PinkTulip Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 DH and I are planning a trip to Williamsburg, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia next Thanksgiving, with maybe some civil war battlefields, Montecello, and Mount Vernon, too. We would like to do some American History this year so that our children will understand the significance of the things we will be seeing, and *gasp* maybe even appreciate them! Our children are currently 11, 9, 8, and 6. I've been reading through the Rainbow Resource catalog and "All American History" and "Complete Book of U.S. History" catch my eye. Any all-inclusive, more than just the stories, craft-suggesting, question-asking, activity-inducing American History curricula that the hive can suggest? TIA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessedwithboys Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 I'm currently using Tapestry of Grace, year 3 (the 20th Century) with my twin 11 year old sons and really enjoy it. However, I have also used and enjoyed Winterpromise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 Guest Hollow has a free US history curriculum for grades 2-6. Sonlight has a 1 year US history core, which might be a little over your 6-year-old's head, but it's lit based. SL doesn't really have a lot of projects, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela&4boys Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 (edited) DH and I are planning a trip to Williamsburg, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia next Thanksgiving, with maybe some civil war battlefields, Montecello, and Mount Vernon, too. We would like to do some American History this year so that our children will understand the significance of the things we will be seeing, and *gasp* maybe even appreciate them! Our children are currently 11, 9, 8, and 6. I've been reading through the Rainbow Resource catalog and "All American History" and "Complete Book of U.S. History" catch my eye. Any all-inclusive, more than just the stories, craft-suggesting, question-asking, activity-inducing American History curricula that the hive can suggest? TIA! Wow! Can my dh, our four boys, and I tag along? Lol. :tongue_smilie: That sounds awesome! I've also been looking at All American History for next year. It seems to garner relativley positive reviews. Another option is MFW's Exploration to 1850, although it does include science too. My 2 cents, Edited October 14, 2009 by angela&4boys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna A. Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 Another option is MFW's Exploration to 1850, although it does include science too. This was going to be my suggestion. And here's a link to the second half of that (each is a one-year program): http://www.mfwbooks.com/1850mod.htm If you have a junior higher when doing those years, he/she would do science at their own level. MFW recommends Apologia, but you can use whatever you like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkTulip Posted October 14, 2009 Author Share Posted October 14, 2009 (edited) Angela - feel free! We're pretty excited! It's not a small thing for our family to buy 6 airline tickets and take a trip like this, so we really want our kids to get as much from this as possible. Edited October 14, 2009 by my4cowboys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdeveson Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 Angela - feel free! We're pretty excited! It's not a small thing for our family to buy 6 airline tickets and take a trip like this, so we really want our kids to get as much from this as possible. Wait for us. Hey, what are the chances that we'll all fly to Washington for Thanksgiving for an American History unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNC Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 Do you already have a world history curriculum? Is this a supplement? I would use for the wide age spans of your children: A Child's Story of America, Christian Liberty Press http://www.amazon.com/Childs-Story-America-79945/dp/1930092938/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255621649&sr=1-1 or the Rainbow Book of American History, by Earl Schenk Miers (secular) http://www.amazon.com/Rainbow-Book-American-History/dp/B0007E46Q8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255621587&sr=1-1 Then, fill in with picture books and readers from Truthquest American History for Young Children 1-3. I would simply read along in your chosen spine and then use TQ to fill in with library books. Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkTulip Posted October 15, 2009 Author Share Posted October 15, 2009 We have been through SOTW 1-4 ,and are currently doing a combination of SOTW/ Encyclopedia of History this year with outlining (for my oldest). We will continue with our world history, but would just like to really beef up the American History aspect this year in light of our upcoming trip. We have timelines going so they can see that the two histories are not overlapping (we're on Medieval / Early Renaissance this year). Thanks so much to everyone for their fabulous suggestions - they have given me a lot to look at / go through, but I think we're on the right track! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 Sonlight 3+4 would be a good 1 year american history for that age range. (Just the "Core" -- which would be history reading outloud and independent -- easy to adapt for your 8-11 year olds at least, and even the 6 yo will likely enjoy some of the books) I did SL 3 and SL 4 over 2 years and they've been two of our favorite years. Lots of great books. I look forward to doing them again in a couple years with my youngest. FWIW, SL has a great guarantee, so if you buy from them and don't like it you can get your $$ back (you have a few weeks and have to not mark up the materials, of course) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 DH and I are planning a trip to Williamsburg, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia next Thanksgiving, with maybe some civil war battlefields, Montecello, and Mount Vernon, too. We would like to do some American History this year so that our children will understand the significance of the things we will be seeing, and *gasp* maybe even appreciate them! Our children are currently 11, 9, 8, and 6. I've been reading through the Rainbow Resource catalog and "All American History" and "Complete Book of U.S. History" catch my eye. Any all-inclusive, more than just the stories, craft-suggesting, question-asking, activity-inducing American History curricula that the hive can suggest? TIA! p.s. I hope you have a couple weeks to see all those sites!! Minimum 2 days Philly, 2 days Will, a day at each of the others. . . 3 days in each of Philly and Will/etc is better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 For the older ones, you might want to look at the electronic field trips from Colonial Williamsburg that you can get through Homeschool Buyer's Co-op. It's $50 for one per month over 7 months IIRC, each with a different topic. We did these last year with my third-grader (age 8) when we were doing colonial history and they were very interesting. They are aimed at 4th grade and up, but she was able to get what I felt was my money's worth out of them. The 6 yo may or may not enjoy them. For my daughter, it worked out better to watch the archived versions rather than the live broadcast as I could vary the pace if she got antsy. Other ideas: check the websites for the various historical sites you plan to visit to see what they have in the way of educational resources specific to the site. We did this when my daughter was in kindergarten and we went on a long driving trip through New England. It helped a lot. Many of the sites are national historic sites and may have a free Junior Ranger program. The kids get free booklets to answer a few questions about the site and once they are done will get a free plastic Jr Ranger pin on badge. My daughter loved these and they are designed with different levels for different ages. They would all also probably enjoy watching Liberty's Kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 We are using a combination of Winterpromise American story 1 and Sonlight core 3 and core 100. If you want one that you can combine all your kids together, and have crafts etc I suggest going with Winterpromise. I like the hands on component with WP and the lit with SL so combining them works for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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