Early American History for Primary Grades

"The teacher's guide from Beautiful Feet Books is open and go."

"I loved the Early American History Primary Study Guide and how it was laid out. Unlike other guides there isn’t a lot of extra *fluff* or wording. Each lesson is laid out in a simple fashion that takes no prep time, which for this busy momma was really nice!"

"Just opening up the package of books over the summer got me excited to start this curriculum. "

Photo: Joy for the Journey

One of our best-selling and most popular programs has always been our Early American History for Primary Grades. The books are by best-loved authors like Ingri and Edgar D'Aulaire, Jean Fritz, Margaret Pumphrey, Walter Edmonds, and Alice Dalgliesh. The Charlotte Mason-inspired study guide could not be easier to follow as the above testimonials attest, and the activities are designed to help students develop skills to research, reason, relate, and record. But the heart of the program is the time spent curled up on a couch reading aloud the tales of our nation's earliest days.

We've intentionally made our programs easy-to-follow and flexible so that they are assets to every type of home schooling parent. We don't want them to become task-masters. All of our studies stand on their own, or can be incorporated into another program that you are using. For instance, Aurie from Our Good Life used our Early American study along with Classical Conversations Cycle 3! She writes all about it here.

Photo: Joy in the Journey

Misty from Joy in the Journey is a book-lover and appreciated the emphasis on literature as well as the activities that helped a fidgety child focus on the readings:

 

"The lessons are short and to the point. This means that my fidgety kid doesn’t bore easily from the lessons. He actually has asked to read MORE than what is assigned. This is a win/win for us! The coloring sheets keep him busy, which means he is more engaged in what he is hearing. With kids who love to move, you NEED to keep them doing just that. Otherwise, they just aren’t learning. I love that most of the lessons have a coloring sheet assigned also." 

You can read Misty's detailed review here.  For those of you wanting to know more, here's some basic info. This guide will take you and your K-3 students from the year 1000 AD with the Viking discovery of North America to the exploration, colonization, Revolution and Western Expansion of the mid-1800's with the Civil War. Used as a one or two year study, parents will read aloud award-winning literature from great authors such as the D'Aulaires, Walter Edmonds, Alice Dalgliesh, Clyde Robert Bulla and others. Organized into easily followed lessons, students (and parents!) will learn the history of our nation along with corresponding biblical principles, poetry, geography, character studies and much more! There are 97 lessons in the study guide which can be used for 1-2 years. Click on the images below to see some sample pages. And everything is available in a discounted pack that ships for free! 

 

We hope this helps you get a good idea of what this pack is all about. Feel free to ask questions in the comments section below. If you have a question, chances are others do to, so please ask away! And thank you to our reviewers!

We hope you find this helpful. Please never hesitate to contact us with any questions. We can be reached at 800.889.1978, letters@bfbooks.com, on Facebook, and Instagram.

Teaching Early American History!

Today we get caught up with Jessica from jessicalynette.com as she gives us a look into the first six weeks of using our Early American History, A Literature Approach for Primary Grades. Her thoughtful approach to reading through the literature slowly, taking time to process character lessons, and delving deep in to a period are so refreshing. Enjoy! Post original published here. 

This year, for the first time ever, I am following a set schedule for our history reading- using the engaging books and useful guidebook published by Beautiful Feet. You can read my intro post to this living books approach to history here. Now that we are finishing off our first term (6 weeks) I wanted to write an update on how it is working for us.

Term one led us through the lives of Leif Erikson and Christopher Columbus with the beautiful D’aulaire books and the thoughtful questions from the guidebook.

“There was once a boy who loved the salty sea. He would be a seaman when he grew up. He would not be a weaver like his father, who sat all day in a dark, little shop weaving yarn into cloth. A ship would be his shuttle, the waves his warp, the wide and bounding sea his loom.”

That is just a taste of the beautiful language these books contain that paint such vivid images for your mind and dance you through history with living books.

Here is where I must offer up my secret confession:

I was terrified about the pace.

I know many whom stretch these books into two years.

But can I be honest? The pace is much slower than what we normally do.

Two books (which was 18 lessons) over the course of 6 weeks seemed painfully slow.

I had previously read the boys Leif the Lucky as a bedtime story in one night and I wasn’t entirely certain what to think of this slower pace that the manual lays out.

I dutifully followed the reading plan laid out in the guide, and while narration and conversations have always been a part of our family culture, I have been pleased with this slowing down and marinating of the characters. We have labored, adventured, and talked over these men for 6 weeks. I feel as if we know them more intimately.

“Having found the book which has a message for us, let us not be guilty of the folly of saying we have read it. We might as well say we have breakfasted, as if breakfasting on one day should last us for every day! The book that helps us deserves many readings, for assimilation comes by slow degrees.” -Charlotte Mason

I had formatted, printed and bound all of the resources from BFB for the Early American History books and we have kept pace with working through them.  My third grader is not overly enthusiastic about coloring in the pictures, but my second grader enjoys doing that as I read. I have really enjoyed the questions that the guide shares to stimulate conversations. A lot of them focus on the character of a person, and I am convinced that this is a powerful way for us to learn. In fact, it is point number 11 in our list of 13 ways to help protect our children from the addiction of pornography. Connect them to great men of the past – talk about the strengths and weakness. Cause and effect.

The Early American History guide book has done an excellent job at extracting deeper conversations with our sons about the character of Leif and Columbus and I am looking forward to us finishing off the life of Columbus (an oral presentation is required) and studying the life of Pocahontas, the details of Jamestown, and some of the pilgrim stories in term two.

Thank you Jessica! Love this glimpse into how you are making BFB your own! Your workbooks are genius. Be sure to check out Jessica's blog where she talks about home education, Charlotte Mason, developing character, and much more. 

Our new 2015-2016 catalog is now available! If you want to view it right now it's available online here. And if you would like to request a hardcopy, click here.

We would love to hear what you think! Chime in below in the comments section and share your thoughts. Don't forget to check out our Facebook and Pinterest pages.  To learn more about Beautiful Feet Books, click here.

Early American History Updated and Expanded

As many of you know we are currently working on expanding and updating all of our study guides! While this is a long-term project that will be accomplished over several years, we're are so excited about the guides we have completed. Our most recent is our Early American History for Intermediate Grades. Now in full-color, complete with hands-on activities, links to amazing websites, expanded comprehension questions and writing assignments, and much more! The book list now incorporates A Child's First Book of American History and covers more of the Civil War.

Now included in our expanded Early American History study for grades 4-6!!

Literature still includes favorites like Amos Fortune, Free Man and The Vikings but the inclusion of An Child's First Book of American History allows for deeper study and the inclusion of a more events!

Here's a peak at some of the lessons, just click on each picture to zoom in.

We hope you enjoy this expanded study! And remember, we're now offering free shipping on all our complete packs so now's a great time to order for the coming school year.

Early American History for Intermediate Jumbo Pack

We would love to hear what you think! Chime in below in the comments section and share your thoughts. Don't forget to check out our Facebook and Pinterest pages. To learn more about Beautiful Feet Books, click here. And if you've enjoyed this, please feel free to share using the buttons below!