Announcing our Revised and Expanded Early American History Study Guide!

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It's here! Our revised and expanded Early American History Through Literature for grades 4-6!! We're very excited about the changes. Josh Berg and Rea worked together to make this guide more user-friendly and enjoyable! Several books were eliminated, lessons were expanded, links to interactive websites were added and much more! The most significant change is the addition of A Child's First Book of American History by Earl Schenck Miers. 

Now an integral part of our revised Early American Study Guide! 

This teacher's guide provides daily instruction in reading, notebooking, map-making, biblical principles, character studies, government, writing exercises and use of our Early American Time Line. Authors include such fine writers as Esther Forbes, Elizabeth Yates, James Daugherty, Jeri Ferris, Carl Sandburg, among others. Contains 101 lessons and it is suggested that 3 lessons be completed each week. See list below for new features! You may also click on the pictures below to see examples of lessons and assignments. 

Quick feature list for new Intermediate Early American History Study Guide:

*Beautiful full color layout including historic art, paintings, charts, and maps.

*Internet links throughout guide for further interest and enhanced study.

*Guide now includes an Answer Key.

*Many optional activities listed, especially having to do with geography.

*Expanded comprehension questions.

*Now features A Child's First Book of American History by Earl Schenck Miers.

*Biblical principles.

By purchasing this Guide you will receive a free download of the Early American Intermediate Picture Packet with corresponding clip art necessary for the study.

The study guide is available for instant download. For those of you who would prefer a hardcopy, those will be available in mid to late October. If you already own the old edition of the study guide, we are offering a special upgrade price of $10.00 to those of you who would like to replace your old guide. Just give us a call at 800.889.1978 and we'll be happy to process that for you.
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Preserving a Tradition

Over at the MindShift blog, Annie Murphy Paul has written a fantastic post on the importance of teaching today's students how to read deeply. Arguing that this skill has been threatened by an increasingly utilitarian approach to reading, Paul makes a convincing argument that in losing the ability to read in such a way that it becomes a sort of spiritual experience, we are at risk of losing our cultural heritage and identity.

I found her article fascinating and am in perfect agreement with her as I have seen the effect that utilitarian reading has on students when it comes to studying history. More often than not students who are taught history using textbooks written in technical "informative" language fail to develop an interest in the subject. History becomes reduced to names and dates and other "facts" and loses its human element. Reading about racial segregation becomes nothing more than a few paragraphs of facts and students may think "Well, that sounds awful" but fail to truly comprehend what it was like to live under Jim Crow legislation. Give them a book like Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and their experience is transformed. Their brain engages in an entirely different way and they are drawn in to a story of deep human suffering allowing them to develop a sense of justice, empathy, and emotional engagement. It is for this reason that we at BFB are passionate about teaching history using literature. If a student's education fails to teach him to read on a deeply human level, it has failed him. And, unfortunately, most students are not reading in this way. As Paul states in her post: "This is not reading as many young people are coming to know it. Their reading is pragmatic and instrumental: the difference between what literary critic Frank Kermode calls “carnal reading” and “spiritual reading.” 

Paul goes on to state: 

"If we allow our offspring to believe that carnal reading is all there is—if we don’t open the door to spiritual reading, through an early insistence on discipline and practice—we will have cheated them of an enjoyable, even ecstatic experience they would not otherwise encounter. And we will have deprived them of an elevating and enlightening experience that will enlarge them as people. Observing young people’s attachment to digital devices, some progressive educators and permissive parents talk about needing to “meet kids where they are,” molding instruction around their onscreen habits. This is mistaken. We need, rather, to show them someplace they’ve never been, a place only deep reading can take them."

She is so right! And anyone who has traded in the history textbooks for great literature knows exactly what she's talking about. The initial transition may be difficult as this sort of reading is a skill that is developed over time, but it will completely transform a child's understanding and experience of history. There is light that is suddenly lit in a student's mind and his imagination is engaged in ways it never was before. We've seen it happen time and time again and it's a wonderful thing to witness. 

