Footprints – The Last Century is a brand new literature-based, Charlotte-Mason style home education programme for ages 10-14 years.
Footprints – the Last Century focuses on the history of South Africa from the end of the 19th century until the present day.
This curriculum is written in the engaging conversational style of a grandmother recounting the history of South Africa to two of her grandchildren over tea. Along with them, your children will discover centuries old mysteries, political cover-ups and anecdotes that make history intriguing, rather than a boring list of names and dates. By reading widely and discussing different perspectives of challenging and sometimes dark times in our nation’s history, they will also become well-informed, discerning citizens, who understand South Africa and can think critically about pertinent issues, both past and present.
It includes Art Appreciation, Music Appreciation with well-known SA songs, Poetry, Mapwork and more! Everything you need is at your fingertips to give your children a rich, education. The programme teaches them to THINK CRITICALLY about different perspectives on history and current events and to become media savvy 21st century citizens!
Just as with our other beloved programmes, you will have the opportunity to step into other people’s shoes and experience life in other eras and places. Your children will observe the country’s development through the eyes of both true heroes and made-up characters in the fantastic selection of living books.
Beginning with the discoveries of gold and diamonds that led to the South Africa Wars around the turn of the century, Footprints – The Last Century takes you onwards through World War 1, the Great Depression and World War 2 and highlights South Africa’s role in those wars. It also examines the pain and trauma of the apartheid era and the freedom struggle, the trouble of the Border Wars and the road to democracy, after the unbanning of the ANC and the release of political prisoners.
Published in late 2022, it spotlights some of the ever-changing faces in modern politics, the drama of the State Capture report and events in post-apartheid South Africa in the 21st Century.
Charlotte Mason-style Living Books
This unique South African homeschooling curriculum offers some of the best literature that portrays this era in the history of our country. It includes historical fiction, as well as autobiographies of people who lived through significant events of the last century.
With well-loved authors like Jenny Seed, Michael Williams, Lawrence Bransby, Beverley Naidoo, Michael Morpugo and others, your children will be presented with stories that touch their hearts. In our selection process, we sifted out the undesirable elements so prevalent in youth fiction. All of the books have been reviewed thoroughly and where necessary areas of concern are highlighted as there are valuable lessons to learn from characters who make mistakes and whose lives are not perfect! There is so much to learn while wrestling with difficult topics such as the wars of the 20th century, the issues of prejudice and real truth and reconciliation.
Since this curriculum is the sequel to Footprints On Our Land, we recommend that you first do that programme with your children, regardless of their age, before this one.
Footprints’ Winning Formula
Research shows that you remember something much better when you learn it in story form. This is the centuries-old way that every culture on earth has taught the next generation.
Modern science has confirmed that the brain responds very effectively to this stimulating way of learning and the information is better connected to the network of information already stored in the brain. This is why so many families attest that Footprints is an enjoyable and memorable way of learning.
In this programme, even the background historical information in the parent guide is presented as a granny telling a story!
Children need to be actively engaged while learning and not just receive passive information! When children “live” an experience through a story or in real life, instead of just learning facts, they experience something of the time and place with all their senses. When children’s senses and emotions are awakened, they remember the experience for much longer than if they just had to memorise hard facts for a test – and then quickly forget them again!
Real Life Learning through Activities and Excursions
With Footprints children not only get the opportunity to use their imaginations, but there are also suggestions for activities and trips to interesting places that bring the learning experience to life. For example, when you read about the gold rush, you can pan for gold in a river in Mpumalanga. When you learn about the wars, there are museums, monuments and battle sites to visit. A number of home educating families, using our various programmes, have undertaken extensive cross-country tours to give their children first-hand experience of South Africa. Even if you can’t tour the whole country, there are places your family can visit near you.
Please know that we have absolutely enjoyed doing Footprints… It has been much more than I ever imagined, and it has opened up different opportunities to address/talk about things that we would, otherwise, not naturally have started conversations on. … I have learnt much and have been challenged to revisit some of my own beliefs, interpretations and understandings. I feel liberated!
I also feel this curriculum has helped give my teens a push into being far better prepared for life after the school years.
~ Charmaine Ressell
Multi-subject Unit Study Approach
What’s included in this South African homeschool curriculum?
Besides a selection of inspirational living books and the art appreciation series, you get a parent guide and access to the course website.
With lesson overviews at a glance, you can see that each section contains:
- history and social studies
- South African art appreciation,
- South African music appreciation
- Geography mapwork
- writing assignments and
- hands-on activities, including a timeline book
To enrich learning:
- Outings to places of interest around the country that are related to the topics you will be learning about are suggested.
- Movies about each historical period are also listed for you to view at your discretion as well as optional South African board games.
- Online resources are provided on the course website for enrichment
At the start of each chapter there is a list of topics it covers, a description of each of the books included, a list of movies and outings to enjoy. As you progress though the chapter, there are prompts telling you which books to start reading together and assignments to do that relate to the content. Then at the end of the chapter is a checklist for you to check that you have completed your selected assignments.
Click here for some sample pages.
Valuable Practical Assignments
In each chapter in the parent guide, there are recommended mapwork activities and other assignments. Not only will these enrich children’s understanding of the topics, but the assignments provide opportunities to develop valuable, practical skills, such as:
- to conduct research
- to present their thoughts and ideas clearly in written form using modern tools and apps
- to design posters, marketing brochures, and other visual materials to display what they’ve learned, and more.
Often the process of doing the assignments is more beneficial or relevant than the content they reproduce!
The Course Website
The programme boasts a private course website, where selected video resources and other materials are listed for you to enjoy a multi-media learning experience, appropriate for the 21st Century. You don’t have to spend hours searching the internet, we’ve done it all for you! We provided everything you need at your fingertips to make learning interactive and ‘full colour’!
“During my childhood and teen years, we were fed such terrible propaganda. It has been a delight to read of other’s perspectives and experiences through the wonderful collection of literature, and I find a renewed understanding of our history.”
~ Nadene Esterhuizen
What else do you need to know?
We recommend that you take a year or more if necessary to complete Footprints – The Last Century, so that you can work at a comfortable pace. Take many days for field trips to places of interest where you can see and experience first-hand the things you are learning about. We believe that these tangible events are much more valuable than sticking to a schedule and only learning from books! We encourage you to use our lesson plans as a launch pad, and to dig deeper, or to go down “rabbit trails”, especially if your children are interested in any specific topic. That’s how you give them an enjoyable, personalized learning experience. It also gives you the opportunity to discover your children’s personalities and interests.
Buy Footprints – The Last Century … in 3 easy steps
1. Choose a package
Here are the purchase options:
- The Sapphire package includes all the prescribed books, plus the additional books to enrich learning in each section. This is the comprehensive programme that offers everything that you need.
- The Diamond package is a complete package that includes all the prescribed literature. The additional books can be purchased as a separate bundle at a later stage.
- Contact us for a two-part payment plan if needed.
2. More than one child?
If you intend using this programme with more than one child, you need to buy an Additional Footprints Through Time book for each additional child. One timeline book is already included in the package.
3. Second-time Footprints buyer?
If you have previously purchased Footprints on Our Land, you may not need the following items which are included in Footprints – The Last Century:
- Footprints Through Time timeline book
- Large wall map of South Africa
If you do not wish to buy them again, place a note in the comment box on the shopping check-out and select to pay by bank transfer, so that you can deduct the cost of these items.
4. Notebooking pages
Buy one set and use it for your family.
