Beautiful Feet K-3: Early American History or Around the World Series?

[hs03842]

Has anyone tried the Beautiful Feet series Early American History or Around the World with Picture Books?  I'm drawn to both as an inclusion to our "together time" each week.  Has anyone tried them and found the lesson plans to be useful?  Would doing the Early American History one be too confusing to kids already working through Story of the World?

[My4arrows]

We are currently using Around the World and while I enjoy it, it is not an open and go curriculum.  We have enjoyed the majority of the literature suggested and I would highly recommend looking at them.  The guide was pretty, but IMO the lessons are not organized and there is not consistency throughout.  There were some aspects of the countries that we wouldn't have pulled in ourselves, but just note that it is a guide and not a manual which outlines a lesson for you.  There is the expectation you will be picking and choosing what you add.  Occasionally videos are suggested.

I have some other guides, but I haven't looked at them in depth.  It appeared to me that the guides basically told you what book to read and had questions and answers to go along with them.  

[Elizabeth86]

I tried the American history with my 1st grader and the first book bored us to tears and we never did anymore.  Lol. 

[Sarah0000]

We're doing Around the World and love it. I don't do well with organized lessons so the manual style with ideas works perfectly here. My kids like the notebooking. They add their own "flavor" to them so it basically has been turning into an art project.

[TheAttachedMama]

I have tried the American History program now three times with three different children....and each time, I have quit very early on.

I really *want* to like the program.  This might sound superficial, but the teacher's manual is so, so pretty to look at.   And the books.....Man!  They are just gorgeous.   I have kept them on my bookshelves and every time I look at them I feel happy inside.    That is why I keep trying the program over and over again.   I want it to work so badly!   My youngest son is more artistic than my other two children.  He LOVES notebooking and drawing/writing about what we have learned.   So I thought the program might work better for him. I started reading aloud the D'Aulaires books again, and I could tell the only thing I was accomplishing was making my first grader hate history.   The books are gorgeous so we enjoyed looking at them, but they just didn't make the best read alouds for our particular children.   

 

[Elizabeth86]

7 hours ago, TheAttachedMama said:

I have tried the American History program now three times with three different children....and each time, I have quit very early on.

I really *want* to like the program.  This might sound superficial, but the teacher's manual is so, so pretty to look at.   And the books.....Man!  They are just gorgeous.   I have kept them on my bookshelves and every time I look at them I feel happy inside.    That is why I keep trying the program over and over again.   I want it to work so badly!   My youngest son is more artistic than my other two children.  He LOVES notebooking and drawing/writing about what we have learned.   So I thought the program might work better for him. I started reading aloud the D'Aulaires books again, and I could tell the only thing I was accomplishing was making my first grader hate history.   The books are gorgeous so we enjoyed looking at them, but they just didn't make the best read alouds for our particular children.   

 

Yes, same here.  I even have in my mind I'll try the geography one when my little girls are in that age range. I don't know if we will like it, but I want to.