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MINI-HISTORY: Early American HOMES AND FAMILY LIFE
Reminder
from Stormie: Please keep in mind that "Mini" themes on my website
aren't intended as stand-alone programs. They can simply be woven gently,
subtly, and briefly into the rest of your program. For example, if
you're doing a theme on "Home and Family," you can incorporate history
into the theme by reading one of the books mentioned on this page. Never
do I intend to suggest that we stand before preschoolers and announce something
like, "Children, now it is time for History class."
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The topic "Early American
Homes and Family Life" can take us in several directions. My personal
favorites are Colonial Days, Victorian Days, and Frontier Days of the American
West, but I invite you to share your ideas too.
Sub-themes might include:
Early houses (log cabins, sod houses, etc)
Early clothing
Early foods
Early games and toys
Post pictures and/or posters of "early
times" on your classroom walls
Suggested Books:
I am not familiar with all the books below and I suggest them based on reviews
I've read.
What
People Wore in Early America (Clothing, Costumes, and Uniforms Throughout American
History)
by Allison Stark Draper: This book
is supposed to be for children ages 4-8.
Bobbie
Kalman is the author of
the "Early Settler Life Series" books for children. Even
though I feel that much of the material is really more suited for older children,
I also feel that most of it can be adapted for use with the younger ones:
Early Settler Children, by Bobbie Kalman
Pioneer Dictionary from A to Z (AlphaBasiCs), by Bobbie
Kalman and Jane Lewis: This is a picture
dictionary of words that depict the pioneer way of life. I personally found
it fascinating.
Sod Houses on
the Great Plains, by Glen Rounds, Illustrator:
I love this book that tells what it was like to live in a sod house long ago.
Nothing Here but Trees, by Jean Van Leeuwen; Phil Boatwright, Illustrator: Children are taken back to the nineteenth century life of a little boy and his family.
Sewing Quilts, by Ann Warren Turner; Thomas B. Allen, Illustrator: This is a nice warm look at frontier life as a little girl helps mama make a quilt.
Some of the stories from the "Little House" books
that tell the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her life on the prairie are
good ways to bring pioneer life into our present day classrooms.
*My Book of Little
House Paper Dolls: The Big Woods Collection, by Renee Graef, Illustrator:
Yes, paper dolls are included.
*A
Little House Birthday: Adapted from the Little House Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder
(My First Little House Books), by Laura Ingalls Wilder; Renee Graef, Illustrator
*A Little
Prairie House (My First Little House Books), by Laura Ingalls Wilder; Renee Graef,
Illustrator
There are many more book titles
in the series than what I have posted above. Some of the stories are more
suited for older children with longer attention spans, but if you read them in
advance, you can make adjustments. In the meantime, if you have good
things to say about "Little House" books you have used in the classroom,
and if they introduce an authentic look at pioneer life to preschoolers (mini-history),
feel free to share it.
Please share your ideas too by e-mailing me at: stormie@preschoolbystormie.com
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Reminder
from Stormie: If you would like to begin collecting ALL my current classroom
ideas (each on a 4 x 6" index card), as well as new ones that I create, you
can do so by ordering my "Activity Cards." Click here
to check them out.
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