This course is designed to help teachers teach their students about the wonders of the original Americans. The students will experience a Native cultural adventure from the perspective of its children. The students will discover what it was like to be a child in California long ago. This approach is designed to assist children in embracing a culture that may be new to them. This course will include eight hours of on-line learning, outside reading, and preparation of a (geographic-specific) curriculum that falls within the parameters set by the state of California for the instruction of California Indians to 3rd and 4th graders. Participants will then attend an in-person seminar where their curricula will be work shopped and an immersed pedagogy will be demonstrated and discussed. This course is worth two units (quarter basis) from the University of California, Riverside Extension.

Those (teachers) successfully completing this course will have a greater knowledge of California Indian history, geography, cultures, and literatures and access to resources in order to create an immersed educational experience. Instructors will be given a workbook (for students) and a manual (for instructors) that will include specific lesson plans for successful classroom implementation. Each instructor will construct a curriculum that will specifically address the Indians living in the region where the students live. This course will utilize the pedagogical tools of foundation, conception, immersion, and invention (The Four Directions of Indian Education); it also allows for different learning styles and will be interactive, collaborative, experiential, and fun.