What to do the Brits teach about the American Revolution?

[Mom in High Heels]

I'm just curious here.  In American schools, they teach how the Americans were all such good guys (talk about white washing!), and how the Brits were all evil tyrants.  The soldiers had no morals and killed the Americans at random, raped the women and stole all the food, and resources.  While I'm certain there were some bad ones in the bunch (as well as in the American bunch), they couldn't ALL be bad.  So, how do the Brits handle this in school?  They have thousands of years of interesting history to cover, so I'm wondering how much time they even give it?

[redsquirrel]

all I know is what my former BIL, a Londoner, told me. He said it wasn't really mentioned much. He knew it happened, but a lot of time wasn't spent on the matter.  His impression growing up was that it wasn't that big a deal. My BIL was an American studies major and he loved the subject of the American Revolution when he got to university.

 

So, that was his experience in his particular schooling situation. He attended school and university in the UK, but finished university here, which is where he met my sister.

[Laura Corin]

It's not mentioned.  It's just not top of our history topics the way it is in the US.  I didn't learn anything about it at school (literally nothing - we didn't study that period) and nor have the boys.

 

In the latest version of the national curriculum, it's given as an option.

 

When this topic was discussed on these boards before, it was suggested that the subject was too embarrassing.  Honestly, we have a lot of history and lost a lot of colonies.....

 

ETA: here are the options for middle school under the subheading:

• ideas, political power, industry and empire: Britain, 1745-1901

Examples (non-statutory)

• the Enlightenment in Europe and Britain, with links back to 17th-century thinkers and scientists and the founding of the Royal Society
• Britain’s transatlantic slave trade: its effects and its eventual abolition
• the Seven Years War and The American War of Independence
• the French Revolutionary wars
• Britain as the first industrial nation – the impact on society
• party politics, extension of the franchise and social reform
• the development of the British Empire with a depth study (for example, of India)
• Ireland and Home Rule
• Darwin’s ‘On The Origin of Species’

There is a total of seven subheadings, so maybe fifty options in all, none of them compulsory.

 

L

[milovany]

In American schools, they teach how the Americans were all such good guys (talk about white washing!), and how the Brits were all evil tyrants. The soldiers had no morals and killed the Americans at random, raped the women and stole all the food, and resources.

I transcribe high school classes for a living and had three American History classes this year. I didn't hear any of the above. You know what actually has a decent, balanced approach to these American events? The PBS videos called "Liberty's Kids."

[Mom in High Heels]

Interesting.  I kind of figured that with so much history that would be just a blip on the radar.  I find American history so boring (that's right!), but Indy needs to learn it, and I simply dread teaching it next year.  Dread.  He said it's funny that he knows all about European, African and Asian history, but pretty much nothing about American history.  I guess we lived in Europe so long, it was just more exciting to learn about that while we could visit the places.

[DawnM]

I went to an American school overseas, but my friend did not.  She attended the British school nearby.  She was the only American.  Mind you, this was Africa, not England, but still a British school.  She said that they used to learn about it in Primary school but it was taught from a perspective of "those pesky Americans."  She said she got teased.  Not terribly teased, but teased all the same.

 

Dawn

[Chris in VA]

I was just discussing this on Sunday with a friend whose dd is studying at St. Andrew's in Scotland. Her daughter said her Brit friends told her they spent about 5 minutes of one class period in high school talking about it!

[fraidycat]

Please excuse my complete ignorance here, but it IS basically a non-event in British history, no? It doesn't really have anything to do with anything. We tried to make them pay taxes and they didn't want to. We lost. LOL

 

Unless one is specifically studying any and all military maneuvers of the British forces, I wouldn't think there is really much to say from the "other side".

[Mom in High Heels]

I transcribe high school classes for a living and had three American History classes this year. I didn't hear any of the above. You know what actually has a decent, balanced approach to these American events? The PBS videos called "Liberty's Kids."

 

When I took it in middle school, ALL the Americans were brave and true and trust worthy (except Benedict Arnold, of course).  In high school, it was *slightly* more balanced, but not much.  It wasn't until I got to college level that I really learned about how not all Americans were so wonderful all the time.

 

I do like Liberty's Kids and agree it's more balanced.

