Looking for a secular history program that includes living books and activities

[A home for their hearts]

I'm wanting something that is open and go that has everything all planned out for me. I've looked at MFW and HOD and didn't really like some of the books that are used for spines. I am a christian but I do not want to indoctrinate my children with other peoples beliefs that I may not share. I'm really wanting something that uses real books and has fun activites. I already have math and language arts cover. I'm also wanting to cover American History/Government this year. TIA!

[A home for their hearts]

Anyone?

[zookeeperof3]

For many of the reasons you stated, I am switching to Trisms. For secular US History, I'd suggest a textbook. I'm going to be using one myself,one of these. http://www.amazon.com/United-States-History-Government-Prentice/dp/0133612228/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1289927326&sr=1-2

 

http://www.amazon.com/Build-Our-Nation-American-Geography/dp/0618206604/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1289927162&sr=1-1

 

HTH,

Kim

[Farrar]

What about the Joy Hakim series? They do have guides that go with them with test questions, discussion questions, etc. Though they don't have "activities" beyond that and they don't suggest other sources, I don't think.

[momto2Cs]

 

Time Travelers from Homeschool in the Woods is easy to secularize, is all laid out for you, AND has good book recommendations, and loads of activities.

[BBG580]

We are using Our World series by Joy Masoff and will use the text/activity books as we progress through K-3.

[SnowWhite]

Winterpromise's American Story 1 and American Story 2 are secular except for their Bible devotional titles. (Grades 1-3 and 2-4 respectively; can be used by older children with older readers and/or more independent study). Their American Crossings uses the aforementioned Homeschool in the Woods title (grades 4-8). American Cultures would be secular all but the devotional study and "Christian Character" resource.

[DaffodilDreams]

I've looked at this, but I haven't used it (yet - tempted, though):

 

http://www.globalvillageschool.org/

[Lady Florida.]

Winterpromise's American Story 1 and American Story 2 are secular except for their Bible devotional titles.

 

That's what I've been using. However, I didn't buy their spine because from what I can tell it's pretty religious. I like the Winter Promise style, but it's involved a LOT of tweaking on my part -- mostly to find activities and substitutions. I would love to find something like WP that's totally secular.

[Closeacademy]

Oak Meadow is like this starting with OM5.

 

There is lessons in the text. Assignments for a variety of activities and books to read.

 

OM5--Early American history to civil war & culture & geography of US

OM6--Ancient to middle ages

OM7--Renaissance to Modern

OM8--US civics

 

Just an idea.:001_smile:

[SnowWhite]

That's what I've been using. However, I didn't buy their spine because from what I can tell it's pretty religious. I like the Winter Promise style, but it's involved a LOT of tweaking on my part -- mostly to find activities and substitutions. I would love to find something like WP that's totally secular.

 

What spine? "An American Story: 100 True Tales" by Jennifer Armstrong? That's not actually a spine though it's used all year and it's DEFINITELY not at all religious (the book is recommended by Tom Brokaw I think). I can't for the life of me think of any religious books included in the history portion of AS1/AS2.

[sagira]

What spine? "An American Story: 100 True Tales" by Jennifer Armstrong? That's not actually a spine though it's used all year and it's DEFINITELY not at all religious (the book is recommended by Tom Brokaw I think). I can't for the life of me think of any religious books included in the history portion of AS1/AS2.

 

I can second this. I read the whole book, and it's definitely not religious at all. I love it! I was seriously considering getting WinterPromise AS1 because it looked very secular to me. However, I decided to do my own version of American History with Mara Pratt's American History Stories Volumes I and II (at least) and An American Story.

[NanceXToo]

Oak Meadow is like this starting with OM5.

 

There is lessons in the text. Assignments for a variety of activities and books to read.

 

OM5--Early American history to civil war & culture & geography of US

OM6--Ancient to middle ages

OM7--Renaissance to Modern

OM8--US civics

 

Just an idea.:001_smile:

 

:iagree: If you want to know more, read on. If you don't, skip the rest of this post haha.

 

We're currently on Week 11 of OM5 over here. So far for social studies we've:

 

Weeks 1 and 2: Read "Where Do You Think You're Going, Christopher Columbus?" (assigned reading) and "Pedro's Journal, A Voyage With Christopher Columbus" (optional/supplemental reading- of which you are always given several suggestions). In conjunction with that, we read a couple of short lessons in the syllabus (pertaining to early visitors to North America), with pauses to do some map activities, did a couple of creative writing assignments (a short story about what terrible monsters and other hazards might await anyone who tries to sail around the world, and a few paragraphs about what it might be like if you were a Native American Indian who saw Columbus and his ships arriving off the coast of your home- how you'd feel, what you'd do etc), learned about how sailors then might have used shadows to tell direction, started charting the measurements of a "shadow stick," looked for the North Star (and then wrote a poem about the night sky), made our own compass using a pan of water, a cork, and a magnetized needle, and made a wooden sailboat.