Most teachers, stressed by an overwhelming amount of paperwork and testing standards do not have the time to devote to teaching their students how to read deeply. For those of you who have made the choice to educate your children at home, you have a unique opportunity to impart the gift of "deep reading" to your students and children. And while it will be a gift that they will come to cherish, it will also be a skill that helps preserve our very heritage. The ability to read helps us to understand who we are and where we have come from. Paul sees this as essential to preserving our history and our literary traditions: 

"There’s another reason to work to save deep reading: the preservation of a cultural treasure. Like information on floppy disks and cassette tapes that may soon be lost because the equipment to play it no longer exists, properly-educated people are the only “equipment,” the only beings, who can unlock the wealth of insight and wisdom that lie in our culture’s novels and poems. When the library of Alexandria was lost to fire, the scarce resource was books themselves. Today, with billions of books in print and stored online, the endangered breed is not books but readers. Unless we train the younger generation to engage in deep reading, we will find ourselves with our culture’s riches locked away in a vault: books everywhere and no one truly able to read them."

 As you prepare for this coming school year and are looking forward to all those wonderful books you'll be reading, take a minute to read Paul's article. You will, undoubtedly feel inspired to challenge your students in their reading, to impart to them the wonderful experiences found in the pages of great literature. All the best to you and your family as you begin this school year - may it be full of adventures, literary and otherwise.

If you feel you need some direction in choosing great historical literature, check out our study guides and book packs! We've assembled some of the best literature for teaching history and have produced lesson plans to help you work through the ins and outs of teaching history using great books!

And don't forget about our great 30% off sale on Your Story Hour CDs!

Don't forget to enter our contest for a $50.00 gift card and other great prizes. Entries must be in by Aug. 17 at midnight. Details here!  

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Historical Women: Pocahontas

Last Friday was International Woman's Day and on our Facebook page many of you shared your favorite female authors.  It was fun to see a few votes for the Elliots, Pearl Buck, Jane Austen, Harper Lee, and Laura Ingalls Wilder. We also love the writings of all these amazing women and are thankful for their contributions to the literary world. Their writings have made our lives richer and it is worth celebrating! If you haven't shared your favorite author, be sure to chime in here.

March is also Women's History Month and we thought this was a great opportunity to share with our readers a few of our favorite women from history. These women, like those wonderful authors above, made indelible marks on the world. They challenged the status quo, stood up against injustice, showed courage and compassion, fought for their beliefs, and provide great role models for us today.

Today we'd like to talk about Pocahontas. This incredibly brave and adventurous young woman only lived to be around 22 years old, but those brief years were packed with daring. While the exact year of her birth is unknown, it is thought that she was born around 1595. Her father was Powhatan, the paramount chief of Tsenacommacah, an alliance of around thirty Algonquian groups and small tribes in what we now know as Virginia. Her mother was one of dozens of temporary wives taken by the paramount chief. In this custom, each wife bore the chief a single child before being sent back to her village where the Powhatan would continue to support her until she found another husband.

It seems clear from historical documents that Pocahontas was "the most deare and wel-beloved" of Powhatan's children but that does not signify that she would have been an "Indian Princess" as is commonly portrayed in popular culture. In seems that Pocahontas had quite the endearing nature as her name means "little wanton" indicating a playful, loving, and "frolicksome" nature.

Pocahontas life takes an unexpected turn when the English arrive in America seeking to establish a permanent colony. In a dramatic account of his capture, John Smith records the story that preserves Pocahontas in the historical record. Smith had been captured by a hunting party and brought before Powhatan when "two great stones were brought before Powhatan: then as many as could layd hands on him [Smith], dragged him to them, and thereon laid his head, and being ready with their clubs, to beate out his braines, Pocahontas the Kings dearest daughter, when no intreaty could prevaile, got his head in her armes, and laid her owne upon his to save him from death..." Incredibly daring for a young girl, thought to only be 10 or 12 at the time! 

