"I couldn't put it down. Needless to say we have no food and this evening's dinner consisted of leftovers! I was riveted!"

"I can hardly wait until my son is old enough to do Footprints"

"Very well researched!"

"Something that South African homeschoolers can be proud of."

"We are LOVING Little Footprints"

"Thank you for making my life easier with this program."

"I am so excited about the C21 program!"

“I just wanted to let you know that I think the Footprints programme is outstanding and we are so enjoying it. I especially am very appreciative of all the effort and extras you have put into the manual. You have it all there for me.”

“We have all been enriched by Footprints. I have learnt with the kids and we have enjoyed all the books immensely. Even Andrew, our 5 year old has enjoyed them and he loved hearing about the “whopper” and The Big Hole at Kimberley.”

“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

“Thank you so much for putting so much effort into making our lives easier”

“It fits in so well with our lifestyles as we travel all over South Africa”

“I have received my parcel & am delighted with the books & your work material & feel energized once again to do something which is fun for both me & my child, thanks!”
Marjo, Zambia

"I am so THRILLED to see my son excited about BOOKS!"  
Colleen, Eastern Cape

“Thank you so much for a beautiful and well done curriculum. We are enjoying it, and I am sure it will make our home schooling a lot more
enjoyable”
Footprints mom, Underberg

“You have put together a very interesting and comprehensive course.”
Miriam, Private school teacher, USA

“I was really excited when I heard that something similar existed for South-African history. Thank you for the tremendous work you did to make South-African history fun!”
Missionary family, Peru

“We have been so delighted with what you have to offer and say well done, you are doing a great job on behalf of homeschoolers.”
Mom of young adults, Johannesburg

“What a treat – I picked up the books from your sister today.”
Ex South Africans living in the UK

“I've just gone to fetch my packages and in a flurry of great excitement we unpacked the books! I only had a quick look, but from what I have seen, I love it!”
Anelle, Piet Retief

Top of Homeschool Curriculum Customer Reviews

Testimonials

We have had so many great homeschool curriculum customer reviews that we have chosen the best to share with you:

Footprints On Our Land

We have been doing Footprints for about a month now. I must say that we enjoy it very much. As a child, I hated history at school, especially South African history but now I can't wait to discover more.

Footprints has made the history come alive. My son was imagining something today about the Khoi-Khoi people and shared it with me in his playtime. What I like too is that they identify with Ghamka and his people and feel sad for them when bad things happen - what a good way for them to learn to see things from a totally different point of view.

My daughter who is only in Grade 1 understood the water cycle once we did the experiment of the water bowl in the sun and explained it to me. There is nothing like that feeling when your children understands something and you know that for life it's imbedded in their brain because they didn't just hear about it but made it and drew a picture of it.

From a mother's point of view, Footprints is the highlight of our school day - I love discovering more about the people of the past and about our country! And we've all discovered things about our family tree that I never knew!

November 2006

"Dear Wendy and Shirley

We have nearly completed our Footprints journey; I plan to read the last 2 books during the holidays. We have all been enriched by Footprints. I have learnt with the kids and we have enjoyed all the books immensely.

Even Andrew, our 5 year old has enjoyed them and he loved hearing about the “whopper” and The Big Hole at Kimberley. We are going to be in the Cape in Febraury and will have a Footprints Holiday.

Jess and David are looking forward to seeing the places we have read about. It has been a special journey for us as a family as it has been the start of our homeschooling journey as well. I have to share with you something which I have been aware of ever since we started with Footprints which was Oct last year.

Life IS sometimes stressed and pressurized, but I was always aware, whenever I bent down to find the Footprints manual and the current book we were busy with, of a strange feeling of peace. Maybe it was due to the relief that we would now all be working with material that we all enjoy and derive pleasure from.

I like to think that it is also due to the prayer that has gone into the Footprints program and the fact that you both walk closely with God. It has been a special experience; the heroes and heroines and families have become our friends; we identified very strongly with many of them.

The timeline of South African history is very clear in both Jess and David’s minds, not because of any drilling on my part, but purely because each book evoked each period so vividly that it left an enormous and very clear impression.

Mark and I both have clear recollections of learning History at Primary School; it was very dry and boring and we are so glad that our kids have had this experience. A fun family activity which we enjoyed with my folks was our 1820 settler supper. Somewhere in the book Strangers in our Land, we read that the family was living off pumpkin fritters and mielie bread. We baked them as you suggested and then decided to have a dinner & invite the grandparents.

