Child Literature Lesson Plans for ages 4-8 years
Little Footprints consists of literature-based lesson plans that are designed to take you and your little ones on an armchair journey around South Africa, exploring the fascinating people, animals and places that make up our beautiful land and its Rainbow Nation.
Its as easy as reading a story together and then exploring the themes and topics of interest from that story, with discussion activities, crafts and more to enjoy.
Children are made readers in the laps of their parents.
EMILY BUCHWALD
The settings of the stories range from rural to city, seashore to desert. The lesson plans in Little Footprints are intended to enrich your family’s reading of the story books and bring you and your children together in a time of intimacy and sharing, as you introduce them to the world of books and enhance their awareness of their country.
Listening to stories will also develop your children’s imaginations and will help them to appreciate basic moral values.
After 10 years homeschooling, I have not found a nicer, or more lovely and relaxed approach to homeschooling that stirs up a love for learning.
~ Saskia Guy
Little Footprints is aimed primarily at children between the ages of four and eight, but younger and older siblings are sure to enjoy the stories and join in with the activities too. The lessons are easily adaptable for older children.
The lesson topics vary from story to story, according to the subject-matter of each book and include the following categories:
- Social Studies
- Science & Nature
- Geography
- Language
- Maths
- Readiness Skills
- Bible – lessons & verses
- Copywork for handwriting
- Life-skills
- Art
- Crafts
- Cooking
We love all the books, tasks, hands-on. There is no stress and happy learning kids.
~ Shannon Strauss
What do you get when you order Little Footprints?
The Comfort package includes
- Curriculum Guide for Parents
- SA story books to read aloud
- SA Poetry
- South African reference book
- South African outline wall map
- Picture discs to cut out and colour
Download a Little Footprints-Overview which lists the topics included
The Curriculum Guide
We call this the Enrichment Guide. It contains all the lesson plans, scheduling tips, reviews of additional books, appendices with maps and diagrams plus four chapters with other general information about early childhood education.
Each book is summarized at the beginning of the lessons, and additional resources to complement it are listed.
All you will need to add to these story-based lesson plans is an age-appropriate maths and phonics program, if your children are ready for that.
A language arts programme following the ideas of the 18th century educator, Charlotte Mason is also included for your convenience. It includes tips for narration, spelling, grammar, poetry and more.
The Stories
There are 28 story book studies, one per week for virtually a whole school year, plus poetry and a reference book. Some of the stories are to be studied over two weeks. We supply about 25 of the essential books – the remaining books are available from local or online bookstores and the library.
Many of the stories have also been published in Afrikaans. Most are out of print but are still available through the library system.
Bonus Lessons:
In this third edition (2016), nine newly published South African story books have replaced some of the out-of-print books. However, since the out-of-print titles are still available in libraries, we have included them as optional Bonus Lessons at the end of the Guide, giving you 14 additional lesson plans to enjoy. (Update 2022 – three of these bonus stories have come back into print and so we supply now supply them in the package!)
Sample child literature lesson plans – At the Crossroads
The Map and Picture Discs
At the back of the Little Footprints Enrichment Guide there are picture discs, one for each story, which you may photocopy, cut out and colour for your own children’s use.
On completion of each story, the appropriate disc should be placed on the South African map, which is included with the curriculum. In this way your children will develop a good sense of the geographical setting of each story and have a visual reminder of what they have learnt.
See what our happy customers say …
What a delightful curriculum! The quality of the reading books in this program is outstanding in every way. All the books are all rich in language, beautifully illustrated and communicate profoundly to our children through their insightful, touching messages.
As our family journeys through the reading and the recommended activities, I am constantly reminded of Marilyn Howshall’s exhortation, to ‘create a lifestyle of learning’ by remembering that ‘we are educating our children’s hearts first and then their minds.’
The Little Footprints program gets to the heart in a wonderful way, both through the reading material, and through the carefully thought-out activities which creatively introduce our children to the fascinating world in which we live. It is a curriculum which is rich with ideas, but at the same time acts as a catylist for the mother, inspiring further investigation and sparking fresh ideas.
Highly recommended!
Shirley Royal, Durban
Baie dankie vir jou en Wendy vir die Little Footprints Kurrikulum. Ons geniet dit baie. Dis seker nou al 2-jaar wat ons Little Footprints doen, ja, ons doen dit maar stadig en rustig.
Net vir die wat wonder of mens kan Little Footprints in Afrikaans, ja en weer ‘n keer JA!
Daar is so baie dinge om te ontdek en te doen, so baie mooi boeke om te lees. Al is die program in Engels was dit nog nooit ‘n probleem vir ons nie. Die meeste boekies is in Afrikaans beskikbaar en die wat net in Engels te kry is vertaal ek maar soos ek lees…(Lees verder)
Liefde
Merinda Nagel (Boston, Bellville)
Mamma van Herdo 9, Marco 6 en Isabella 10 maande
Ordering Little Footprints
There are two options for online purchases plus some optional extras that we recommend to go along with your Little Footprints programme.
Choose which option best suits your pocket.
- Comfort package: Enrichment Guide, map + 25 of the essential books
- Basic package: Enrichment Guide, wall map (You have to source the stories yourself.)
- Optional extras (see product details at the bottom of the page)
- ABC Fun & 1-2-3 – a preschool guide to the alphabet and counting for children between ages 3-6 years
- My First South African Atlas – a full colour atlas with facts and info for children aged 6 and up.