 

Weeks 3 and 4: Read "If You Sailed On The Mayflower in 1620." (assigned reading) and "Pocahontas and the Strangers" (optional/supplemental reading). In conjunction with that, we read a couple of short lessons in the syllabus (pertaining to Jamestown mainly), with pauses to do some map activities, made a diorama of Jamestown, made a Pocahontas paper bag puppet, and did a writing assignment (OM always provides a choice of writing assignments, my daughter chose one that asked "What if you were elected the leader of a new colony? What are some of the laws you would make about establishing a secure food supply, relationships with the Indians, etc"). Read more about the Pilgrims and the Mayflower, chose another writing assignment (she chose one asking about what foods and supplies would you bring if you were preparing for the long sea voyage to the New World), read "Sarah Morton's Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl," made and tasted "hard tack," and drew a picture of the Mayflower.

 

Weeks 5 and 6: Read "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" (assigned reading) and "I Am Regina" (optional/supplemental reading). In conjunction with that, we read a couple of short lessons in the syllabus (pertaining to Colonists and Colonial Living), described a situation in my daughter's life when she felt uncomfortable and out of place, talked about it, then she drew a cartoon about it, drew a map of the colonies, made up a chant or verse to learn something that she is studying in school, made and tasted a "Johnny Cake," looked at pictures of early American clothing, houses and furniture, and drew a picture of a typical New England colonial house.

 

Weeks 7 and 8: Continued reading "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" (assigned) and "Tituba of Salem Village" (optional/supplemental). Read in the syllabus about "Rules for Children" and made up our own list of good manners for children today. Read about The Salem Witch Trials. Did a brief writing assignment about why the Salem teenagers continued their behavior even after realizing that others were going to be terribly hurt by it. Learned to cross stitch and did her initial on an old tanktop. Wrote a book report comparing life in Puritan times to my daughter's life in modern times.

 

Weeks 9 and 10: Read "Johnny Tremain" (assigned) and "Toliver's Secret" (optional/supplemental). Read in the syllabus about Colonial Trades. Made a clay bowl. Guessed and/or looked up (if we couldn't guess right) what last names meant in regard to giving us information about what kind of work the family did in colonial times. Chose a craft to learn more about (she chose a blacksmith). Used rubber alphabet stamps to write a letter to me, using one letter at a time, to get some idea of how time consuming it was for printers in colonial days. Read in the syllabus about Plants in the New World. Learned about folk cures for common ailments. Found out what types of nuts, roots, berries or greens grow in our area that we could use for food if we were hungry.

 

We're on Week 11 now. We're continuing to read "Johnny Tremain" and will need to write a report next week about events that led up to the Revolutionary War. The syllabus lessons this week cover Spanish and French explorers. Next week we'll also get to make a clothespin doll (or a sock or rag doll, our choice), and make homemade bread and butter.

 

There have been other "extra credit" activities and projects that we could have done as well but didn't get to (a salt and flour map, learning more about various people, making a booklet to go with a family tree, pressing leaves and/or flowers to make a little booklet of plants traditionally used in folk remedies, and so on).

 

We've been having a lot of fun with it. It's secular, and there's not tons of busywork, it's not dry and textbookish, there's a lot of opportunity for thinking, discussion, and hands on activities. It's pretty cool. :)

 

P.S. I have an older, used version of OM. There may be SOME differences in more recent versions but I know a lot of it is the same.

[sbgrace]

:iagree: If you want to know more, read on. If you don't, skip the rest of this post haha.

 

We're currently on Week 11 of OM5 over here. So far for social studies we've:

 

Weeks 1 and 2: Read "Where Do You Think You're Going, Christopher Columbus?" (assigned reading) and "Pedro's Journal, A Voyage With Christopher Columbus" (optional/supplemental reading- of which you are

.......

 

We've been having a lot of fun with it. It's secular, and there's not tons of busywork, it's not dry and textbookish, there's a lot of opportunity for thinking, discussion, and hands on activities. It's pretty cool. :)

 

P.S. I have an older, used version of OM. There may be SOME differences in more recent versions but I know a lot of it is the same.

 

That sounds a lot like I've been creating! Wow. Is it appropriate mainly for 5th grade or are their programs adaptable? I'm guessing you're locked into what they selected for age levels, is that right. It might not matter. I've always wondered about Oak Meadow. I felt it would fit one of mine beautifully and not the other but what you wrote would fit both kids well. Wow.

 

OP, has anyone mentioned taking a look at Guest Hollow's American History? It's free and may fit well with little tweaking from what I remember when I looked it over. The American Story: 100 True Tales is secular. If it's not I missed something huge when I read it through twice. But it sounds like WP isn't a fit otherwise for you. I don't think there is any curriculum that will fit any family perfectly without tweaking. I decided to just make my own US history curriculum for similar reasons (I didn't like certain theology stuff in HOD, I needed more activities than some programs, etc.) I don't know that I have it in me to do this for ancients and beyond so I may have to compromise and just make do with less than ideal programs.

Edited November 17, 2010 by sbgrace

[Lady Florida.]

What spine? "An American Story: 100 True Tales" by Jennifer Armstrong? That's not actually a spine though it's used all year and it's DEFINITELY not at all religious (the book is recommended by Tom Brokaw I think). I can't for the life of me think of any religious books included in the history portion of AS1/AS2.

