In search of a spine for American History

[A home for their hearts]

We are going to be studying American History next year. I need a spine for my dd13. She is reading on about a 7th grade level but I would say her comprehension is more on a 5th-6th grade level. I would like something that is secular, but those seem to be few a far between. I've looked at A History of Us and All American History. Is there any other options? I don't want a textbook. I would like something that is lively and engaging.

[Ali in OR]

We use the History of US books. We use Biblioplan for history and American history falls into years 3 and 4. They schedule books 2-5 for the 1st year and the rest for the second year (parts of vol 1 were in year 2 of the history cycle I think). It would be a lot to cover in 1 year. But we've used it for two cycles now and it passes our test for "engaging"--my older dd has picked it up for pleasure reading since we went through it last history cycle when she was 3rd/4th grade (it is middle school level reading though--I don't think it's too young for your dd). We do use it as a read-aloud in our studies--usually about two chapters at a time 2-3 times per week. Our library has the series; it was nice to check out a volume to see if we would like it before buying the whole series (which was a Christmas present from MIL and FIL).

[mom31257]

The Complete Book of US History would be a quick, simple read if you are adding more to it. DK's Children's Encyclopedia of American History is a possible choice.

[dbmamaz]

History of US by Hakim. I think k12 has a shortened version. But we LOVE History of US and i'm not a history buff. Its pretty much middle school level, but i'm using with my two boys who are elementary and high school. We go pretty slowly through it - its going to take us 2.5 years - but i'm sure you could go faster than that.

[TarynB]

I second The Complete Book of US History. Although it is brief and very much a high level overview, it was a good spine for us. We used it with added historical fiction and Netflix videos, not much written output. It was a great history study for us.

 

K12 recently came out with their own concise version of Hakim's History of US. It is secular. Four volumes. K12 uses it in 5th & 6th grade. May not fit your definition of lively and engaging though. You can buy those and the student pages/TMs on the used market easily.

 

There's also the Sonlight history booklist/core that covers American History (Core D?). Easy to secularize by leaving out the books you don't want, and the Christian viewpoint that is present in the TM is easy to skip.

[momto2Cs]

We have the first volume of the (K12) Concise History of US (Hakim), and I really like it. It is nowhere near as cluttered as the original series, and reads well. I'm reading it aloud to a 4th grader and 6th grader, and they enjoy it too. The chapters are pretty short, so we go through a few at a time.

[Chrysalis Academy]

I've really liked The Making of America by Robert Johnston.

[happyhomemaker]

I like the Drama of American History. It has multiple volumes like Hakim, but the text is less busy. I find them to be balanced and well-written.

[TarynB]

I've really liked The Making of America by Robert Johnston.

 

Thanks for the reminder! I actually bought a copy a couple of months ago, read the first few chapters - which I liked, well-written - and then set it aside and forgot about it (embarassing). I remember thinking it'll make a great spine for DS when he does American History again in 8th grade. (I think this means I have a book-buying compulsion - I don't even plan to use it for a couple of years, LOL.)

[Amominfl]

I am planning on using Eyewitness to America for our history spine for 9th grade. Not sure of the reading level though as it is all first person accounts. I found a copy in my local library and reviewed it before I bought a copy from Amazon.