ft), and he has enjoyed making it.

James has excellent visual recall, and can usually say whether something is Egyptian, or Viking, or Mediaeval, just by looking at it.  He enjoys hearing stories and tales about periods in history.  However he can't remember dates or names very well yet.  We feel that by concentrating on his strengths, and giving him a feel for a period in history, that we are building a good foundation. I'm sure that in the future when he comes across other things about Ancient Egypt, he will add these to the knowledge he has now - because he has developed an interest in the subject.

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