 

 

Oops sorry. It's not AS1 and 2 I'm using but American Crossing and American Cultures. Those are the middle school level ones. The book I referred to isn't a spine in the sense of a history book, but it is one that's used every week. It's the Time Traveler's Activity Series & Text, from Homeschool in the Woods. From everything I've read about it, I'd need to do some heavy tweaking to make it as secular as we'd like. Instead I just read what the assignment from there is, and try to come up with something of my own using the library or internet.

 

We haven't finished American Crossing yet, but I do already have the IG for American Cultures. It looks like it's going to be easier to secularize.

 

I love the Winter Promise style, and it works quite well for my son, so it's worth it to me to try and weed out what doesn't fit our family's beliefs. However, I'd drop it in a heartbeat if a similar, but completely secular program became available.

[StephanieF]

Could OM5 be used with an advanced 3rd grader or would that be completely out of the question!

Stephanie

[Soror]

Reading along here and I really like the way OM sounds as well. However, I have just a 6 y.o. and he is what I consider between k/1st. What is their early grades history like?

[NanceXToo]

That sounds a lot like I've been creating! Wow. Is it appropriate mainly for 5th grade or are their programs adaptable? I'm guessing you're locked into what they selected for age levels, is that right. It might not matter. I've always wondered about Oak Meadow. I felt it would fit one of mine beautifully and not the other but what you wrote would fit both kids well. Wow.

 

The thing with Oak Meadow is that K-3, all subjects are incorporated into one syllabus, for the most part. You can't buy subjects separately. In 4th grade, math is separate- everything else is in one syllabus.

 

In 5th grade, U.S. History (which is what I described here) AND English are in one syllabus and they integrate a lot- vocabulary words are pulled from the social studies reading, social studies writing assignments are also language arts, the books assigned for your reading (which technically is language arts) happen to be on social studies topics and so on. So just know that you'd be getting both language arts and social studies if you decided to go with OM. Then you can buy Environmental Science separately (which is also FANTASTIC for 5th grade btw! Lots of really neat hands on things, neat writing assignments, some crafts and so on, my daughter LOVES OM5 science!) And then they have their 5th grade math syllabus. Or you can buy the whole package.

 

I really love OM as a whole. They somehow manage to make ALL of their subjects just as interesting/creative/fun/hands on as the social studies I've described.

 

I really can't say enough good things about it!

 

Could OM5 be used with an advanced 3rd grader or would that be completely out of the question!

Stephanie

 

Stephanie,

You would have to make your own decision on this, and I will say that Oak Meadow has FANTASTIC customer service so you could also call and ask them about this and they will be very nice and helpful to you! But one of their main philosophies, so you know, is that "childhood is a valuable period and nothing is to be gained by rushing through it."

 

It's why their K and 1st grade programs are VERY gentle and hands on and story and nature based with lots of crafts and music and movement and coloring and gradually learning the letters of the alphabet in hands on Waldorf-y ways and so on.

 

I haven't looked through 2nd and 3rd much yet since I've only used 4th, 5th and part of K so far... I know that by 4th while it still manages to stay hands on and creative, it gets much more in depth with writing assignments and things like that, and would an 8 year old get out of the topics and writing assignments what a 10 or 11 y/o would? I don't know. I like to keep things kind of unhurried over here but definitely evaluate your own child and feel free to ask them what they think over at OM.

 

Reading along here and I really like the way OM sounds as well. However, I have just a 6 y.o. and he is what I consider between k/1st. What is their early grades history like?

 

As I had mentioned above, OM is VERY gentle and not very academic in OMK and OM1 in particular. Personally, I really love that about it- that it's so sweet and doesn't rush academics in the earliest years and lets a kid be a kid and so on.

 

There's no real "history" in K- language arts and social studies are integrated and the social studies portion mainly comes through stories and focuses some on family history and local community.

 

1st grade says: "In Social Studies, students begin to develop a sense of time and place as they encounter classic tales, make their own calendars, and draw maps of their neighborhoods. Multicultural awareness is explored through community connections and a developing sense of good citizenship."

 

***

 

You can read more about the OM curriculum for various grade levels here:

 

http://www.oakmeadow.com/curriculum/k-8.php

 

and more about the OM philosophy here:

 

http://www.oakmeadow.com/curriculum/philosophy.php

 

My blog is pretty much an ongoing record of what our days with OM are like, often with pics.

 

:)

[HootyTooty]

Oak Meadow is like this starting with OM5.

 

There is lessons in the text. Assignments for a variety of activities and books to read.

 

OM5--Early American history to civil war & culture & geography of US

OM6--Ancient to middle ages

OM7--Renaissance to Modern

OM8--US civics

 

Just an idea.:001_smile:

Thank you so much for this. This year I pieced together my history using the Core Knowledge website, but the above sequence will be perfect. Anything to make planning less stressful.

[Guest Cindie2dds]

Could OM5 be used with an advanced 3rd grader or would that be completely out of the question!

Stephanie

 

I have a 3rd grade Syllabus and have poured through it, just to see where OM is headed in the future. It looks like so much fun. I wouldn't skip it.