[Erin]

Honestly, we have a lot of history and lost a lot of colonies.....

I would bet this is probably it more than anything.  

Even before considering how many colonies Britain has won and lost, American recorded history spans 500 years, max, if you go back to Columbus.  But the Brits were a Roman colony in the first century.  They have an easy four times the written history we do.  

 

 

Though I do have say, I wasn't taught this:

 

 

In American schools, they teach how the Americans were all such good guys (talk about white washing!), and how the Brits were all evil tyrants.  The soldiers had no morals and killed the Americans at random, raped the women and stole all the food, and resources.

I've got a somewhat civil war view of the revolution...Hard decisions within families, neighbor against neighbor, etc.

[Laura Corin]

Please excuse my complete ignorance here, but it IS basically a non-event in British history, no? It doesn't really have anything to do with anything. We tried to make them pay taxes and they didn't want to. We lost. LOL

 

Unless one is specifically studying any and all military maneuvers of the British forces, I wouldn't think there is really much to say from the "other side".

 

And in the same fifty years, there was unrest leading to revolution in France, followed by wars between England and France.  There was a real fear in Britain that the revolutionary fervour would cause chaos in England, and a real terror thereafter about the Napoleonic threat.

 

L

[Miss Innocent]

When I was at primary school we looked at it in one or two lessons (a school that took teaching history seriously and taught it pretty thoroughly), at secondary school not at all. I think it is just a bit of a non event in many British people's minds. I don't agree with that, but I suspect that is how it is viewed by many. We definitely concentrated on Europe and particularly England at school. We didn't learn any history of Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland at secondary school. I don't think it is anything to do with being ashamed. I think in this country we don't tend to view the decisions of rulers or governments on our behalf as indicative of either the 'goodness' or 'badness' of the people - most ordinary people here were suffering under their hands as much as those overseas.

 

I can't imagine children in this country being taught 'the British are great!' in school nowadays!  :lol:

 

Emma x

[mumto2]

One person once told me not to worry about the revolution,  England didn't like George either!  Pretty much somes it up, a blip.

[Mom in High Heels]

Part of an Amazon review: 

 

Unlike some "modern" US history books, it speaks of the founding fathers respectfully, without over-idealizing them.

 

 

 

 

I must not be the only person who feels that way about American history, as this was in one of the reviews of Hakim's History of the US, Vol 1.

[ChocolateReignRemix]

I'm just curious here.  In American schools, they teach how the Americans were all such good guys (talk about white washing!), and how the Brits were all evil tyrants.  The soldiers had no morals and killed the Americans at random, raped the women and stole all the food, and resources.  While I'm certain there were some bad ones in the bunch (as well as in the American bunch), they couldn't ALL be bad.  So, how do the Brits handle this in school?  They have thousands of years of interesting history to cover, so I'm wondering how much time they even give it?

 

I am not familiar with the bolded being taught to that extreme as a standard in US schools.

[jelbe5]

I asked my parents who both emigrated to America from Scotland in 1961. They do not recall ever learning about it in school.

 

I think "Liberty's Kids" is balanced as well as the 6 hour PBS documentary "Liberty! The American Revolution". Our family has enjoyed watching both.

[Garga]

Of course we learn all about it in America. In America it's a big deal. Each country that was owned by another, and then becomes it's own nation, learns all about how they gained their independence. Also, when the US became independent, there was a huge to-do about what sort of government to set up. They were sort of making it up as they went along. That's always fun to read about. I mean, they studied history and based a lot of government on other countries, but the whole elected president being switched out every few years was a fun idea. Was it done anywhere else at that time or were they totally winging it with no clue whether or not it would work?

 

In England, it's not such a big deal. As someone else said, they lost a lot of colonies. They had colonies in every corner of the world and slowly lost them over time. America was just one of many, so why focus on it? It didn't affect them as much as it affected the Americans who were now scrambling to create a country in the middle of wilderness separated from trade by a huge ocean.

 

I do enjoy reading the Declaration of Independence and the list of grievances against Britain. I haven't studied those grievances to know how they really played out. The DoI alludes to the British soldiers eating all the food, which comes across as funny when you read it. Kind of as if they were very rude dinner guests or something and took thirds. Shocking! I would love to study more of the details and examples of what was actually happening.

