6 Weeks in Africa (Homeschooling Around the World in 180 Days)

I'm so excited to study Africa! Great biographies, great stories, great food!

The following isn't a completely polished and perfect lesson plan. I have some more adjusting to go before using it for my family. But I wanted to share it in case it was of use to others.

Week 1: Kenya and Uganda

Book of the Week

When Stars Are Scattered, by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed. Based on the true story (of co-author Omar Mohamed) of his life growing up in a Kenyan refugee camp. This hard-to-put-down story is presented as a graphic novel. Don't let that dissuade you from reading it. This is a powerful story. Let the tears flow.

Omar and his younger brother, Hassan, have spent most of their lives in Dadaab, a refugee camp in Kenya. Life is hard there: never enough food, achingly dull, and without access to the medical care Omar knows his nonverbal brother needs. So when Omar has the opportunity to go to school, he knows it might be a chance to change their future . . . but it would also mean leaving his brother, the only family member he has left, every day.

Heartbreak, hope, and gentle humor exist together in this graphic novel about a childhood spent waiting, and a young man who is able to create a sense of family and home in the most difficult of settings.

Poetry

Read pages 30 and 136 from The National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry: “Moody Guy” and “The White Rhinoceros,” “The Greater Cats,” “You’ve Got Male,” and “Lion,”

Have poetry snack or tea time (everyone shares a poem. Song lyrics and nursery rhymes count).

Additional Reading

“Kikonco: 12-Year-Old Homebuilder,” by Breanna Call Herbert, January 2019 New Era.

Dr. Wangari Maathai Plants a Forest (or a picture book biography about Wangari Maathasi. At least four titles were published. Choose whichever one your lending library has available).

Maps

The Cities Book: Nairobi Kenya, p. 134-135

Printable map

GeoToys Africa puzzle. How long does this puzzle take you to complete? Make a graph to track your puzzle time over the next six weeks.

Documentary

Disney+

            Disney Nature: African Cats

            National Geographic: Man Among Lions

Netflix

PrimeVideo

YouTube

Family Movie Night

Queen of Katwe, (Disney+). A girl in Uganda discovers she has a talent for chess.

Recipe

Kenyan Mashed Potatoes. These mashed potatoes are green!

Week 2: Tanzania and the other “Z Countries”

Book of the Week

Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall, by Anita Silvey (National Geographic Kids). Lots of photographs from Jane Goodall's life, along with a well-written biography.

Lexile 1100L

Jane Goodall, one of the most recognized scientists in the Western world, became internationally famous because of her ability to observe and connect with another species. A girl of humble beginnings and training, she made scientific breakthroughs thought impossible by more experienced field observers when she was only in her twenties. Then these animals shaped Jane's life. She began tirelessly fighting to protect the environment so that chimpanzees and other animals will continue have a place and a future on our planet. Jane Goodall continues to leave the modern world with an extraordinary legacy and has changed the scientific community forever.

Poetry

N.G. Book of Animal Poetry: “A Flamingo Is,” p. 118 and various elephant poems on p. 26. Note: the elephant on the facing page is an Asian elephant. There is a breathtaking photograph of African elephants on p. 14-15.

Family poetry time.

Worldwide Church Reading

“Gaining My Faith One Step at a Time,” by Elder Edward Dube, a general authority seventy from Zimbabwe. (April 2020 New Era).

Maps

The Cities Book: Zanzibar Town, Tanzania

Printable map

GeoToys Africa puzzle. How long does this puzzle take you to complete? Make a graph to track your puzzle time over the next six weeks.

Documentary

Disney+

            Disney Nature: Mystery of the Flamingoes

            Disney Nature: Elephant

            Disney Nature: In the Footsteps of Elephant

PrimeVideo

Windows of Change. Rated G. University students spend nearly a month with children of Mozambique.

YouTube

Tanzania Safari Trips-Serengeti, Ngorongoro . . . from PlanetD

Family Movie Night

Disney+

The Lion King

Black Panther

Recipe

Sugar Cane Smoothie

Week 3: Malawi

Book of the Week

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer. This book has been adapted as a Netflix film.

