Oh, Freedom! Review by Kind Academy
Disclaimer: Complimentary product received in exchange for a review.
One of the main reasons we started homeschooling was to make sure that we could share the perspectives of different people. The Oh Freedom! Guide by Woke Homeschooling is a well-known history curriculum that does this. This curriculum is mentioned often in the decolonized history circles that of course, we are a part of at Kind Academy. It was one of the first curricula I heard of when on my search for decolonizing education and I am super grateful for a curriculum like this.
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Considering this curriculum for your learners? Here is a breakdown of it:
Pros of Oh Freedom!:
Oh, Freedom! is literature-based which means your learners will be reading lots of books and excerpts to learn about history. I like this method of learning a lot for students who love to read or listen to read alouds. Woke is also very organized in how they suggest you do the curriculum with a rotational method on how to use the guide. Breaking it down and giving you a step-by-step makes the program much more accessible for families who may be new to homeschooling. This curriculum is also really extensive with lots of books to read and lots of assignments to get through. It could easily take 2 years to get through it if you choose to go a bit slower than the recommended 40 weeks. I like this as sometimes history can take down a rabbit hole and feeling rushed is a no-no when doing homeschooling. All in all, this is a wonderful curriculum and one my family will go to when looking for black history and history from different perspectives.
Cons:
For learners who struggle with reading a lot of books, this may be a tough curriculum to get through but I find that using audiobooks helps a lot with these types of learners. Because the curriculum is so extensive it can be tough to stay with it and to stay interested in the content. The way I help with this is by keeping it my library of curriculum to go to whenever we are interested in learning something specific that is covered in this guide. As interest-based learners, we do this a lot and this is definitely not a deterrent from using this curriculum; on the contrary, having this in our arsenal among other great history resources is necessary for our family.
To conclude, Oh Freedom! is an amazing curriculum and one that homeschoolers should definitely look to for a more full picture of history. I dream of a day that a curriculum like this is used everywhere.