[Joker]

I'm just curious here.  In American schools, they teach how the Americans were all such good guys (talk about white washing!), and how the Brits were all evil tyrants.  The soldiers had no morals and killed the Americans at random, raped the women and stole all the food, and resources.  While I'm certain there were some bad ones in the bunch (as well as in the American bunch), they couldn't ALL be bad.  So, how do the Brits handle this in school?  They have thousands of years of interesting history to cover, so I'm wondering how much time they even give it?

 

I just wanted to say that my oldest is doing US History this year in 8th grade and it is nothing like the above. It's actually rather balanced and her class often has debates about different sides, stories, and opinions. It's definitely not been a year of 'Americans are awesome!'.

 

What I find the most interesting is this age group (at least in her classes) can debate and not agree at all yet they stay respectful and friendly. I'm hoping that continues into their adulthood and that it is the norm for that generation.

[bettyandbob]

 I guess we lived in Europe so long, it was just more exciting to learn about that while we could visit the places.

 

Perhaps your dh's career can take you to the east coast and then to Texas. Then you could fill in gaps with trips to a few other areas. 

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

[OhanaBee]

I'm just curious here.  In American schools, they teach how the Americans were all such good guys (talk about white washing!), and how the Brits were all evil tyrants.  The soldiers had no morals and killed the Americans at random, raped the women and stole all the food, and resources.  While I'm certain there were some bad ones in the bunch (as well as in the American bunch), they couldn't ALL be bad.  So, how do the Brits handle this in school?  They have thousands of years of interesting history to cover, so I'm wondering how much time they even give it?

 

Wow - that was *not* how American history was taught in my school!  In fact, there were times I wondered if maybe Mr. Finn had a bit of a Loyalist view going on, based on how he talked about the Revolution.

 

I love history - it was my college major - so all my girls got a nice dose of American history.  But we did more of a literature approach and found some great Dear America AND Dear Canada books for an evenhanded view of that time period.  One of my kids even pointed out that, based on my political viewpoints right now, I probably would have been a Loyalist myself.

 

She's probably right.

[eternalsummer]

Interesting.  I kind of figured that with so much history that would be just a blip on the radar.  I find American history so boring (that's right!), but Indy needs to learn it, and I simply dread teaching it next year.  Dread.  He said it's funny that he knows all about European, African and Asian history, but pretty much nothing about American history.  I guess we lived in Europe so long, it was just more exciting to learn about that while we could visit the places.

 

 

Maybe you could do a similar thing with American history - visit some places in the US (or even locally) that have a connection to whatever period/event you're studying.

[Butter]

I once asked my MIL that very question.  She was born and raised in England, came to America as an adult, married Jamie's dad (an American), had Jamie, moved around a lot (military), and eventually retired to Ireland.  She told me that it was just another war in the list of wars England has fought.  And that was about it.  Total non-issue.

[Laura in CA]

I have two boys passionately interested in history and all things military, plus we're Anglophiles, so you can imagine that we spend a lot of time in military/history museums when we're in the UK! And yes, it was an eye-opener (but makes total sense) that the U.S. part of British history was a little blip, if not unimportant. They certainly had a lot going on, all over the globe!

 

This image might be so tiny as to be absurd ... it's a screenshot of a photograph (so it would be a small enough file to upload) of a timeline at Dover Castle. I found it rather poignant ... if you can't read it in the tiny image, it says

 

1781-1783: British Empire expanded but American colonies lost.

 

 

[Laura in CA]

 

 

Loved it! One *tiny* quibble with what he says in the video ... the city of New York wasn't named after the city of York, but after the Duke of York. From a postcard we got at (I think) a tiny Guards museum in London, depicting the Coldstream Guards: "[The Coldstream Guards] were part of the British force that captured New Amsterdam in 1664, then capital of the Dutch settlements in North America, and re-named it New York in honour of the Duke of York, brother of King Charles II."

[Dmmetler]

S/O any good recommended books for British history (or other history) from that perspective for middle grades? I find US history rather boring as well (probably because, via living in VA, I ended up effectively taking early US history about 6 of my 12 years in PS-and that's with "social studies" that was pretty much about as substantial and had as much history content as cotton candy until 4th grade. I believe we actually got past reconstruction in two of those years). Does Galore Park have a good book?

