American History/Government high school

[Pam in MA]

I was looking for some ideas for American History - Government at the high school level. Any recommendations?

[Love2Smile]

I think Notgrass looks very good! I think it's what we may be doing in the coming years

[mama25angels]

we are using the Alpha Omega lifepacs for civics

[Love2Smile]

we are using the Alpha Omega lifepacs for civics

How do you like the AO lifepacs?

[Guest Katia]

I have one dd that used Lifepacs for both, and one dd that used Notgrass for both.

 

The dd that used the Lifepacs just needed to get those subjects done. The Lifepacs gave her the information in a do-'er-and-get-'er-done format. She liked the American History well enough. It was interesting and thorough, and the TE had a lot of paper and project ideas, so we picked out one project per quarter and one paper per semester.

 

With the Government, there were a lot of terms that were thrown at her without a really good explanation, and she found that she was constantly online searching for 'more' to explain. It was the same with the AO Economics course she used, only that one was worse. We finally got some lectures from The Teaching Company to go along with the Economics, and it helped with understanding the terms and usage a lot.

 

DD that used Notgrass (we used it just for the history portion of the American History) really liked it and she learned a lot. In the Government, they explained everything and used current events and issues to illustrate, making it a much more accessible program. My dd that used the AO Lifepacs looked at her sister's Notgrass and sighed....said she wish she had had that curriculum to learn those subjects with.

 

AO worked. Dd is doing fine in college. But if I had known about Notgrass sooner, both dds would have used it.

[scrapbabe]

I haven't used these yet, as my son is only 13, but this is on our list of things to study when we get there.

 

http://www.nccs.net/store.html

Look under constitutional study courses

 

 

Smiles,

Shalynn

[mama25angels]

we are using the AO lifepacs for civics only and will use Notgrass for the American history. I add my own current events in to the lifepacs, my kids don't love it but they don't hate it either.

[Lolly]

'Nother Notgrass user chiming in.:001_smile:

[Lori D.]

While we are Christian, we're using a secular textbook from Great Source, that is quite thorough (though with a bit of a secular/liberal bias). See it at: http://www.greatsource.com/store/ProductCatalogController?cmd=Browse&subcmd=LoadDetail&level1Code=07&level2Code=070&level3Code=028&frontOrBack=F&sortProductsBy=SEQ_TITLE&division=G01

 

I got it used for about $12 (included shipping) from Amazon used books. We're just using the student textbook, none of the other resources. We've done a lot of Worldview materials, and since so much of political journalism comes from a liberal/secular worldview, we wanted to be able to read the Government from that viewpoint so we could discuss as we went, in preparation for our students researching/discussing/voting as adults. Also, by using a standard textbook, we've been able to practice notetaking from lecture (me reading/summarizing from the textbook) and from a textbook itself. Very useful!

 

 

We're also using the "Uncle Eric" book, "Are You Liberal, Conservative, or Confused?", which is an interesting take on government (less is better), the political spectrum (it is limited, and ultimately all political parties want more power), and various forms of government (capitalistic, fascist, communist, socialist), from a self-announced "juris naturalist" point of view.

 

 

The best thing we did for Government was both DSs participated in the YMCA's Youth & Government program (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_and_government), in which they wrote bills, and presented and debated them at the state capital with other high school teens around the state. Awesome program! Teen PACT is a Christian government organization that is extremely beneficial: http://www.teenpact.com/

 

 

Another secular resource that looks quite good -- and I have heard others on this board have used it very successfully for Government) is The Complete Idiot's Guide to Government: http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-American-Government-Second/dp/1592573282/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265836954&sr=8-1

 

 

And here is a free secular Government text online, from Hippo Campus: http://www.hippocampus.org/American%20Government

 

 

Finally, we are doing the Notgrass American History and thoroughly enjoying it. I debated whether or not to also do the Notgrass Government, but when I was researching it last year, the posters of past threads on the Notgrass Government more often expressed disappointment that it wasn't as good as Notgrass' American History. Also, since we were using the Notgrass American History, I wanted something different since we were doing the Government in the same year -- if we were doing Government in a separate year, I might have considered the Notgrass Government. I must say, however, that the American History and the Government really are going together VERY well this year, even though by completely different authors with completely different worldviews!

 

BEST of luck, whatever you go with! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited February 10, 2010 by Lori D.
added info

[Sharon in MD]

We used Notgrass for Am History and paired it with The Teaching Co. video series History of the United States 2nd Ed.

 

They went together very well and provided addition depth and perspective.

[elizabeth]

http://www.cqpress.com/prof/browse-courses.asp?PrimaryTopicID=527&Nav=prof For a secular and rather challenging course I suggest this group of books. They are standard AP fare and actually enjoyable to read . The chapter tests and such are all available online.

[Alphabetika]

One more vote for Notgrass American.

[mom2paul]

Notgrass here too. Will be getting American Governement soon.