Reading Guide: Cry the Beloved Country
This is the curriculum for you if:
You’re a little nervous-cited about homeschooling middle and high school.
You’re looking for decolonized secular homeschool curriculum and resources.
You don’t want to lose the homeschool magic just because you’re in the homeschool home stretch.
South Africa’s first Black President, Nelson Mandela, praised Cry, the Beloved Country for its “eloquent faith in the essential goodness of people.” That’s an important thing to keep in mind as you read this very sad story about a system of injustices that creates more injustices. It is likely that as you read, you’ll think about the Black Lives Matter movement and systems of oppression and racism in the United States. These are big, complicated issues and questions still playing out in the world today, so it would be naive for Paton to give this book a happy ending. He doesn’t — but the end is hopeful in a way that suggests brokenness can be healed. There are no easy answers, no one-size- fits-all political, social, or economic solutions, but if good people keep working toward a solution, one is possible. That feels like a message the world needs right now.
WHAT YOU’LL FIND INSIDE:
Files: Reading Guide, How to Read a Book
6+-week reading plan with readings, discussion questions, and activities
Final Project: TED TALK guide
WHAT YOU’LL NEED TO PROVIDE:
Book: Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
Credit recommendation: 0.25 literature credit
Placement recommendation: This is a high school level unit, designed for students who are already familiar with the basic elements of literature (plot, character, theme, setting, etc.) and who are comfortable applying those skills to texts. Like most high school level curricula, it includes works that could be rated M for Mature. If mature content is a concern for you with your student, I encourage you to preview texts to asses your personal comfort level. (I read these texts with my own high school student and teach them in high school classes, but comfort levels can be very personal things.) This is a completely secular program.
For secular homeschoolers who want a fun, decolonized, rigorous way to homeschool high school and middle school, home/school/life’s Deep Thought is the progressive high school curriculum that does the academic heavy lifting so that you can enjoy the fun stuff. Unlike other high school curriculum, home/school/life’s Deep Thought curriculum teaches students how to learn, not just what to learn and makes big academics surprisingly fun for the whole family.
All curriculum materials are digital and downloadable. Because of this, all sales are final. If you have questions, please ask before you buy.