 

I'd really love to do something else with DD in those middle years. We did one run through US history, and I'd just as soon save the next for high school.

[Laura Corin]

S/O any good recommended books for British history (or other history) from that perspective for middle grades? I find US history rather boring as well (probably because, via living in VA, I ended up effectively taking early US history about 6 of my 12 years in PS-and that's with "social studies" that was pretty much about as substantial and had as much history content as cotton candy until 4th grade. I believe we actually got past reconstruction in two of those years). Does Galore Park have a good book?

 

I'd really love to do something else with DD in those middle years. We did one run through US history, and I'd just as soon save the next for high school.

 

I haven't used the Galore Park books, but they are probably fine.  I'm pretty sure that all their middle school history (SY 1, 2 and 3) is pretty much British.  Have a look at the GP website - the books should have tables of contents in their sample pages.

 

L

[saw]

DS is in an English school and says that he is taught about the American "RebellIion", which annoys him, rather than the Revolution. I did see that the American War of Independence is on next year's Common Entrance syllabus, so the subject does seem to get some extra attention now and then.

 

As British history books, DCs have always liked Our Island Story. It's a bit archaic, I think, but they enjoy it.

[pooh bear]

Interesting.  I kind of figured that with so much history that would be just a blip on the radar.  I find American history so boring (that's right!), but Indy needs to learn it, and I simply dread teaching it next year.  Dread.  He said it's funny that he knows all about European, African and Asian history, but pretty much nothing about American history.  I guess we lived in Europe so long, it was just more exciting to learn about that while we could visit the places.

 

I'm British living in America. My ds was born in America. I also find American history boring. We have covered the basics, in passing, but I have not and will not spend a year on teaching just American history. I will tech it in context of other histories we are learning. If ds wants to learn more American history then there are countless books, TV shows and movies for him to watch in his own time.

[Mom in High Heels]

I'm British living in America. My ds was born in America. I also find American history boring. We have covered the basics, in passing, but I have not and will not spend a year on teaching just American history. I will tech it in context of other histories we are learning. If ds wants to learn more American history then there are countless books, TV shows and movies for him to watch in his own time.

 

See, this is how I feel we should deal with it too, but I'm feeling pressure from loads of people over the fact that he doesn't know much about American history, other than some rudimentary facts.  James Bond (and my MOTHER) are concerned that he'll fall behind when he goes to high school if he doesn't know it.  Blah.

[bettyandbob]

If I was homeschooling, I wouldn't devote a whole year to just United States History. I liked following the WTM approach to history. I think it really helps to make connections about what's happening all over the world as you build a timeline. Otherwise the context of some events is lost.

 

That said US History can be interesting and there are many places to visit that help make it real. I'm lucky to live on the east coast, in Virginia. Many places to see in Virginia alone, but we've also visited Boston, Philadelphia, DC, as a family. I took one of my dc to NYC and two of them to Charleston and Savannah. There a many other historical places in the US to visit. I will agree that the really old stuff in Europe can seem waaay cooler, but I wouldn't write off what you can find here.

 

Some fieldtrips I took locally related to where we were in history, but often our trips were whenever they were convenient. We'd just make a note that we'd talked about the thing we were seeing last year or it was coming up.

 

When I started homeschooling history is what I was afraid of. I hated history prior to discovering WTM. I discovered the fun of history along with my oldest child and he turned into a real history buff. Anyway, I wouldn't spend a year focusing solely on US History.

[Alessandra]

I went to a private school that used a series of British books to teach history. In eleventh grade, we did American history, because the state 'required' it. The school administration sounded rather miffed. Our course was taught by a teacher who had an advanced degree in philosophy. We were told that the main influences on later American history were Kant and Hegel. I don't actually recall how the Revolution was presented.

 

I do remember, however, that, when I was in fifth grade, my father made a formal protest about how unfairly our little textbook treated the Hessians.

[Pam in CT]

Please excuse my complete ignorance here, but it IS basically a non-event in British history, no? It doesn't really have anything to do with anything. We tried to make them pay taxes and they didn't want to. We lost. LOL

 

Unless one is specifically studying any and all military maneuvers of the British forces, I wouldn't think there is really much to say from the "other side".

