Panning for Gold Activity — a Great End to American Story 1

We’re officially finished with our Winter Promise American Story 1 curriculum! It was a great journey from Pre-Columbian times up to Westward Expansion. The Wild West and the Gold Rush really captured Sprite’s attention, and we decided to do our panning for gold a bit early.

This activity kit is actually part of the American Story 2 curriculum; obviously there is some overlap in the historical periods. But why wait? Dad, being from California, had some experience panning for gold, so he instructed Sprite in the basics.

Here’s the fools gold.

And here are silver, gold, and hematite chips. Panning for gold is quite a bit harder than it seems, especially when the reward is so very tiny. For a fun living book set during the Gold Rush I recommend By the Great Horn Spoon. The plot is full of twists and turns, and it ends with a great feel-good family message.

The new Winter Promise catalog is available for PDF download (or you can request a print copy), so if you’re in the market for a literature based curriculum, give it a look over. I chronicled our study and all the extras we added here at WP AS1 Extras.

And it’s that time of year when curricula providers issue their new catalogs, so if you want more “wish books”, this link with Catalogs for Homeschoolers is still up to date. If your favorite catalog is not listed there, please suggest it, and I’ll add it.

I told you that the Wild West and the Gold Rush really captured Sprite’s attention. This is how she was dressed one day this week!