So we are into week six of cycle one form one of A Gentle Feast (see link in menu). This will be our last week before taking a nice long maternity leave and starting back up around Labor Day most likely. A Gentle Feast is our main curriculum and then we are adding in Beautiful Feet Books Early American History pack alongside the history of AGF.
*AGF = A Gentle Feast
*BFB = Beautiful Feet Books
So I’m sharing just what we’ve done for the first six weeks. It’s been…a tad more complicated than I initially thought but it has worked out well and we’ve enjoyed having the extra book/lesson options, especially in regards to the principle studies included with BFB.
So basically, I will look over the history books AGF suggests for the week and pull those out, have them ready in my rolly cart. Then I’ll look over the BFB lessons and this is where I get creative. These lessons are spread out quite a bit, there are many questions to explore over a longer time period. So I pull out the books the BFB lessons suggest and have these ready in the rolly cart as well.
The plan/goal is to read from both sources as long as the time period and topic coincide.
The tricky bit is finding the right time to add in these other read-aloud books from BFB which are lengthy. Some days I will read more of what AGF suggests and then History in day 2 is open for the BFB book. Other times, I will read a little bit of both on the two assigned history days. This part (if you decide to use both) is just where YOU as the Mother/Teacher will have to get a natural feel for what’s best. You could decide to do BFB lessons on Friday (a day off) or use them for afternoon read-aloud as a little supplemental feast for later in the day. I just decided to keep everything in the morning lesson time while trying hard not to go too long (when we might both be needing to move onto something else) Sometimes, I just keep reading because she’s enjoying it so much and asks me too. As long as she is narrating well after every page, I’ll keep going.
So far the historical studies have blended incredibly well. For example, both AGF and BFB topics are beginning with Leif Erickson, Christopher Columbus, Pocahontas, Jamestown, etc… The other tricky bit is simply looking ahead into what will be covered and making sure they align. I will go at the pace that AGF suggests and only add in the BFB books if they blend well, if not, I will simply wait on BFB.
Also, for our BFB lessons, I’m using the book suggestions, coloring sheets/timeline, and the principle topics as our main learning source. We do not cover every question by any means. I will look them over and ask some of the questions, but we do not go through every single one.
I hope this made sense! It’s been a fun little challenge and it’s just what we’ve done so far. We simply love the books from BFB. The AGF books have also been great, and so far since the historical time periods blend so well, we’ll keep on going as we have been! 😉
Give.them.beauty 
I’m blending A Gentle Feast and Beautiful Feet Books as well and just googled to find out if anyone else has done the same! So grateful you commented so I know it is possible! I had been struggling which curricula to choose and there was so much overlap that it seemed perfect to combine both.
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For AGF form 1 cycle 1 I don’t love the Maestro books at all nor does my daughter. Is there a BFB you suggest I could swap these out with?
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I didn’t like those all that much either. I’d recommend Jamestown (which is think comes later in the curriculum anyway), the Pilgrims of Plimoth, Pilgrim Stories, and my daughter read Squanto Friend of the Pilgrims and enjoyed that. Then obviously all the d’Aulaire books for that time period are excellent;)
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thank you so much. What about the BFB A Childs First Book of America History. How would that fit w AGF. I am also considering the Master Books Early American History book – have you used those?
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