Early American History for Early Elementary

A 14-Week Family Friendly Approach to Early American History from Vikings to Early Colonial Times, using Living Books for Young Elementary Age Children.

Why I Made a Resource Guide

We are about to start our next year of homeschooling. We are focusing on Early American History from vikings to the Lewis and Clark expedition for this year. Last year I modified our curriculum so much, that I didn’t feel like it was worth it for our family to spend so much money on something I could probably make myself. I didn’t want it overly complicated. I just really needed a list of what we needed to do and a spot for all of the links I wanted to use, so I didn’t have to look for it last minute. I also wanted any TV time that we did have, to be more purposeful than just random shows. I like to use television as a tool, same things with kids podcasts. If you are ready for purchase, you can go straight to buying your Early American History Resource Guide here.

Sprouting Arrows Early American History Part One

Family Style Learning

I realized last year, that our kids LOVE a weekly theme. They like looking forward to it, they like focusing their play on the theme, and getting creative with it. They even wanted to find outfits that blended with the theme. It wasn’t something I pushed on them, I just gave them a theme and they ran with it. So, I wanted to make something for Early American History that could be similar. Let’s have a weekly theme, but also a continuous timeline. A themed week, but open enough that rabbit trails can still happen on their own. And for the littles, let’s give them a few ideas that are on the theme too. Making fjords in the water table with vikings, making tea with Pocahontas, family movie night, food ideas, etc. I want this to be an enjoyable, fun, yet simple learning experience for the whole family.

Flexible

As a licensed pediatric Occupational Therapist, I have worked in early intervention and in school districts for many years creating personalized plans for children, but adaptable to work with many kids of varying ages. I am very comfortable with having plans be more open, to allow for where a session may take us. I can have one plan, but grade up it for children who want more of a challenge, or grade it down, for a child who needs it simplified. That is how I tried to present this. If you need it to be easier, take some things out, switch out to a different book. If you want to make it more challenging, add in more challenging books.

Living Books

There is no textbook for this, no worksheets either. This is a Charlotte Mason inspired approach. It involved choosing books that were beautiful. Books that I knew my children would enjoy and that I would want to read. I choose books that told history through a narrative to engage the listener.

Bible

But, for me, it’s not just about living books. I also wanted to make sure the Bible was being connected to the story. This way, the Bible becomes more alive, and so does history. So, when we learn about Christopher Columbus and Stars, we are definitely learning the story of Abraham. Learning the Bible and what is has to say is of upmost importance. I provided ways to incorporate it, but do MORE. Read the Bible every day and make it a habit for your family.

Content

Part One will cover vikings through early Colonial times. It includes one week of Thanksgiving and two weeks of Christmas content. It will cover Vikings, Christopher Columbus, Pocahontas and early Native American life, the Reformation, the Mayflower, Squanto, and early Colonial. This is 14 weeks of information.

How This Works

So, this is basically a list of ideas, books, links, and more. For our family, this is all we need. But I realize your family may need more, or less, depending on the age of your children, and the season your family is in. Please add, or take away, as you need. If you want to skip it all and just use the links, love it. If you have older kids, and add in more challenging books, love that too. This does NOT include any Language Arts or Math.

Affordable

Guys, this is cheaper than a trip to Taco Bell. This is 14 weeks of information for currently $10. Even if you are using a different Early American program, this would still be greatly beneficial to your family, because all of the links you would want are there. The majority of these books can also be found at your library or online.

Cohort Group Included

Included in this price is a private cohort group. This group will receive updates and more information from me there, as well as further activity ideas. I am hoping that this will be a place that families can inspire and learn from each other.