Last school year we studied Modern American History. In addition to learning the facts of that era, I coupled my daughter's history/literature learning with the American Girls from the 1900's. It was a year filled with the fun of historical literature and so many hands on crafts and time period learning experiences. Though it may not have been the usual method of learning, it was certainly memorable!
Through various friends, used curriculum sales and the internet, I've wound up with quite a collection of American Girl paraphernalia from paper dolls, craft and recipe books. Oh, and don't forget all the books giving you a glimpse of life during that time period!
Looking ahead to this coming year, I choose Girls of American History Unit: American Revolution / Felicity to review. The Felicity set takes place in Colonial times circa 1774.
These guides from Girls of American History help you piece the pieces together in order to get the most out of your study! They currently have Kaya, Josephina, Felicity, Kirsten, Addy, Molly and Kit.
As a homeschool mom to five kids, Author Justine Gamble created this series to accommodate various learning styles and abilities. She follows the pattern of "Read it, Hear it, See it, Write it and Do it."
Each flexible unit includes a weekly schedule, list of books, craft resources, field trip ideas, party ideas and more! This isn't an total curriculum, but a VERY useful guide to "add depth, interest, interaction, crafts and a historical perspective into a particular time period."
To complete our study, we need a few of the regular 6 book American Girl set. Fortunately, these are easily found at most libraries. Using the neat included schedule, I can easily plan on covering one book a week from the series PLUS at least one time period craft. Craft suggestions include: cross stitch, clay marbles, fancy folding fans, billboquet and more. We will also study the 13 original colonies, George & Martha Washington, Betsy Ross, Benjamin Franklin and other historical figures. Extra reading, character studies, and a link to lapbook templates are also included.I am very satisfied with the content and layout of this guide. Since it will fit in perfectly with our Tapestry of Grace Year 2 curriculum, I will be saving this until we hit the Revolutionary War time period. I will also be blogging about Felicity, crafts made and the use of this guide in action in our "Weekly Wrap Ups".
Check out samples of the Kaya and Josephina guides HERE.
Disclaimer:
I received a copy of this guide free of charge in exchange for an honest review. This post written and property of Homeschool Circus and can be found at: www.upatdawnreadytowork.com.
