Tag Archives: American History

Blessed Heritage History Curriculum

I love Belinda’s description of her curriculum, “A Literature-Based history featuring African-American presence and contribution”.

It is exactly what I was looking for and I have really enjoyed getting another point of view on the history of America.

My boys are on week 9 of the Intermediate Level Volume one book.

It is geared towards more middle school aged kids and I have her highschool curriculum as well but after looking at it I decided(although I loved it) that my boys were not ready for the content yet.

But I am really looking forward to them doing it in another two years.

Because this is geared for a lower grade then the boys, I have needed to add a lot more reading to it.

One of the things I loved about her curriculum was starting with the first people to come to America.

I added as many books as I could on native american history and was happy to find this list on books by native american authors.

I also struggled a bit with keeping track of what they were doing from the curriculum and came up with these spreadsheets that I can easily see.

I think I will grade them based on completion.

They have one sheet for the reading and one for the activities.

She recommends The History of US books to go along with her curriculum.

I was not sure about them based on reviews so I got Masterbooks “America’s Story 1” to try also but my boys ended up liking the History of US a lot better and it covered the history of America before Columbus a lot more. Especially the first book “The First Americans”.

I am also trying to use her Primary Level with my three girls.

They do better with projects and documentaries than sitting for reading but I finally worked out how to get more reading done this month.

Before this month I just got every kids book I could on Native American folklore and culture for them to look at and read.

Although we have not done them on the same schedule as suggested, we did make two of the projects she has in her curriculum.

Tipi’s and corn husk dolls.

The tipi’s we made because of this book “Storm Maker’s Tipi”. It was a nice easy craft that they enjoyed.

I actually did the corn husk dolls because of another book I got “A Kid’s Guide to Native American History“.

It is a really interesting resource but I have not used it as much as I have wanted to yet.

So far we are really enjoying her recommended reading!

Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park ~Prairie Grove, AR

While at Devil’s Den State Park, I picked up some brochures on other state parks nearby.

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I had wanted to go to the Prairie Grove Battlefield for a little while so I was happy it was pretty close to where we were staying.

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The museum was small but had a lot of hands-on and interactive displays!

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The battle of Prairie Grove was a large Civil War battle and would be a perfect stop if you are studying that era or just find that time interesting.

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When you touched a cannon ball(what my oldest daughter is doing) it would show you a animation of how far it would shoot.

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My oldest liked looking at all the different weapons.

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Little bit trying to lift a cannonball!

She did not succeed…

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The grounds were so pretty!

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So many old buildings!

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There is a 1 mile walking tour but also a driving tour!

We did both and it was an easy way to learn some interesting history.

And really sad history.

Be prepared that it does talk about the ground being soaked in blood and other facts like that.

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The first part of the walk was my favorite.

Lots of beautiful historic buildings to see and give the kids a glimpse of what it was like back then.

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It looks so peaceful.

Such a contrast to what it must have looked like during the battle.

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I can’t help but think of the families who lost everything just because their house ended up being in the middle of a battle.

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They find the Osage Orange’s so interesting.

I can’t blame them so do I!

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I really like to visit these kinds of places when they have reenactments going or other historical events.

If you are planning a trip just to see it, go to their website first and see if they have anything coming up.

It really helps history come to life!

Washita Battlefield National Historic Site ~Cheyenne, OK

“On November 27, 1868, Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer led the 7th U.S. Cavalry on a surprise dawn attack on a Cheyenne village led by Peace Chief Black Kettle.” (from the Washita Battlefield website)

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There is a small museum that helps you understand the importance of the area and what happened there.

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Short walk near the visitor center that has a lot of information on the area.

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A couple miles from the visitor center is the battlefield site.

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There is a walking tour that you can take on the battlefield.

I highly recommend it.

There is nothing like reading the history as you walk in the same place it happened.

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This space feels sacred.

If you want a quiet moment to reflect this is the place to do it.

Some of our history is sad but I want to learn that also.