Beautiful Feet Early American History is one of the best!

by Debora
(San Diego, CA)

Product: Beautiful Feet (primary) Early American History
Subject: History, Geography, Bible
Levels Used: 1st-3rd grade (primary)
Dates Used: 2003

Beautiful Feet has some great curriculum, and this particular one was one of my favorites of all time. I used it for my two oldest children when they were in 3rd and 1st grades. I had a 2 year old and a newborn that year, so it was a difficult year for me. But this curriculum made history interesting for both me and my children. It was the first time anything about history was interesting for me, and also the first time I actually learned something about the past. (I used to hate history until this curriculum).

The kids filled a composition book with pictures and writings about what they were learning. I STILL love to look back at the books they made. The reading books that came with the curriculum had every other picture in black & white, and it was meant to be copied (on a copier) and pasted into the composition book with rubber cement, and then colored with colored pencils. When I first saw them, I couldn't imagine my children being able to make them look nice at all- they looked WAY too detailed for them. But after the first one they did, I was impressed. I let them color the picture while I did the reading. There were some audio tapes included that were dramas of Columbus' voyage, and other things that made it seem so real for the kids. The readings were all interesting, and informative. We learned about Abraham Lincoln, and many other influential people in history.

There were also quotes from the Bible that they wrote in their books, and even wrote a report about Jamestown. This curriculum is very Biblically-based, and there were constant character lessons throughout. They were very simple, but I was impressed with their work (and still am). I cannot recommend this curriculum enough.

I cannot think of anything I didn't like about this curriculum except maybe the time it took to think ahead and copy the pictures (and reduce them in size to fit into their books). If I had done my copying all at the beginning of the year, it would have made it easier. I can't remember if I didn't know what would need to be copied until I got there, or if I was just a poor planner at that time.

Overall, I loved this curriculum and what my children (and I) gained from it.