Portraits of American Girlhood
Author:  Cindy Sotelo
For more information or to order: www.homeschoolingfromtheheart.com
(We are delighted to offer this resource in our catalog.)

Written by Cindy Sotelo, a homeschool mother of two girls, Portraits of American Girlhood is based on the American Girl historical fiction series published by the Pleasant Company. Just as the American Girl Collection consists of seven series with six books in each series, Portraits of American Girlhood consists of seven unit studies each covering a different historical period in America. This 250 page guide is designed to cover an entire school year, using a traditional 36 week schedule, or a year-round 42 week schedule. It can also be used as a supplement to any American History curriculum. All of the American Girl books used in this program can be found at your local library or book store.

Cindy Sotelo presents the Portraits of American Girlhood as a complete curriculum for grades 2-5, but suggests it can easily be adapted for older students through the use of "enrichment activities" offered in each unit and also offers an approach to adapt the guide for your student with special needs. Although this unit study is designed with girls in mind, Cindy offers tips on how to involve your boys  in the activities and learning. Being a mother of three girls and one son, this was an important selling point for me!

Each Unit features an American Girl from an American historical period. The lessons are set up to correlate with the American Girl chapters in each book. Other resources are conveniently listed at the beginning of each unit so you can plan ahead and get the books you will need. Internet resources are also offered to further the learning of each time era. Each unit offers a study of social studies, science, biographies, geography, math reinforcements, character, language arts, and a Bible/quiet time guide. In my opinion, and the author's, you would want to supplement a phonics program for new readers, and possibly a spelling program. With the involvement of The American Girl series and other related books on history, there are an endless amount of activities that would promote further learning with the use of this guide. I am excited that it covers the broad spectrum from science and history to creative writing and cooking!

There are two qualities that make Portraits of American Girlhood a dynamic unit study guide. First, it is well designed and organized. You could literally pick up this book and be prepared for the week ahead in 30 minutes or less!  The second outstanding quality, and what I think is a great selling feature; the CD-ROM that is included with this package. It contains over 70 worksheets, maps, and handouts to print from your computer using Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat.  This way you can print out the amount of handouts you need as you need them! Now you can understand why this is such an organized, easy to use guide for teaching American History.

For those wanting to explore beyond the realm of home school curriculum, (and have a lot of fun!), there is also a section devoted to guide you through using Portraits of American Girlhood to implement a Girls History Club or Small Group. Cindy Sotelo has done this and describes her experience. It is very possible and easy to break apart each unit study into a "club" monthly meeting and let the fun begin with cooking, costuming and crafts! Portraits of American Girlhood can be used for core study or as a history club/homeschool co-op.  With Portraits of American Girlhood, you have an American History unit study at its best -- flexible lessons, enrichment assignments and hands-on learning all laid out for you with clear instructions, so you can spend less time preparing and more time experiencing history with your children.  Get ready to dive into the history of America with girls who lived, learned, and grew up in our great country!

Making the Grade:  A+
Cost:  $55
Value for Your Homeschool Dollar:  10
Reviewed by Renee Merrifield, homeschool mom of 4