I received a digital copy of this product to review. Affiliate links are included in this post.

About Girls of American History

Girls of American History is a multi-sensory history curriculum written by Justine Gamble. The units revolve around the popular American Girl book series. The multi-sensory aspect of the curriculum came about from the author aiming to create a curriculum that worked for all of her children.

The unit studies are written for a six week time frame, however that is flexible. Each unit includes a suggested schedule, a list of required and suggested resources, craft resources, field trip ideas, party and meal ideas, and more. The aimed pattern for the units is read it, hear it, see it, write it, and do it. Of course, this isn’t always possible, but it is the aim.

Currently available units and their corresponding topics:

• Kaya – Nez Perce Indians
• Felicity – American Revolution
• Josefina – South West
• Kirsten – Pioneer Times
• Addy – Civil War
• Samantha – Industrial Revolution
• Kit – The Great Depression
• Molly – World War II
• Caroline – War of 1812
• Rebecca – New York Life in 1914
• Julie – Growing Up in the USA in 1974

You can purchase any or all of the units on the website. All the units are $7.95 and are a digital download. You can purchase the whole set for a discount, making each unit $6.

About Girls of American History: Marie-Grace & Cecile

This unit focuses on the Marie-Grace and Cecile books. Marie-Grace and her best friend Cecile live in New Orleans in the 1850’s. The topics covered in this unit study include the Louisiana Purchase, the  1815 Battle of New Orleans, the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1853, and Slaves vs. Free People of Color.

The Marie-Grace and Cecile books are the only required materials. The unit recommends creating a lapbook and provides a link to a free one in the resource section of the website. The resource section of the website is where you will find links to further explain the crafts and activities each unit study recommends.

Review of Girls of American History: Marie-Grace & Cecile

We love the Pleasant company’s American Girls in our home. My daughters both have their own 18″ doll (Emily and Marie-Grace) and we are building our home library collection of the books. I remember discovering the Kirsten series in our library when I was a young reader and reading them repeatedly.

What I love about this series of unit studies is that it takes something that a LOT of little girls love and brings the real history into the mix. My girls love the historical fiction genre. They love the idea of exploring the world of girls just like them that lived long ago.

I appreciated the suggested schedule. It makes the unit study very doable. You use one book each week and use the unit study five days a week. This is where you have some flexibility with timing because you may not want to use it five days a week.

The unit study covers history, geography, vocabulary, arts and crafts, character study, and includes suggestions for biographies and field trips to round out the study. Justine has gathered a nice selection of crafts that go with this and I know that takes time.

The only issue I have is the pricing. The unit study is 17 pages, but only 9 of them are the actual unit study. The rest are informational on the American Girl series, the other unit studies available, and a cover page. I feel $8 is high for the amount of material you receive.

Overall, we liked the unit study and had a good time reviewing it!