One of my favorite things we did, in our homeschool this year, was my daughter’s history study using American Girl books. The simple reason it is my favorite is that she thoroughly enjoyed it. She came to our school table, on several occasions, dressed like a character from one of the books. It was such a sweet and memorable time. As the year went on, it became clear to me that the American Girl characters had created little “hooks” in her memory to hang other knowledge. There were times we were watching a movie and she would comment on the time period and which American Girl character was from that time. Definitely one of the best things we have done.
The study was pretty simple. For the first two books that she read, I purchased study guides. As we moved along, I decided we didn’t need a guide. My daughter read the books in historical order and kept a sticky note timeline. Then, we would gather some books, from the library, on the historical events from each time period. Sometimes I had my daughter respond to a book with an activity like a then and now Venn diagram or drawing a scene from the book. Sometimes we watched movies that correlated with what she was studying and other times we just read the books. She created some crafts and cooked a few recipes. We stayed when she wanted to study more and we moved along when she didn’t. To add some geography to her study, she worked on map skills for the United States including states and capitols. It was one of the more relaxed studies I have ever incorporated into a school year but I think it was also one of the most fruitful. It may not be something we can do every year but I truly believe, if your child has an interest, taking a year to enjoy it is time well spent!
Sowing In The Morning 