William Kamkwamba was born in Malawi, a country where magic ruled and modern science was mystery. It was also a land withered by drought and hunger. But William had read about windmills, and he dreamed of building one that would bring to his small village a set of luxuries that only 2 percent of Malawians could enjoy: electricity and running water. His neighbors called him misala—crazy—but William refused to let go of his dreams. With a small pile of once-forgotten science textbooks; some scrap metal, tractor parts, and bicycle halves; and an armory of curiosity and determination, he embarked on a daring plan to forge an unlikely contraption and small miracle that would change the lives around him.

Poetry

Church Magazine

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Maps

Current Events

There are many orphans in Africa. Read about one orphanage, such as this one sponsored by Mothers Without Borders.

Documentary

YouTube

“Using Kid Power to Light Schools,” (Brigham Young University, YouTube). 3 minutes.

Family Movie Night

Netflix

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. TV-PG. Based on a true story.

Recipe

Week 4: South Africa

Book of the Week

(If the following is not available, substitute with another middle grade or teen biography of Nelson Mandela).

Mandela: The Hero Who Led His Nation to Freedom, by Ann Kramer (National Geographic Kids). Because even the next generation needs to know who Nelson Mandela was.

Lexile: 860L

Nelson Mandela comes to life in this portrait of a diplomatic man whose commitment to freedom gained him both the Nobel Peace Prize and Time’s Man of the Year honor. The son of a Thembu chief in South Africa, Mandela began his life-long campaign against white colonial rule while a college student. Kramer’s eloquent, yet approachable text describes the leader’s dedication to nonviolence, his role in the African National Congress and his arrest in 1962 for sabotage and conspiracy. During his 27 years in prison, Mandela continued his fight for a democratic and free society, and ultimately was released and elected president of South Africa.

Poetry

Book of Animal Poetry: “The Meerkats of Africa,” p. 113; “The Argument,” p. 111 [aardvark]

Have a family poetry snack or tea time.

Worldwide Church 

“Break the Soil of Bitterness: One Woman’s Quest for Healing.” A black South African woman helped calm a generation of angry youth and heal her own bitterness during the most troubling times of the apartheid (LDS Church History, YouTube).

Maps

The Cities Book: Cape Town, South Africa, p. 138-141

Map worksheets

GeoToys Africa puzzle. Time yourself as you complete the puzzle. Add your time to your chart. Are you getting faster?

Documentary

Prime Video

Africa’s Hidden Kingdoms (wildlife in South Africa)

Living Hope. Rated All. The true story of three people devoting their lives to serving the poor and sick of Cape Town, South Africa.

Disney+

National Geographic Into the Okavango

National Geographic The Flood

Netflix

"Somebody Feed Phil," season 2 (a.k.a. "The Second Course"): Cape Town, South Africa. Phil eats with Nelson Mandela's grandson, tries ostrich and antelope, enjoys a barbecue and a family meal, and taste-tests coffee and flowers.

Family Movie Night

“The Color of Friendship,” (Disney+). Mahree, a girl living in apartheid South Africa, and Piper, the daughter of a congressman in Washington DC, must spend a semester together at Piper’s house.

Recipe

Bobotie. This delicious casserole is surprisingly sweet, due to the diced apricot.

Bunny Chow. Such a fun food name! For kid-size bread bowls, cut the tops off dinner rolls and eat some of the fluffy white insides to make room for the curry. I couldn't find reasonably priced cardamom seeds, but it tasted so good without them that I'm a little afraid to add them in the future.

Week 5: West Africa (from Senegal to the Democratic Republic of the Congo)

Book of the Week

This is a "flex week," so no new book is assigned. You may make up reading time from a previous week, or get a head-start on next week’s book A Long Walk to Water. Or encourage your child to choose a novel at their reading level to read for fun. If you are loving the Africa theme, you might try Warrior Boy, by Virginia Clay (set in Kenya), books based on the movie Black Panther, or The Shadow Speaker (a YA sci-fi set in futuristic West Africa). Parents may want to preview these books before handing them to their children.

Poetry

“Mountain Gorilla” and [cover poem] from National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry.

Have a family poetry snack or tea time.

Worldwide Church

Western Africa

“You Cannot Freeze What’s in My Heart,” (New Era February 2018). A teen from Ghana stands up for her beliefs during the “freeze” when the government had banned her church.

