My enjoyment of historical fiction and biographies began as soon as I could read. In elementary school a new ValueTales biography came home in my backpack every week. In high school The Stonewycke Trilogy carried me to Scotland. The timeline in my mind wasn’t very cohesive, but I still have memories of people, places, and events I visited in those books.
Don’t we all learn so much through stories? And what is history but a story written by God through all of time?
One of the resources I found at the beginning of our homeschooling was Beautiful Feet Book’s Early American History. I wasn’t sure how to implement Principle Approach philosophy, but this curriculum was a good introduction.
The curriculum is actually a study guide which takes you step by step through about twenty books. I found many of the books at the local library, but some of them I went onto purchase because they were so wonderful.
Our favorites include:
- The children’s biographies by Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire
- Stories of the Pilgrims by Margaret Pumphrey
- The Courage of Sarah Noble by Barbara Cary
- The Matchlock Gun by Walter Edumonds
- The Fourth of July Story by Alice Dalgleish
Beautiful Feet Books updates their guides as books go out of print. Often I prefer to use older books, but I understand they want to choose books that are readily available. We did enjoy all the books listed in my guide (published 1992).
This curriculum briefly introduces the first five principles of history, education, and government: individuality, self-government, Christian character, conscience, and form of government. I prefer to focus on one or two principles a year, but the poems and guided discussions lay a foundation.
We used Early American History- A Literature Approach when my son was around seven-years-old. We read all of the books aloud and we delighted in the discussions. The notes are only one sentence long (perfect for those beginning grades) and vary from map work to coloring sheets. I can see older children benefiting from this study as well.
If you are looking for a gentle introduction to history from the time of Leif the Lucky to Buffalo Bill, this would be a good choice.
Written by Renae Deckard, Biblical Principled mother of 3. Find Renae’s reflections about homeschool and family life at Life Nurturing Education.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
This was my first “unit study” type resource ever! I finally began to explore other options other than textbooks about 3 years into our homeschooling. We used the primary guide.
My son loved it! We also did “some” *Ü* of the geography as well but never finished that guide. It was us… not the guide…
I have fond memories of this and I know my son does too… although he is 20 now! ( he was 3rd grade when we used it) lol
I still have his notebook that he made through the study.
Lisa~
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We are currently using some of this alongside our lapbooks this year. We are currently studying Jamestown and we love the books it recommends.. Great review and great product!
I picked this guide {and the older kids version of it} up a few years ago and am planning on using it with our kids next year. I’ve been slowing collecting the books for it and only need a few more to finish off the list!
Jolanthe´s last blog ..On the Bright Side…He Did ASK First
We have used several of the Beautiful Feet guides over the years and found them to be a plan but a plan that still left us room to stretch where we felt like it.
I use their catalog as a book list since their titles are always top notch.
Barb-Harmony Art Mom