What grade levels would The History of US be?

[Night Elf]

K12 uses the Hakim series in their 5th and 6th grade programs, with lots of worksheets (much busywork). Sonlight uses them in their high school program, but I think they are all scheduled in one year which would make for quite a reading regimen. I can't use Christian programs though.

 

DH would like dd12 to do American History but the only program I have personal experience with is K12 using the Hakim books. My son LOVED it. But dd12 is 7th grade and she's really super tired of using materials that are beneath her grade level. I'm worried K12's worksheets will just feel beneath her grade level.

 

I cannot think of another secular homeschool program that covers American History. Anyone? Suggestions? Either on using the Hakim books on her level or using another text entirely? She learns best with a traditional method like in school. She is not a good candidate for literature based learning. When she reads too much info without really doing anything with it, it's GIGO (garbage in, garbage out). She needs to do something with the material and likes writing assignments, quizzes, non-busywork projects, and tests.

 

We didn't have a great year of history last year. We dabbled in Keystone's 6th grade middle school social science. It was a bore. The focus was not on the material, but instead on the projects which really didn't reinforce the material too much. We'd rather not continue with it even though she only got halfway through.

 

What to do... what to do... ugh. :(

[Mrs Mungo]

For a seventh grader I would use Hakim. However, you don't need to use Sonlight or K12 to do it. There are *LOADS* of resources out there online to use with Hakim. Give me a few minutes and I'll dig them out of my bookmarks folder.

[Mrs Mungo]

http://joyhakim.com/forteachers.html#anchorlessonplanshistoryofus

 

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/historyofus/

 

http://web.jhu.edu/CSOS/tdmg/program/history.html

 

http://litplans.com/authors/Joy_Hakim.html

 

http://www.scu.edu/character/CBL/CBL-Sample-Lesson-Plans/upload/US-History-Q3-WEEK2-Sample-Plans.pdf

 

There are also commercial teacher's guides out there (I haven't used these, myself):

http://www.thedowsschoolroom.com/ahistoryofus.shtml#upperguides

 

You can also get books like these:

American Revolution for Kids

 

World War II for Kids

[Night Elf]

For a seventh grader I would use Hakim. However, you don't need to use Sonlight or K12 to do it. There are *LOADS* of resources out there online to use with Hakim. Give me a few minutes and I'll dig them out of my bookmarks folder.

 

Thank you for listing those. I looked at them, and the lesson plans are all class oriented. I was really hoping for something that would be laid out already. So many people talk about how easy it is to pull something together, but I've learned the hard way that it is not easy for me no matter how well-intentioned I am! :)

[Mrs Mungo]

I've used a lot of classroom guides and found many activities easy to adapt. For example, instead of putting together bulletin board, we might make a poster or a lapboard. But, I understand what you're saying, one of the reason I don't like the Jackdaws is their reliance on classroom activities.

[AHASRADA]

I will be using Hakim for 8th grade next year with Hewitt's Junior High Syllabus and Tests for History of US http://www.hewitthomeschooling.com/book/bsingle.asp?i=2852

It is only $10 and written for homeschoolers. I wrote a detailed description in a previous post, which I will paste below:

 

It has 80 pages, loose-leaf. It gives a brief overview of the course, suggestions for how to organize their study, and an overview of assignments. This is followed by a list of the chapters to be read each week, and guidelines for the 2 research papers.

 

A list of 35 possible projects is given, which can be applied to any chapter or book, such as making a model of an invention, writing an editorial as if you were living in the period being studied, drawing political cartoons, designing a game based on a historical event, etc. I love this, because it gives the student so many assignment options to choose from, which appeal to a variety of learning styles.

 

There are 3 pages on "Steps for Writing a Research Paper". followed by a 4 page checklist, with the reading assignment for each week pre-printed, and a place for the student to fill in the date, project chosen, and to check off when completed.

 

The remaining 60 pages are the tests and test answers. Every book has one 3-4 page test, consisting of multiple choice, matching and short answer questions. Every test has an "extra credit" essay question at the end, which are quite thought-provoking.

 

It is a good (and cheap) place to start :).

 

HTH,

[Night Elf]

I will be using Hakim for 8th grade next year with Hewitt's Junior High Syllabus and Tests for History of US http://www.hewitthomeschooling.com/book/bsingle.asp?i=2852

It is only $10 and written for homeschoolers.

 

Is the guide written from a Christian perspective? If not, it might work. I'm going to look at samples now.

[AHASRADA]

Unfortunately, there are no samples online, which is why I wrote a fairly detailed description.

 

I prefer to avoid Christian content myself, and I honestly did not see any. The only place it really could have been would be within the test questions, perhaps on the essays, but again, I didn't notice anything.

 

Most of Hewitt's products are fairly neutral, and those that aren't are usually marked with a cross in their catalog.

 

HTH,

[3andme]

You might want to look at Online G3. They offer online courses for accelerated or gifted students. They use the Hakim books over 2 years. The teacher is a former K12 parent who has branched out to offering her own courses. Someone on one of the K12 yahoo forums recommended this and we're trying out the American History course this summer. You can check out a sample unit here.

[Corraleno]

Oxford publishes a History of US Assessment Book "For Middle School and High School Classes," with 6-8 tests for each volume, which works out to roughly 100 or so test questions per book. From the forward to the Assessment Book:

A portion of the questions in each test assess knowledge of key facts and chronology. The balance require students to use critical thinking skills such as making comparisons, synthesizing information, and drawing conclusions.

 

There are also Teacher's Guides for each book of the series, with writing assignments and other suggestions, and there is a grading rubric for the writing assignments in the Assessment Book.

 

Jackie

[gingersmom]

I began using History of US with my 4th grader (who loves loves history). He loved the books, me not so much.

 

I liked the text but there are so many sidebars and pictures that I found it distracting to read and felt like we were always going off topic.

 

I switched to Oak Meadow (5th grade history) and love it. I also used Oak Meadow 7th grade history with my older daughter.

 

There are not study questions but there are lots of project/report ideas which worked out quite well for us.

 

I had the Hewitt Homeschooling syllabus for History of US and thought it was a complete waste of money.

 

If you google History of US there are several workbooks that accompany the textbooks. I purchased two of them. They were pricey but pretty good for chapter questions and discussion ideas.

[Night Elf]

Thank you for all the great links to explore. G3 sounds really interesting but the guest login won't work so I will have to contact them I guess. At this point though, dd12 really wants to try the K12 program and has agreed to skip the too-easy worksheets that would become the tedious part of the program and focus on the challenging assignments. She enjoys the few bits of online time but does wish it had much more. There will be some days we'll double up lessons if they seem too easy and hopefully go through the course at a quicker pace than a full school year. I am going to buy the books through iTunes so she can listen and follow along in the book at the same time. I just can't read aloud so much anymore. With 2 children in high school, 1 in middle school, and me in college, time has to be used efficiently!