Pocahontas would continue to help the English, bringing supplies of food to the starving settlers at Jamestown. Despite Pocahontas' friendly relations with the explorers, relationships between Powhatan and the English broke down and in 1609 the two parties went to war. Pocahontas was captured by the English as a prisoner of war and held for ransom. While the English demanded that Powhatan release various English prisoners of war and furnish the settlers with tools and supplies in exchange for Pocahontas' release, the young woman grew accustomed to living with the settlers. She converted to Christianity and was baptized taking the name Rebecca. 

During her year-long capture, it seems that Pocahontas grew disenchanted with her father at his refusal to fulfill the conditions of her release. When an encounter with a member of her tribe allowed her to send word back home she rebuked her father for valuing her "less than old swords, pieces, or axes" and
stated that she would continue to live with the English.  She soon caught the eye of John Rolfe, a tobacco farmer, who had lost his wife and child during the voyage to Jamestown. The two were married April 5, 1614 and lived on Rolfe's farm for two years. Their union is the first recorded interracial marriage in America! And so the Indian chief's daughter becomes the English farmer's wife, ushering in a period of peace between the two nations. in 1615, Ralph Hamor wrote: "Since the wedding we have had friendly commerce and trade not only with Powhatan but also with his subjects round about us."

Pocahontas' next adventure would take her back to England where she would not only be celebrated and feted, she would meet the king and queen!

As so the girl who defended a defenseless man, possibly changing the course of history, became the elegant and celebrated woman who would stand before the king. 

There are so many other wonderful details to this amazing story and I would encourage you to dig deeper. And check out these books:

Pocahontas by Ingri and Edgar d'Aulaire

The World of Captain John Smith by Genevieve Foster

Jamestown, The Perilous Adventure by Olga Hall-Quest

You may also enjoy these other blog entries featuring important historical discoveries or places:

The Bayeaux Tapestry

Hadrian's Wall

Announcing our New Medieval History Through Literature

Don't forget to check out our Facebook and Pinterest pages. And if you've enjoyed this, please feel free to share using the buttons below!

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What order do I use BFB?

This is one of the most common questions we are asked when it comes to using our curriculum. As we are not based on the four year cyclical "classical" model, this can create some confusion for people considering using our study guides. 

First, it is important that you understand our philosophy of teaching history and why we do not advocate teaching history in a chronological sequence from the very beginning. There are many contributing factors to our decision to begin with American history. First, the literature choices are much better for younger students. It is very difficult to find excellent ancient literature for students in grades K-3, where as there is an abundant wealth of excellent literature available for American history. This is so fundamental to a Charlotte Mason approach in building your curriculum around the best children's books available and so it makes sense to be guided by the literature.

Secondly, we believe that youngsters find the history of their country more relatable. They have a familiarity with the Pilgrims, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln. Student can take field trips to experience the history of their area, where as for most families a trip to Cairo is simply impossible. By building on the familiar, you can create a curiosity that will extend beyond the student's immediate experience. Some argue that beginning with American history can lead to a close-minded view of the world, but our experience has been the exact opposite. By encouraging a student's natural curiosity of the world around her and providing her with well-written and beautifully illustrated literature, her inquisitive nature will be fostered and as her experience grows, she will have the tools and abilities to seek out the world beyond her own borders. To read more about our philosophy, click here. You can also read an article by Rea Berg on when to teach ancient history by clicking here.

As with our study guides, there really is no set order in which a family should complete our curriculum. This may be frustrating for parents and teachers who want a definite plan but we very firmly believe that educational choices should be driven by factors outside of what a curriculum company prescribes as the best and proper order or sequence. These factors include student ability and interest, family structure (having multiple students study the same time period can be an enriching and bonding experience), teaching styles, and much more. So to honor that, we have created the following "guide" for choosing BFB curriculums. But remember, this is just a guide to help provide some structure for those of you looking for a bit more guidance. 

