Student need a copy of The First Four Years to begin their reading BEFORE CLASS! This can be an ebook, library book or their own copy. The audiobooks are also excellent, although I highly recommend students have a book.

These books take place in the late 1800's and early 1900's and discuss themes and practices that were common for the Ingalls family in that time period..... hunting, raising animals for food, and religious practices such as Christmas, reading the Bible, strict obedience to parents, and keeping the Sabbath.

Although not present in this book, topics are mentioned throughout this series require critical analysis and the following areas of concern will be addressed in class: inaccurate descriptions of historical events, racism, stereotypes, cultural inaccuracies, harmful and inaccurate descriptions of Native Americans, racist/stereotypical imagery, and biased perspectives. This book does provide excellent conversation points, as the Ingalls family experience a paradigm shift over time throughout the story. We will discuss all of this throughout the class. 

Ms. Carol has a PhD in pedagogy and history, with a Master’s in Cultural Studies. One of my  core values is to teach the true and accurate version of history I was not taught as a child. Racism or racial stereotypes is never acceptable to me, and neither is a white-washed version of American History.