I am a behind in LIFE and that includes reviewing the amazing curriculum we have been using. But at the end of March we finished our second unit of history for the year from The Good and the Beautiful and it was so much fun! I loved that this unit included the history of Africa because I knew essentially nothing about this. I love learning right alongside my kiddos and this unit definitely did that!
Topics
Subjects covered in this unit include:
- Ancient African Geography and Climate
- Ancient African Culture – Family Life
- Ancient African Culture – Trade, Skills, and Education
- Kingdoms of Africa: Ghana
- Kingdoms of Africa: Mali and Songhai
- Religion in Ancient Africa
- Native North American Overview and Geography
- Arctic and Subarctic Culture Areas
- Northwest Coast and Plateau Culture Areas
- Great Plains Culture Area
- Eastern Woodlands Culture Area
- California and Great Basin Culture Areas
- Southwest Culture Area
- Southeast Culture Area
- The “Five Civilized Tribes”
Supplies
- 8 1/2″ x 11″ piece of cardboard or cardstock
- Cookie sheet
- Ingredients for salt dough
- Paint (blue, yellow, green)
- Paintbrush
- Mancala Game (or create your own with an egg carton, 48 marbles or pebbles, 2 small bowls)
- Ziplock bag
- There are several opportunities to make some Native American recipes. If you do those, there are additional supplies needed.
- Multiple skeins or balls of yard with different colors
- One yarn needle
- Scissors
- Ruler
Student Explorers
If you are new to The Good and the Beautiful history, the student explorers are worksheets/coloring/pages/activities that are divided up by grade levels. There is a set for Grades 1-3, Grades 4-6, Grades 7-9, and Grades 10-12.
As a side note on this particular unit, if you are wanting to include modern African history, those are incorporated into the Grades 10-12 student explorers.
Jacob is my only kiddo doing history right now and he is working with the student explorers for Grades 1-3.
There was a map of the ancient African kingdoms and of the various Native American culture areas.
This unit had a some different kind of pages more unique to this unit. These pages included:
- Kente Cloth – design and color your own kente pattern, first discovered in Ghana
- Copywork of scripture and how Christianity was shared with the people of Africa
- Matching Native American tribes to their dwelling
Coloring Pages
- Ghana Trade
- Shoshone Food
Big Book of History Stories
I truly love the Big Book of History Stories. It really just makes history come alive and I think it is beautifully done. This unit we read:
- Efe & the Emerald
- A Griot’s Tale
- Sitting Bull: Great Medicine Chief of the Sioux
- Onoda, the Little Mohawk
- Lorenzo, the Little Pueblo
Read Alouds
This unit we read Tikta’Liktak: An Inuit-Eskimo Legend by James Houston. This book is a pretty quick read and we really enjoyed it. It is great for a younger group. It is about a young Eskimo hunter who is carried out to sea on some drifting ice. He lands on a rocky uninhabited island and you follow his story of survival as he makes it back to the mainland and his family. Jacob was ALL IN when polar bears made their entrance into the story! It was a great read. My only tip would be if you decide to read it, don’t start it until you get to the lessons on Native Americans. We started it at the beginning of the unit while we learning about ancient Africa and were finished before we even got to the Native American lessons so I would hold off until then.
Our Favorite Activities
FOOD! There were several opportunities to try some Native American recipes. Jacob has really enjoyed learning how to cook and so these recipes were really exciting for him. Also, at the end of the unit, you get to make a Navajo rug which was so much fun!
Here were Jacob’s favorites:
- Salt dough map of Africa
- Playing Mancala {a game played in Africa since ancient times}
- Native American Name Game {in many tribes you earn your name by how a person lived their life. We decided on our Native American names and it was a definite highlight!}
- RECIPES! We made cornmeal flatcakes, berry pudding, Shoshone fry bread,
- Navajo Rug
Final Thoughts
I know I have said it countless times – but I am so grateful for this curriculum. I love how things are taught and it honestly makes learning {and I 100% include myself in that} such a wonderful, fulfilling experience. We look forward to our lessons every time and I am so grateful. This unit opened my eyes to new cultures and it was fascinating to learn about them.
Additional History Reviews
The Good and the Beautiful Year 3
Unit 1: Ancient Mesopotamia & Ancient Israel
The Good and the Beautiful Year 2
Unit 1: Ancient Greece / Ancient Asia
Unit 2: Vikings / Exploration / Pre-Columbian America
Unit 3: Colonial America / The U.S. Constitution
Unit 4: History of U.S. Education / WWI though the Great Depression
The Good and the Beautiful Year 1
We did complete Year 1 of the Good and the Beautiful History however I have not written a formal review of it. If you have any questions though, feel free to ask!
[…] Unit 2 – Ancient Africa / Native North Americans […]
[…] I wrote all about our experience with this unit HERE. […]