Primary K-3rd Grade

Early American History (K-3rd grade)
History of the Horse (2nd-6th grade)
Teaching Character/Primary (K-3rd grade)
History of Science (3rd-6th grade)
Geography through Literature (3rd-6th grades)

4th Grade

Early American History (Primary or Intermediate)
Ancient History/Intermediate (4th-8th grade)
History of the Horse (2nd-6th grade)
History of Science (3rd-6th grade)
Geography through Literature (3rd-6th grade)
History of Classical Music (4th-8th grade)
History of California (4th-6th grade)Semester program
Teaching Character Through Literature/Intermediate (4th-6th grade)
The History of Western Expansion (4th -7th grade) Semester program

5th-6th Grade

Early American History Intermediate (5th-6th grade)
Ancient History/Intermediate (4th-8th grade)

Medieval History (5th-8th grade)
History of the Horse (2nd-6th grade)
History of Science (3rd-6th grade)
Geography through Literature (3rd-6th grade)
History of Classical Music (4th-8th grade)
History of California (4th-6th grade)Semester program
Teaching Character Through Literature/Intermediate (4th-6th grade)
The History of Western Expansion (4th-7th grade)Semester program

Junior High 7th-8th Grade

Early American and World History (7th-9th grade)
Ancient History Jr. High (4th-8th grade)
Medieval History (5th-8th grade)
History of Classical Music (4th-8th grade)
The History of Western Expansion (4th-7th grade)Semester program

Senior High 9th-12th Grade

Early American and World History (7th-9th grade)
Medieval History Sr. High (9th-12th grade)
Ancient History (10th-12th grade)
US and World History Sr. High Pt I & II (10th-12th grade)
US and World History Sr. High Pt III & IV (10th-12th grade)

If you have used BFB in an order that has worked for your family and would like to share that, please leave a comment below! And feel free to ask questions and interact in the comments section–we love hearing from our readers.

You may also enjoy: 

 

A dangerous trend for boys

Homeschooling as an equalizer

Busy-ing ourselves to death

History Points : The Bayeaux Tapestry

Here at BFB, history is our passion. And that passion is something we want to spread to other people. In order to facilitate that, I am going to start a series featuring historical events, artifacts, and other things of an antiquated nature. It has become increasingly clear to me how useful historical knowledge is the more time I spend abroad. Travel becomes more enjoyable when you can place the cities you visit within their historical context, art becomes more meaningful when you know the forces that influenced the artist, and, things generally make more sense. History also provides essential context for current events, something that seems to be lost in more political discourse. So, this is the first in that series, and I hope you enjoy it. If you have suggestions for topics, I would love to hear from you!

Last week I had the opportunity to visit the little French village of Bayeaux. This idyllic town in the heart of Normandy is home to the Bayeaux Tapestry. As I have spent the past two years working on the revisions of our Medieval History Through Literature study guides, I was just a bit overly excited to see this amazing piece of history. Stretching 230 feet in length, this tells, in comic book style, the story of the Norman invasion of England. The famous Battle of Hastings where William the Conqueror staked his claim on England is portrayed in all it's fierce and bloody action. The death of King Edward and his burial at Westminster Abbey appears in full color. Despite being nearly 1000 years old, this intricate piece of embroidery has had a colorful and varied history and now serves as a primary source document for researchers and historians.

Here's a bit of the history behind this fascinating piece. King Edward of England was dying and he had no apparent heir. At that time there was no formalized system of primogeniture so Edward needed to choose an heir. He chose the son of his great aunt, William the Bastard, the illegitimate son of the Duke of Normandy. Normandy was a large area in France that had been settled by Norse viking invaders. In fact it's name comes from normanz, plural of normand, originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian language. Once King Edward decided on his heir, he sent Harold, the most powerful nobleman in England and Edward's brother-in-law to France to let William know about his future inheritance. This was a sly move on Edward's part because Harold's powerful position in England would have made him the presumptive heir. Instead he gets to schlep across the Chanel to let William know of his good fortune. And this is where the story depicted on the Tapestry begins. You can click on any of the images to enlarge. 

King Edward, seated, sends Harold on his mission.

Harold makes his way to France to deliver the news. He dutifully does so, but William is suspicious. In order to secure his inheritance, he makes Harold swear fealty, or loyalty, to him. He even makes Harold swear his oath while placing his hands on some holy relics! You can see this in the excerpt below:

On the left is Harold, his hands outstretched to touch two arks filled with holy relics. He is in a position of obeisance, pledging his fealty and loyalty to William.