 

I'm with you.  From the British point of view, I would think it was proportionately about as relevant as the US' experience with our former colony the Philippines.  How much time do most US-based educations give to that?

[ChocolateReignRemix]

I'm with you.  From the British point of view, I would think it was proportionately about as relevant as the US' experience with our former colony the Philippines.  How much time do most US-based educations give to that?

 

That is a bit extreme as the impact of the US on both world and British history since 1776 is certainly greater than that of most former colonies. 

 

I do agree that relative to other events occurring in the same time as the American Revolution which actually presented potential and/or significant threats to Britain itself play a more crucial role in British history.

[TheBugs]

I'm just curious here.  In American schools, they teach how the Americans were all such good guys (talk about white washing!), and how the Brits were all evil tyrants.  The soldiers had no morals and killed the Americans at random, raped the women and stole all the food, and resources.  While I'm certain there were some bad ones in the bunch (as well as in the American bunch), they couldn't ALL be bad.  So, how do the Brits handle this in school?  They have thousands of years of interesting history to cover, so I'm wondering how much time they even give it?

 

 

This reminds me of my childhood moving from England to the US during the late 1980s. Whatever grade it was, I am not sure, but it was full on American Revolution at school. My English parents just found it funny. Another parent felt so sorry for me. One time, our teacher read us a story about a British soldier who missed his daughter at home. The point of this story was that the Brits had human emotions too and were not all bad. The fact that I still remember this must be because it meant something to me. I also think it was to help students understand that likewise, not all Russians are bad.

 

By the way, people would ask my parents how they felt about the American Revolution all the time. How they felt about it? They would say they felt fine and actually Britain was happy to be rid of the fanatics. But they were just joking because they didn't even think about it much at all.

[katilac]

I'm just curious here.  In American schools, they teach how the Americans were all such good guys (talk about white washing!), and how the Brits were all evil tyrants.  The soldiers had no morals and killed the Americans at random, raped the women and stole all the food, and resources.  While I'm certain there were some bad ones in the bunch (as well as in the American bunch), they couldn't ALL be bad. 

 

Wow, that was definitely not my experience at all. Was this in public school, private secular, or a religious school? 

 

 

See, this is how I feel we should deal with it too, but I'm feeling pressure from loads of people over the fact that he doesn't know much about American history, other than some rudimentary facts.  James Bond (and my MOTHER) are concerned that he'll fall behind when he goes to high school if he doesn't know it.  Blah.

 

I certainly think that every citizen should learn about their country far beyond the rudimentary facts. Ditto for anyone living in a foreign country. 

 

However, I certainly think that can be accomplished without dedicating a year to American history - particularly if you roughly follow the WTM cycle. Take an extra week or two at the pertinent times in world history, or take a concentrated six weeks, and you will learn a tremendous amount beyond the basics. 

 

Every time and place in history has fascinating people and events to learn about, and there are a million ways to learn about them. If the standard approach isn't working for you, maybe a series of biographies would catch your interest, or you might want to focus on one societal aspect: how has the American view of equality changed over time, the history of the labor movement, children in America, the possibilities are endless. Next year, I am going to do a 'history with a beat' segment using social and protest music as the unifying theme. 

 

Can you nail down what does interest you in other historical studies? 

 

It's not mentioned.  

 

The arrogant American in me feels a bit insulted by this  :P

[MIch elle]

S/O any good recommended books for British history (or other history) from that perspective for middle grades? I find US history rather boring as well (probably because, via living in VA, I ended up effectively taking early US history about 6 of my 12 years in PS-and that's with "social studies" that was pretty much about as substantial and had as much history content as cotton candy until 4th grade. I believe we actually got past reconstruction in two of those years). Does Galore Park have a good book?

 

I'd really love to do something else with DD in those middle years. We did one run through US history, and I'd just as soon save the next for high school.

 

Churchill's History of the English-Speaking Peoples

 

This condensed version has 4 chapters on the start of the U.S.