“Unwavering Commitment to Jesus Christ,” (Elder Renlund, October 2019 General Conference). Shows the painting of Congo Falls that hangs in the Kinshasa Temple and tells about how (Congo) Africans who first converted to Christianity threw their idols into the great waterfall. 

"Hello from the Democratic Republic of the Congo!" (October 2019 Friend).

"Just a Prayer Away," (October 2019 Friend).

"Anthony's Dream," Nigeria. (March 2020 Friend).

"A White Cap for Florence," Set in Nigeria. (July 2019 Friend).

"Modern Pioneers," (July 2019 Friend). Illustrations of a family in Nigeria joining the church.

"Be Ready to Serve Him Soon," (New Era August 2020). Scroll down to the third article.

Current Events

Research fair trade cocoa. 

Read and discuss a current event from Africa. The Guardian, a British-run news agency, tends to have good articles on Africa in their “World” tab. https://www.theguardian.com/world/africa

Maps

The Cities Book: Dakar, Senegal and Timbuktu, Mali (Mali is pronounced like the girl’s name Molly).

Map worksheets.

What is the largest statue in Africa?

Documentary

Disney+

DisneyNature: Chimpanzee

YouTube

“Des rues de Kinshasa aux tapis rouges des Oscars,” Rachel Mwanza. TEDxParis. English subtitles. 10:36. 18-year old Rachel tells her own life story: as a young girl growing up in Congo she was accused of being a witch and therefore blamed for her own family’s misfortunes and sent to live on the streets. Instead of going to school, she has to work for food. Eventually, she gets cast in a movie, which led to her being able to return to school.

Family Movie Night

Idemuza (Prime Video). Rating: All. Idemuza is a drama set in Nigeria. A girl is forced to enter an orphanage with her younger siblings. Currently this has five stars out of nine reviews.

Lionheart (Netflix). Rating: PG. After her father’s heart attack, a woman tries to save the family business in a male-dominated business. This Nollywood (Nigeria produced movie) was nominated for an Oscar—then disqualified because the dialogue is primarily in English (Nigeria’s official language). The Oscars specify that for a film to win in an international category, it must be in a language other than English.

Recipe

"Congo Chicken Stew," (October 2019 Friend).

Week 6: North Africa

Book of the Week

A Long Walk to Water, by Linda Park. (Set in Sudan). This is the New York Times bestseller about a girl in 2008 and a boy in 1985. 

Lexile: 720L

The New York Times bestseller A Long Walk to Water begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about two eleven-year-olds in Sudan, a girl in 2008 and a boy in 1985. The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours’ walk from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, Salva, becomes one of the "lost boys" of Sudan, refugees who cover the African continent on foot as they search for their families and for a safe place to stay. Enduring every hardship from loneliness to attack by armed rebels to contact with killer lions and crocodiles, Salva is a survivor, and his story goes on to intersect with Nya’s in an astonishing and moving way.

Poetry

N.G. Book of Animal Poetry

            “The Ostrich,” and “The Ostrich Is a Silly Bird,” p. 106.

N.G. Book of Animal Poetry

            “The Crocodile,” and “Dark Meat,” p. 101

Worldwide Church

“Shepherds of Israel,” by Elder John R. Lasater, March 1989 Friend (a personal story from Morocco).

“Seven Tender Miracles Along the Way,” by Ephem Smith, June 2016 Liahona.

Current Events

The Grand Renaissance Dam

“The Grand Renaissance Dam on the Nile with 360’ Video.”

Maps

Documentary

Prime Video

The Most Dangerous Ways to School: Season 2, Episode 4: Ethiopia

Ethiopia Rising. Ages 7+. A man who has witnessed the deforestation of his community due to war saved his environment by planting one tree a day.

Extreme Constructions: Season 1, Episode 1: The Suez Canal (52 minutes)

Nile: 5000 Years of History. A modern woman travels up the Nile, exploring ancient ruins along the way. (4 episodes about 45 minutes each).

Netflix

Somebody Feed Phil (Season 3): Marrakesh, Morocco. Phil savors lamb, gets a pop quiz on spices, and commits a couscous faux pas over a family dinner.

Family Movie Night

Lamb (Prime Video. Subtitles). Ethiopia.

Zarafa. Ages 7+. An animated film based loosely on the historic event that brought a giraffe from Africa to Paris about two hundred years ago.

Recipe