The story continues with the death of King Edward. You can see his death, funeral procession, and even Westminster Abbey!

The artists set the events in this sequence out of chronological order. The moment of Edward's death appears on the right. You can see him lying in the lower level of the house, a bishop performing the last rites. To the left, you see his funeral procession. Edward is embalmed and making his way to Westminster Abbey. At the top and bottom of the tapestry you can see illustrations of animals. Some of these depict scenes from Aesop's Fables!

And here's where the action gets exciting. Harold has himself crowned king! It's a tricky move and one can see the coronation ceremony here:

In the center you can see Harold's coronation, and to the right you can see the crowd observing. William, in his distrust of Harold, had spies in England and they were in that crowd. In the next scene you can see them sending a messenger to France to tell William about Harold's treachery.

And so the preparations for the Norman invasion begin! Trees are chopped down and ships are built. They are loaded with provisions, military supplies, food and drink, and horses. The action in these simple figures is wonderful! Haley's Comet even makes an appearance!

After all the preparations are complete, it's time to leave Normandy and head to England!

Following a last feast in Normandy, the Normans board their ships. Note how their pants are tucked up around their waists when they wade into the water to climb aboard the ships.

Here you see the ships making their way to England. Note that they were built in the style of the Vikings!

There are all sorts of preparations once the Normans land. Fortifications are built, a road is established, the soldiers even burn down an Anglo-Saxon house that stood in their way. But very soon, the battle is underway:

The last scenes show the bloody Battle of Hastings. Here William defeats Harold, who is shot through the head with an arrow, and claims England as his own.

As you can see the tapestry portrays these events in all sorts of interesting detail. Each scene is skillfully set apart while a cohesive narrative takes place. It was commissioned by William's half-brother Odo, the Bishop of Bayeaux shortly after the events shown took place. It is thought to have been made in England by Anglo-Saxon embroiderers. The fact that it is so detailed and was made so soon after the actual events has made it an invaluable resource for historians and anthropologists. The details of every day life in the Middle Ages come to life in the stitching. We can see what people ate and wore, how they were entertained, and so much more.

The Battle of Hastings forever changed England. William the Conqueror, still known as the greatest invader of England, introduced many legal and social reforms to the Anglo-Saxons. He commissioned the Domesday Book, the most detailed historical register of its time. He also brought castles to England! Would you believe castles as we know them did not exist in England before William? He's even responsible for building the Tower of London.

Interesting, no? I loved my visit. The museum was very well done with interactive displays and even a video that aired in English and French. I was especially struck with something mentioned in the video that really brought home the value of knowing one's history. The movie closed with the reading of an inscription that appears in the Bayeaux Cemetery. A portion of the cemetery was designated for British soldiers who died during the D-Day invasions. It states "We who were conquered by William, have now liberated the homeland of the conqueror."


For those of you who are interested in learning more about the fascinating Middle Ages, check out these resources:

Medieval History, A Literature Approach, appropriate for grades 5-8

Castle by David Macaulay–one of the best histories of castles I know of!

Cathedral by David Macaulay also tells the fascinating history of Gothic architecture and the funding and building of the magnificent cathedrals one sees all over Europe. 

Signed in 1215, less than 150 years after the Battle of Hastings, the Magna Carta was instrumental in the formation of democratic government. Read all about it in James Daughtery's classic The Magna Charta.

A great introduction to the events and people who lived between 400 and 1450, The European World by Barbara A. Hanawalt can serve as a base for your literary explorations!

The World of Columbus and Sons by Genevieve Foster moves history forward out of the Middle Ages into the fascinating period of western exploration, the conflict of the Reformation, and the excitement of the Renaissance. 

I hope you enjoyed the story of the Bayeaux Tapestry and I look forward to more entries in this series. If you have a topic you are interested in or would like to know more about, please leave a comment. I may choose it for a future entry! 

Have a wonderful weekend!