jennynd Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I will like to add US history to DS's study next year and we are loving SOTW. Wondering what is out there as good as SOTW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 We just kept it in the chronological sequence. So when we were up to the explorers and the new world we read extra books about it. When we were up to the Revolutionary War in vol. 3 and the founding fathers we just read lots of extra books and got a lot of videos and made sure we did all of the extra projects. I do have a textbook on the constitution that I have had dd read through when we got there. I didn't think there was enough government in SOTW. And for state history we did some pages from a state history workbook alongside SOTW when we got to it in the book. Plus we go see monuments, museums, and landmarks that are important to our state when we get to that time period (and more often really since they do those field trips with scouts too.) For us reading lots of other books on the topics alongside show what our country was doing at the time of the other events. When SOTW was talking about the potato famine and SOTW only gave 1 sentence about how a lot of Irish moved to the U.S. I made sure we read from What Your 2nd Grader Needs to Know which went more in depth on immigration and becoming a citizen. I picked up some library books on the topic. We are in World War I now. SOTW mentions women's suffrage slightly. We got other books on the topics and have been reading them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Keeper Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 We've been using the Artner guide from Memoria. It uses the What Your ___ Grader Needs to Know as its spine, and has nice lists for lit to go with it. Cheap, simple, it is easy to schedule and GET DONE. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Not sure what ages you are looking for. For littles, there is a whole series of books by Betsy Maestro for early American history that are pretty good. A lot of people use Hakim's A History of US, but some (me included:glare:) don't like these at all. I'm using the other Am Hist text suggested in WTM for the Logic Stage - The Making of America by Johnston. I like it. I'm also comparing/contrasting this with the presentation in Zinn's A Young People's History of the United States. So far this is a really rich and interesting study. We pull in living books, too, but those are our spines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennynd Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 DS is 8. we are really just reading SOTW as fun enrichment and didn't do any test or activity. And I am looking for same type deal for US history. I am not US born and not educated here until college so I am very weak in US history and don't want to and really don't know what to look for for US history.. So I guess there is really not a good story book type US history book.. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecclecticmum Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I am having trouble accessing her site lately, but I know after she did SOTW 1, Angela went on to American History, so her site may help http://www.satorismiles.com We live outside the US, so the current trouble I am having is trying to find fun supplements/mini unit about USA for a Unit Study (for culture/geography). Considering most people who write the unit studies are in the US, this means they don't tend to write about their own country, but write about every other (india, australia etc) :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomandlorih Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 We read Betsy Maestro's series last year and liked it! There is also http://www.amazon.com/The-American-Story-Tales-History/dp/0375812563 that is a good read too (with some bias against Christianity). I know a lot of folks who use The Complete Book of US History as a spine. It's workbooky, not stories but it seems very thorough and it's cheap. http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Book-U-S-History/dp/1561896799/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t Not like SOTW at all but my dd8 LOVED the Liberty's Kids series of shows about the Revolutionary War. http://www.amazon.com/Libertys-Kids-Complete-Jill-Anderson/dp/B001B73PO4/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1333584619&sr=1-1-catcorr They also stream on Amazon or Netflix HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennynd Posted April 5, 2012 Author Share Posted April 5, 2012 thank you all.. so much stuff to look through now :). thank u for all the suggestions... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagira Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 DS is 8. we are really just reading SOTW as fun enrichment and didn't do any test or activity. And I am looking for same type deal for US history. I am not US born and not educated here until college so I am very weak in US history and don't want to and really don't know what to look for for US history.. So I guess there is really not a good story book type US history book.. :( I was in more or less the same situation last year, and opted for using American History Stories by Mara L. Pratt. A bit old-fashioned, but that adds to their charm. The first two volumes concern Early American History and Revolution. We are on the third now, concerning Thomas Jefferson, expansion. They are interesting stories, and ds likes them. I also use The American Story by Jennifer Strong, The Complete Book of US History, and The Children's Encyclopedia of American History. We are having a good year, and focusing on American History has been enlightening for both of us. We have read biographies on Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson. We're reading living books on the American Revolution, the Lewis and Clark expedition, and moving west. It has been very educational and fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 DS is 8. we are really just reading SOTW as fun enrichment and didn't do any test or activity. And I am looking for same type deal for US history. I am not US born and not educated here until college so I am very weak in US history and don't want to and really don't know what to look for for US history.. So I guess there is really not a good story book type US history book.. :( Not having the American History background would make my approach harder. I know it is not a story book like SOTW, but I would look at the Complete Book of U.S. History Workbook someone suggested. We have done several of the Complete... Workbooks and my kids really like them, even though we don't usually use workbooks for science or history they would gladly do one of those if I offered. My dd9 is working through the Complete books of Maps and Geography right now, and dd7 can't wait until I get her one too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Twain Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Edward Eggleston's books are good, though they only cover up to about 1900. You could use A First Book in American History along with Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans (one of my kids' favorites which we have read multiple times). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jengjohnson Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 We're planning to use Time Travelers units from Homeschool in the Woods when we get to those sections in SOTW. We'll start the Explorers CD next week b/c we're getting to them in SOTW 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 We're in SOTW 3 right now and as we've approached US history things, we've just spent more time on them. For example, we just finished the ch. on the Rev. War. I added: Bios on G. Washington, Betsy Ross, Patrick Henry, Marquis de La Fayette Also, I found some great library books on: battle of Lexington and Concord (at the end of which my younger son asked when they were going to bring out "that big horse" and I had to tell him that was a different war.), the Constitution, and a great book called George vs. George which is a picture book that compares the two Georges and gives a good overview of both sides. I also found a book called "Duel" which is about the famous duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. So, I' pretty much just going into more depth with bios and such when US history comes up in the book. Sorry for the typos. I hate doing this on the iPad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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