What I REALLY THINK about BFB's Book of Nations AND World Geography & Ecology Curriculum

Join me as I share my honest thoughts as I flip through Beautiful Feet Books' new hardback "Book of Nations" and their companion curriculum, "World Geography & Ecology." As a secular homeschooler, people often wonder why I sometimes (sparingly!) use nonsecular or neutral curriculum. Watch this video to understand why!
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[@amandamendoza4181]

Always love your channel! I am Christian and have a hard time watching a lot of secular KZbin channels. I always absolutely love your channel and ideas. You are respectful and understanding. You are a wonderful example and encouragement for others regardless of their views. 😊❤

[@amandamendoza4181]

If you ever do create history/geography curriculum that would so awesome! I would totally purchase it!

[@lifeinthetrenches]

Thank you! That means a lot to me. 💝 That's why I call myself "secular-ish" because I have no qualms with Christianity or any other religion. All are welcome in my circle. And as for curriculum...I've thought of creating unit studies, but I don't think I have a whole year-long curriculum in me 😆

[@TheChan7]

Ooh. Great video. And I so want that geography book. Love that you have a newsletter blog! Just signed up! Thanks for sharing!!

[@lifeinthetrenches]

Thank you for watching and signing up! 🥰

[@heartwoodhomeschool]

That’s some nice formatting. I so appreciate when a book is able to contain that much information without feeling cluttered and overwhelming!

[@lifeinthetrenches]

Right?! Their use of white space is greatly appreciated.

[@heartwoodhomeschool]

@@lifeinthetrenches 100%

[@jschamonix]

I wasn't aware that you had a blog. So glad I checked out your website

[@lifeinthetrenches]

Thanks for checking it out! More posts coming in the new year. I’m taking a short break from blogging to focus on KZbin for a bit.

[@jessicajones611]

Thanks for sharing. This looks great and not at all overwhelming to me. When you talked about other history curriculums in this video, may I ask what is ‘history of the world,’ I haven’t heard of that one, would you mind linking it for me? X

[@lifeinthetrenches]

Maybe I meant Story of the World! History of the World is that old Mel Brooks movie. I sometimes get names mixed up.

[@Moonie949]

We lived in New Zealand for 5 years and it was so amazing!!!

[@lifeinthetrenches]

I bet! My bff lived there to do post-grad work, and she loved it. Convinced me and another BFF to come visit her!

[@ravenbird3014]

Thanks for this review and clarity. I’m technically secular but I’m more neutral and I don’t mind religious surface level stuff. The one thing I learned last year (also my first year) is that there is not one history program that I agree with 100%. I also learned religious doesn’t mean a particular political side which I found shocking. I also use Beautiful Feet as a spine and then add in my own resources to beef it up when I want.

[@lifeinthetrenches]

I'm happy you found the video helpful! And it's true, there’s no “perfect” history curriculum out there. I think the longer we homeschool, the more we piece meal our children’s curriculum to fit their needs and our teaching style.

[@AbsolutelyAmazingInformation]

Hey @lifeinthetrenches we were wondering if you would be interested in reading the world atlas we wrote? (If not yeah I get it, I might not respond to a random comment in my comment section either ) Our atlas is called "The World A Comprehensive Guide to Geopolitics" It has breakdowns for over 1,400 geographic regions covered. Every continent, every UN member, every partially recognized nation (Taiwan, Kosovo, Palestine etc.), every autonomous region, every external territory. We even included breakdowns for every known base camp in Antarctica, by both summer and winter populations. It has over 440 colorized maps. And over 490 colorized flags. And we even included a geography section full of facts such as the largest rivers, lakes, deserts, the lowest elevations, highest altitudes, longest mountain ranges, most northerly and southerly nations just to name a few. It took us almost 2 years to make. I'm proud of it. We finally published on June 12, 2024. Almost 2 and a half months ago.

[@lifeinthetrenches]

Feel free to email me - it should be in my channel description. Thanks for reaching out!

[@AbsolutelyAmazingInformation]

@@lifeinthetrenches Thank you for responding.

[@SmithsInTheMaking]

We started this at the beginning of the year and enjoy the books they included and the additional suggestions. We found the ecology portion just ok. My son found the listed ecology videos to be pretty boring and basic, things he learned in elementary. So we added better documentaries and are only loosely referring to the curriculum at best. I wanted to love it so much, but I think i am like you that usually I just need to create my own history/geography curriculum. I tend to get a curriculum, use their framework and then just add my own resources, activities and books.

[@lifeinthetrenches]

You brought up some good points! I agree in regards to the ecology portion. I feel like they were trying to find neutral videos for ecology, which is why they were so basic and boring. Also, I think the homeschoolers that have been at it a while realize there's no perfect curriculum. That you have to piecemeal resources to meet your family's needs. Thanks for watching and commenting!!

[@jessicajones611]

May I ask what how you are pacing this? How long is each lesson if you were to do all the things listed? Would this be too much for a 7th and 4th grader, my 4th grader?

[@lifeinthetrenches]

I use it more as a reference or spine than as a traditional curriculum. But I think you should be able to use it with both of your kids with no problem. The book has a suggested scope and sequence, but you can move at your kids' pace.

[@jessicajones611]

@@lifeinthetrenches thank you,

[@lifeandthecity9535]

How are you and your kids enjoying using this? Would you guys recommend?

[@lifeinthetrenches]

We really enjoy using the World Geo & Eco book, but are using it at our own pace. And yes, I would recommend it if you prefer a more gentle curriculum.

[@RockSimmer-gal4God]

We are creationists and we discuss it at home!!! Climate change I don’t think it’s human based but we aren’t sure fully and discuss them!!! I don’t believe we should discuss the other beliefs till our kids are 11ish!!! I discuss other beliefs with my older kids tho!!! We tried to read missionary biographies and we will try again and a different point!!! My older kids read them on their own as we tried to as a family!!! I hear a lot of Christians get i. Their high horse about little things!!! Being in Australia we can’t get books on a lot of book lists but I can buy different books that are available!!!

[@lifeinthetrenches]

Yeah, I think my son was around 10 or 11 when we started discussing other beliefs. That’s when he became curious about the world. Thank you for sharing and being so open and not offended by my beliefs. I appreciate respectful discourse, it’s so hard to come by these days.