The First Thanksgiving

Posted on November 30, 2013 by Deanna

This year we spent the whole month of November immersing ourselves in the history of the first Thanksgiving. It was somewhat familiar to Ian because we did touch on it last year, but this year I wanted him to be able to connect more with the story of the Pilgrims who were willing to sacrifice so much for the opportunity to follow their hearts in worshiping God. We got off to a strong start, but then our house got hit with sickness so things didn’t go exactly the way I had planned. I do think we accomplished my objective, however, so I’m not too upset.

We read lots of “living books” and watched several videos throughout the month. My plan was to spend each week focusing on a different part of the story, and although that got a bit disrupted by illness, for the most part it’s what we did. So here’s what we did week-by-week:

Week 1 – Setting out for the New World

Selected chapters from Stories of the Pilgrims by Margaret B. Pumphrey (part of the Yesterday’s Classics e-book bundle)

Boy on the Mayflower by Iris Vinton
On the Mayflower by Kate Waters (We enjoyed a bunch of Kate Waters’ books this year (pictured below), which are illustrated with photographs taken at Plimouth Plantation and help you feel like you’re really there with the Pilgrims.)
VIDEO: William Bradford
VIDEO: “The Mayflower Voyagers” on Netflix (part of the This is America, Charlie Brown series, which is ridiculously expensive to buy, but it’s also offered as a bonus feature on the DVD A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, a favorite around here)
VIDEO: “Mayflower” on the Scholastic website
VIDEO: The Mayflower and the First Thanksgiving from Learn Our History

Week 2 – The First Year/Squanto

More selected chapters from Stories of the Pilgrims by Margaret B. Pumphrey
Thank You, Squanto by Peter and Connie Roop
Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving by Eric Metaxas
VIDEO “Wampanoag Homesite” on the Scholastic website

Week 3 – Colonial Life

Samuel Eaton’s Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Boy by Kate Waters (Ian was fascinated by this book and requested it several times)
Sarah Morton’s Day : A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl by Kate Waters
Tapenum’s Day: A Wampanoag Indian Boy in Pilgrim Times by Kate Waters
VIDEO “Pilgrim Village” on the Scholastic website
Dear America (Season 1, Episode 2 “A Journey to the New World“)
Colonial Life for Children: Plimouth Plantation

Two other books we enjoyed this year were This First Thanksgiving Day by Laura Krauss Melmed and Three Young Pilgrims by Cheryl Harness.

We also created a Thanksgiving notebook over the course of the month that included Ian’s copywork from the hymn “For the Beauty of the Earth,” some writing prompts, coloring pages, and a printed copy of Psalm 100 (which we read each day and worked on memorizing all month). And we culminated our Thanksgiving study by feasting at the park with some homeschool friends (complete with homemade costumes)!

For more Thanksgiving ideas check out my Cranberry Thanksgiving post and Thanksgiving Devotional from last year.

UPDATE FROM A FEW YEARS LATER:

I still love and use the books listed above with my younger kids, but as everyone has gotten older, we’ve added a few longer books that I’ve enjoyed. (I’m a descendant of Mary Chilton and her parents who came over on the Mayflower, and my husband is a descendant of and Stephen Hopkins and his daughter Constance, which is why some of these may seem redundant.