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Thanksgiving Traditions in Your Homeschool

As I’ve mentioned before, we try to incorporate some special studies around Thanksgiving as a reminder of what this holiday is all about.  Part of that tradition includes reading Stories of the Pilgrims, a classic book by Margaret Pumphrey.  We first discovered it as part of the Heart of Dakota curriculum we were using at the time.  This year we were able to review the Jim Hodges Audio Book, Stories of the Pilgrims.  It is just the same as the classic book we’ve read and loved, but brought to life by Jim Hodges’ reading.

Thanksgiving traditions in your homeschool: using Stories of the Pilgrims and other books and audiobooks to celebrate and learn about Thanksgiving. heartandsoulhomeschooling.com

Although I love reading aloud with my girls, sometimes it’s just not practical due to time limitations or the necessity of multi-tasking.  This time of year can be especially busy, sometimes with more time spent in the car as a family.  Audio books on CD can be a great solution to listen to in the car or around the house while doing chores or for quiet time before bed.  We happened to listen to it while making crafts like this Thanksgiving wreath.  It was the perfect thing to listen to while decorating!

Stories of the Pilgrims has 43 chapters, each its own audio file so you can listen to one at a time.  That sounds like a lot of chapters, but they really go quickly.  Many are only about 5 minutes +/-.  That equals a little over 4 hours to listen to the entire book.

Stories of the Pilgrims

The book begins at Scrooby Inn and follows the Pilgrims to Holland, their reasons for leaving England and then Holland, their preparation for the voyage, the treacherous voyage on the Mayflower, meeting Samoset and Squanto, and the first year in Plymouth along with the first Thanksgiving.  It is a living book, which is our favorite kind to use for history.

Here is a list of the chapters and running times of each:

CHAPTER
TIME
1:
 At Scrooby Inn 5:24
2:
 A Royal Guest 7:13
3:
 Meeting in Secret 5:05
4:
 For Conscience’ Sake 3:33
5:
 Pilgrims 5:55
6:
 Away to Holland 5:43
7:
 In Holland 7:19
8:
 The Home in Amsterdam 3:42
9:
 On the Canal 4:43
10:
 The Weekly Scrubbing Day 1:54
11:
 A Little Milk Peddler 5:17
12:
 Winter in Holland 4:23
13:
 From Amsterdam to Leiden 4:11
14:
 In Leiden 3:17
15:
 A Perplexing Problem 5:58
16:
 The Sword of Miles Standish 2:46
17:
 Preparing for the Journey 3:20
18:
 Farewell to Holland 3:44
19:
 The “Speedwell” 2:47
20:
 The Voyage of the “Mayflower” 3:10
21:
 Water Babies 5:15
22. Land 5:02
23. The First Wedding Day 3:35
24. A Wild Land 5:38
25. A Narrow Escape 4:26
26. A Savage People 4:12
27. Plymouth Bay 7:27
28. The First Winter in Plymouth 6:15
29. Samoset 5:58
30. The Treaty of Peace 6:44
31. Squanto 4:13
32. Back to England? 5:02
33. The First Thanksgiving 12:18
34. Friends or Foes? 8:05
35. Tit for Tat 4:10
36. Massasoit & the Medicine Man 6:16
37. Troubles with the Indians 6:03
38. Indians and Jack-O’-Lanterns 7:21
39. Two Little Captives 23:41
40. The Christmas Candle 9:47
41. Two Brass Kettles 4:53
42. Colonial Schools 3:33
43. Holidays and Holy Days 10:53

Not only are the stories good, Jim Hodges does a good job of providing voices and varying tone to keep listeners interested.  We listened as a family together and we all enjoyed it.  We have actually gone back to listen a second time now.  I’m sure it will be part of our Thanksgiving traditions for years to come.

More books we have read and think you might enjoy adding into your Thanksgiving studies:

What Thanksgiving traditions do you have in your family? Do you include them in your homeschooling?


Sara
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