For years people have questioned the importance and relevance of history in the school curriculum. Many feel that there should be a greater emphasis on life skills and vocational education, rather than on such a traditional academic subject.
If our purpose in educating our children is to equip them to cope effectively with life in the society in which they live, then we will need to equip them with understanding of themselves and others, their own culture and that of others, moral values and other life skills in order that they will truly make a positive contribution to that society.
“The way in which the world develops has a relation to the way in which it was in the past. A community without history is like a person without a memory – incoherent.” (Bernard Baylyn of Harvard University
Why are the Footprints programmes centered around the History of South Africa and Social Studies?
We believe that one of the purposes of homeschooling is to turn the hearts of parents towards their children.
The purpose of Footprints On Our Land is to turn hearts of families to the needs of the people in South Africa.
The way we have chosen to do this is by presenting you with a selection of the best South African contemporary fiction (in the case of Little Footprints) and historical fiction in the three programmes for older children, Footprints On Our Land – South Africa’s Heritage (ages 7-12), Voetspore (ages 8-14) and Footprints into the 21st Century (ages 12-16).
By reading stories about our country and the history of South Africa, children are able to ‘walk in the shoes’ of the fictional characters they read and ‘experience’ history in an enjoyable format. As one of our clients wrote: “It has been a special experience; the heroes and heroines and families have become our friends; we identified very strongly with many of them.” (Pam, Sedgefield)
Charlotte Mason, a world renowned educator said: “Children should have the joy of living in far lands, in other persons, in other times – a delightful double existence; and this joy they will find, for the most part, in their story books. Their lessons, too, history and geography, should cultivate their conceptive powers. If the children do not live in the times of his history lesson, be not at home in the climate his geography book describes, why, these lessons will fail of their purpose.”
“Children’s worlds are expanded when they read literature set in other places and other times, when they learn to care about somebody (whether fictional or real) in another place.” (Jessica Powers)
The study of the history of South Africa using literature based unit studies will help your children to develop an understanding of their country and a sense of belonging.
“History cannot give us a program for the future, but it can give us a fuller understanding of ourselves, and of our common humanity, so that we can better face the future.” (Robert Penn Warren)
“Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” (George Santayana)
It is our hope that as you and your children (re)discover the history of South Africa, that you will also discover that “Hope is the other side of history,” (Marcia Cavell) and that even though there have been and still are horrors committed in our country everyday, that God is a God of Hope.
This hope He gives to the faithful as we choose to be obedient to His calling to play a role in building a better community, for example by caring for widows and orphans according to the Biblical mandate.
“With the historian it is an article of faith that knowledge of the past is a key to understanding the present.” (Kenneth Stampp)
Our vision was to create a South African homeschool curriculum that would help our children become proud citizens of their country, that would help them to understand the history of South Africa and appreciate the good in our country as well as its problems, and that would encourage them to play a role in building a bright future for our nation.
“Search in your past for what is good and beautiful. Build your future from there.” (President Paul Kruger)
What about bias in History?
We’ve had clients of various ethnic and religious groups in South African use our products and there have been no complaints about bias. The reason for this is that we have tried to point out any possible bias, rather than ignore or hide it and so we make a lesson of it.
The following quote sums up what we believe is an important skill that parents need to teach their children:
“Everybody sees reality in a different way. To really get the facts, we have to look at
all perceptions; discover the assumptions, biases, and truths in those perceptions;
and then discover ‘the facts.’ ……Historians, like writers and photographers, influence the way people see the world.
We can prevent people from seeing truth or we can depict truth as close to reality as
possible. No matter how truthful and honest, each historian presents a biased
version of the truth. Those who write have a responsibility – to be as accurate as possible, to
understand their biases and attempt to leave them behind. Those who read have
another responsibility – to question when information seems lacking, to
read with a grain of salt, and to demand the whole story.”1
J. Powers, The Bang Bang Club and Journalism Ethics, 2002
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/african_history/89317
How does Footprints focus on the History of South Africa?
Little Footprints – South Africa in Stories
(ages 4-8) starts by gently introducing children to contemporary South Africa – the people, the culture, animals and natural environment.
Footprints on Our Land – South Africa’s Heritage
(ages 7-12) shows the maturing child the first people, then the various groups of settlers and the first wars and battles.
Footprints – The Last Century
(ages 12-16) continues from here through time and illustrates how those first few hundred years of the history of South Africa affected the last 100 years. However, this curriculum does not leave young adults without hope for their nation. They walk away with a very clear idea of what they can do to make a positive difference in our country.
Voetspore
(ages 8-14) takes children on an adventure, driven by Afrikaans children’s literature, that explores the origins of our nation from the earliest indigenous people groups to the arrival of settlers, the battles, wars and struggle for freedom that has led to the rainbow nation that we find ourselves living in today.
We believe that we need to raise children who are committed to South Africa, so that, unless God leads them to other places, that they will stay and contribute either to its economy or to improving of life for the underprivileged, offering them REAL HOPE not just a programme for upliftment.
South African History Lapbook Projects
We also offer a range of nine individual South African History File Folder Projects
(lapbooks), focusing on different historical eras and population groups in South Africa. The lapbooks are available in both English and Afrikaans.
- A perfect match for ANY curriculum or stand-alone history studies
- Ideal for unschoolers
- Instant access to in-depth hands on unit studies in printable ebook format
- A no-mess-no-fuss way to teach your children!