One thing led to another and when we all sat down together that night we had candlelight, wooden eating utensils(arranged by Mark), menus made by kids, wors and milktart made by Granny. We had toy snakes crawling around us positioned by Andrew and most fun was we were all dressed up. Granny and Granddad arrived dressed like 1820 settlers and we all rushed around, raided our dressing up closet and all found something suitable.

The boys were chuffed to be armed with toy guns and Mark even found his old bayonet much to David’s delight. We had a lovely supper and pretended we were the Smith Family, newly arrived from England. Jess and David had a lot to contribute even down to wondering when their carrots would grow as they had planted them 5 foot deep.

Andrew eventually got scared with all the talk about wild animals and insisted we switch just one light on. It was a magical evening for all of us and one which made very special memories. I am sad that we are nearly finished with the program. We plan to do Sonlight next year and are excited about that, but we will definitely come back in a year or 2 for the next Footprints program.

Pam" 

31 May 2007 - Another letter from Pam:

"I also just wanted to really thank both you and Shirley for the Footprints series, what an awesome way to learn. It is a very high standard against which I compare all our other learning material.

I am about to order [another curriculum] and I really hope that their way of teaching history is similar to yours, providing us detail within a very specific time frame without gaps. You really gave us such an excellent timeline to work with and also the detail we carry in our hearts is awesome.

I appreciate what you have done for South African homeschoolers studying our own country. I look forward to our next Footprints adventure in high school. We have held back [the seashore study] and are doing it together now. It reminded me of how much fun we had doing Footprints on our Land. A great blessing!!!

love Pam"

Top of Homeschool Curriculum Customer Reviews

Footprints on our Land.

"When I first started Home schooling, I looked at various curriculum, and felt most drawn to a literature-based, Christian-centred program like Sonlight, but I was concerned about the fact that there was such a strong emphasis on American History.

When I heard about a South African curriculum called Footprints on our Land which had a similar emphasis to Sonlight, I was immediately interested. Once I looked a little further, I was delighted to find that Wendy and Shirley had prioritised good quality literature, and ensured that the perspectives on the history of our country were as unbiased as possible.

It was only after I purchased the package, and began using it, that I could apply the real acid test however ... which was to guage the response from my son!! And he has thoroughly enjoyed discovering his heritage in this beautiful country through the captivating stories in the Footprints curriculum. Many days he begs me to read more than the chapter or two of recommended reading, because he simply can't wait until the next day to see what happens!!

I have often thought that I would enjoy putting my own curriculum together for my sons, but practically it is impossible - so I have really enjoyed using Footprints as a starting point, and allowing it to inspire all sorts of wonderful and exciting journeys of discovery. We have found that many of the suggested activities in the IG have been done with gusto, but most times they lead into a delightful tangle of tangents, during which we've learned more about our world and each other.

Shirley Royal"

Top of Homeschool Curriculum Customer Reviews

Little Footprints

"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.

Shirley Royal"

Footprints On Our Land

"Dear Wendy and Shirley

I just wanted to let you know that I think the Footprints programme is outstanding and we are so enjoying it. I especially am very appreciative of all the effort and extras you have put into the manual. You have it all there for me.

For example, just yesterday I was wondering how I could make a melktert – and then I found your recipe! Again, when we did one of the books, it talked about baking bread. My son had asked me what yeast was and hey presto, there was your answer, complete with an easy, child friendly method to make bread AND experiments! Perfect!!!

It is so easy on me and I do appreciate that – especially as we do not have available the usual SA library resources or even places to visit, and yet, we are able to make much of it and enjoy it. With four children aged four and under and two older ones, we are limited as to how much we can go “out” anyway so your book and the other books that I have been able to find here have made it very Mom friendly too!! ? I also have appreciated how we have been able to pick it up and let it drop as needs must (we had twin boys 9 months ago) with no loss of interest or damage.

The little picture disc and book reviews that the boys do after each story have really helped develop their ability to remember the stories and our discussions and condense information to the salient points. The first time we did the summary, it took them ages to write, with me coaching every step of the way. (It was torturous - I groaned inside, wondering if it would be like this all the way through!!!) But now, they can just sit down and do it.

It is by far and away my older boys favourite “to do” and we have access to art courses, science work, etc and yet they always choose the SA books. (I confess, both my husband and I are right up there with them – we have recently cut down dramatically on TV and use that time in the evening, when the littlies are finally in bed, to read aloud.

It is truly a family thing!) It may seem most odd to be living in the UK doing a SA History programme but I really do believe that God wants us to embrace our culture and our heritage as a reflection of who He is, and this enables us to do this so well. So, thank you! And be encouraged!

Kerry "

Top of Homeschool Curriculum Customer Reviews