Perhaps no knowledge is more delightful than such an intimacy with the earth’s surface, region by region, as should enable the map of any region to unfold a panorama of delight, disclosing not only mountains, rivers, frontiers, the great features we know as ‘Geography,’ but associations, occupations, some parts of the past and much of the present, of every part of this beautiful earth.
Towards a Philosophy of Education by Charlotte Mason, p. 224
That is a lovely quote by Miss Mason that reveals the close relationship between history, geography, and geology. And we certainly “unfolded a panorama of delight” when we studied Minnesota history and geography last term in our TBG Community geared towards middle and high schoolers. (We also studied much of the geology of the state but I’ll save that post for later.)
Whether your students are elementary age or older, it’s always important to visit the many historical sites around Minnesota. And of course, the history of our state is not studied in isolation. Charlotte Mason homeschoolers are always observing and recording the flora and fauna of their surroundings, the geology, and the geography. There should be an atmosphere of wonder all the time and not a unit-study, check-off-that-box type of attitude.
For elementary students, we have read Gopher Tales by Antionette E. Ford. Short and sweet chapters in a straight forward narrative that became a jumping-off place to further reading for us. Along with that, every child should read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie book series. An excellent balance to the Little House books for upper elementary and up is The Birchbark House series by Louise Erdrich. There are many other living books that I will share in a list below. Gopher Tales, as well as many other older history books, is not without issues, namely the treatment of the Native Americans.
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Teacher reference book:
North Country: The Making of Minnesota by Mary Lethert Wingerd
Geography books:
Land of Sky-Blue Waters by August William Derleth
This was an excellent and living book! We LOVED it. It is about the expedition to find the source of the Mississippi River. Geographically, it begins in Detroit and travels through Lake Huron, Lake Superior, and into Minnesota. Great information on Ojibway and Dakota tribes.
Minnesota: The Story of a Great State by Maude L. Lindquist and James W. Clark
This was just a good, old, schoolbook but we only read specific pages that are listed in the lesson plans below. We began in SE MN and then moved clockwise around the state. Some things were outdated but we found that interesting and looked things up.
Gopher Reader, Volumes 1 & 2, edited by Hermina Poatgieter and James Taylor Dunn
These are excellent, living articles on MN history, geography, geology and more. We only read specific chapters listed in the lesson plans. A must-have for families!
Great attention is paid to map work; that is, before reading a lesson children have found the places mentioned in that lesson on a map and know where they are, relatively to other places, to given parallels, meridians.
Towards a Philosophy of Education by Charlotte Mason, p. 224
ADDITIONAL ITEMS
Map of Minnesota –
We used MN Mapper map. It allows you to include or hide all features with its layers.
One of the most important historical events in our state’s history is the Dakota War. We read one chapter from The Dakota War of 1862: Minnesota’s Other Civil War by Kenneth Carley.
For learning more about the Dakota War, this is an excellent documentary from MPR – Little War on the Prairie Documentary. Not for littles.
There were other essays, poems, and field trips not listed here. You will come across many enriching things about our state that will be unique to you and your students, as well as take them to visit sites that are more local to you.
MORE LIVING BOOKS FOR MINNESOTA
Fiddlefoot Jones of the North Woods by Jordan
Drusilla by Brock
Eagle Wing, a Chippewa Boy in Old Minnesota by Coleman
Sod-House Winter by Judson
Up the River to Danger by Palmer
Climb a Lofty Ladder by Havighurst
Little Whirlwind by Hubbard
Fire Canoe by Falk
Steamboat’s Coming by Turngren
A Wish for Mimi by Gag
Elsa’s Secret by Grey
Oh, Susannah by Holberg
The Middle Sister by Mason
North on the Great River by O’Farrell (old school book)
My Minnesota by Ford (old school book)
You can read descriptive reviews of most of these on Goodreads. Do you have any others that you think should be on this list? Please let me know in the comments.
LESSON PLANS
Below you will find a pdf of our readings for history and geography. Also included are the correlated mapping items. We met together in our co-op over the course of 14 weeks (7 meetings) for discussions, some reading and narrating, and an occasional map drill in class. Kristin Spittle chose and assigned these and as always, she did an amazing job! Each assignment was completed over a two-week period at home. I hope you will find the plans useful for charting out your own Minnesota history course.
Teaching from peace,
Nancy
Nancy, I don’t think this one was mentioned, and I can’t even remember where I found it, but this old MN book has firsthand vignettes from several old-timers who were MN pioneers. The tell tales of waking in the middle of the night to braves in their yards, eating beaver, young warriors coming into their house for refreshments, etc. It’s fascinating: https://shop.mnhs.org/products/old-rail-fence-corners
Sounds great! Thanks for sharing this, Jill.
We’re going to give this a try! Thank you for sharing! I’d love to see the geology plans you mentioned that will be coming so we can add them along with this.
So helpful!
Hello, Jenny!
I can tell you this about the geology readings:
-we used the books Rocks, Rivers, and the Changing Earth by Schneider (entire book), The Geology Book by Morris (selected readings), Roadside Geology of Minnesota by Ojakangas (selected readings) and the geology selections from The Gopher Reader (which were excellent!). Roadside Geology and Gopher Reader readings were often correlated to where we were in Geography. I hope that gives you enough info to put something together!
Warmly,
Nancy
I’m curious why you didn’t include Northern Lights by the Minnesota Historical Society as your spine text
We chose what we thought were the best living books for these students in this class at this time with an emphasis on geology, history, and geography!
Warmly,
Nancy
William Durbin has written a number of historical fiction books that dovetail nicely with Minnesota history: Broken Blade and Wintering focus on the voyageurs and the fur trade; Blackwater Ben and Dead Man’s Rapids focus on lumbering.
Soldier’s Heart by Gary Paulsen also explores the role of Minnesotan soldiers in the Civil War
Thanks for sharing these additional titles, Sarah!
Warmly,
Nancy
Hi Nancy, this is amazing. Thank you for posting it.
My intention is to follow this curriculum but I can’t find the books. Some of them are very old.
Any suggestions?
This is SO exciting!!! THANK YOU Kristin and Nancy!! I even have a couple of these books on my shelf!
Can’t wait to do this with my boys, especially this year after reading Of Courage Undaunted and visiting the Mississippi at Itasca, Saint Anthony Falls, Lacrosse, and Saint Louis, MO together with my kiddos <3
How do you search for and find such great books for your state? I would love to begin curating a similar list for Iowa!
Dear Bethany,
You should do that! Here are some ideas:
1. See if someone else has started this. Check by googling, seeing if your state homeschool association has anything like it, etc.
2. Let your online groups that are based in Iowa know what you are wanting to do and ask for their suggestions.
3. Search different book sites for books based in Iowa. Try to narrow the search to juvenile literature. Goodreads is one such place and I know there are others.
4. Get the list started from books that you have read and know are good. Ask friends and family.
5. Try and verify if it is living. Just because it is about your state doesn’t mean it’s living. If it is just a compilation of titles, make sure you state that.
6. State historical societies should be checked. Visit their website to see what they are recommending/selling.
7. Search for old school textbooks. Some are gems!
I hope that helps a little!
Warmly,
Nancy
I would add:
Pick up any old used books about your state at thrift stores – they’re often gems you can mine at home later for specific content.
Check out the books for sale at state parks and other interesting local sites.
What about Tennessee? ?
Dear Karen,
That might just be a job for you! See my reply to Bethany. Someone should do it, if they haven’t already.
Warmly,
Nancy
For your readers, Nancy – August Derleth also wrote some great books for a study on the state of Wisconsin!
Dear Kelly,
I saw that! I might need to gather a few of those titles.
Warmly,
Nancy
Yay! I’ve been working on our personal Wisconsin list for quite awhile. Do you have any other Wisconsin specific titles? Or can you tell me which books above might intersect with Wisconsin? Thank you!!
Well, Land of Sky Blue Waters touches on WI. I think Melissa Hills over at the Charlotte Mason in Wisconsin fb page has a list going (you probably already know that!) What a blessing it would be for someone to organize a list for WI!
I just did a google search and found this comment thread again. I just thought I’d report that we’re 2/3 of the way through August Derleth’s book on Father Marquette (he and Louis Joliet found the Mississippi River). I combined my Year 4 and Year 2 children and it’s been our geography study for this year. We follow AO, but I replaced Minn of the Mississippi with this book (not because I don’t like that book too – because we can’t do it all!!). The book is really wonderful so thank you for pointing us there. 🙂
What an encouraging update, Lynette! Thank you for taking the time to let me know!