[Laura Corin]

 

The arrogant American in me feels a bit insulted by this  :p

 

I guess you could see it this way: the UK has large populations that have their origins in the Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent, but the American-origin population is small.  So if you are going to pick one loss-of-empire story to tell (and you just can't cover them all) then the US one is likely to be far down the list.  

 

Now, the US input will be fully covered in 20th century history - Calvin has been studying that in detail as he covers the world wars and the Cold War.

 

L

[KungFuPanda]

I am not familiar with the bolded being taught to that extreme as a standard in US schools.

Me either. We never got the Good Guy-Bad Guy spiel. I can't imagine it's the norm.

 

See, this is how I feel we should deal with it too, but I'm feeling pressure from loads of people over the fact that he doesn't know much about American history, other than some rudimentary facts. James Bond (and my MOTHER) are concerned that he'll fall behind when he goes to high school if he doesn't know it. Blah.

Are you planning to dump him into the second semester of an American History class with no prep? In what way do they think he'll fall behind? He'll have the same curriculum as the other high schoolers and will do his assignments and take the tests.

[OneStepAtATime]

I was raised in the United States.  I found U.S. history incredibly boring in school.  I know my kids only got a choppy, boring version when they were in school, too.  But the way it was taught made it seem like the bulk of anything worthwhile in history began with the American Revolution and we were kind of the center of the universe.  I had no idea that there were a TON of historical events occurring all over that were important at the same time, or that the world was revolving and existing and experiencing really important historical events for centuries before our little Revolution came along.  I was stunned to find out there is so much more to history than was ever presented to me in school.  

 

When my mother and the kids and I started studying the people and events that eventually lead up to the Revolution, read many biographies, watched documentaries and got to know the men and women, many not as well known, that were trying to exact change I was amazed at how much was never covered in school.  Stories that were really fascinating.  They had flaws, they were human, and sometimes it was pure luck that things went the way they did.  But sometimes it was something more. And I found it all really, really interesting when we took it from the view of not us vs. them but just people, many considering themselves British still, who were trying to change things that didn't seem to be working.  

 

I would suggest that anyone wanting to study the American Revolution in particular start with the French and Indian War and what was happening in the rest of the world in the years prior to the Revolution.  And when you get to the Revolution, study the men and women who were trying to exact or stop change on both sides of the ocean.  Also, read the letters between John and Abigail Adams, as well as the biographies and letters of the other important historical figures at that time.  So much I found interesting there and it really helped me to understand the world as a whole, as well as all its component parts and what was happening to influence the world at that time.

 

As for whether the British cover the American Revolution in school, why should there be a ton of time (or even much time at ALL) devoted to something that from the perspective of a MUCH older country with CENTURIES of history is just one of MANY incidents where a colony broke away.  On the flip side of that coin, should United States citizens study U.S. History?  Of course, IMHO.  I think any country's citizens should study its own history.  But now that I homeschool I realize that there is studying history (yawn) and really digging into and studying history, all the people both common and famous, the other countries and cultures involved in various events, the political and social and economic structure and changes, the interaction, the reasons behind why things happened as they did, what was happening in the rest of the world at that time, etc.  THAT is when history can come alive, no matter whose history you are studying.

[Cammie]

My daughter attends a Canadian school here in India.  They are covering the American Revolution in 8th grade history - nothing very in depth and no real good guy/bad guy set up.  I have recommended a viewing of some of the Liberty Kids episodes - I know they are a bit young but kids in her class are from all over the world and I thought the show would be interesting to them.

[Mom in High Heels]

Me either. We never got the Good Guy-Bad Guy spiel. I can't imagine it's the norm.

 

Are you planning to dump him into the second semester of an American History class with no prep? In what way do they think he'll fall behind? He'll have the same curriculum as the other high schoolers and will do his assignments and take the tests.

 

Well, no, he'll be taking the same courses as other kids, but don't they go in with a year of US history from 7th or 8th grade?  I don't want to spend a year on US history, when there is soooo much more history to study.  I would never spend and entire year, to be honest, but will weave it in to the world history of the times, but everyone seems to think he needs more.  Blah.  They need to stay out of my business.

 

FTR, I never though the Brits would spend a lot of time on it (there is so much stuff in British history that is just amazing), but I wondered if they came at it from the perspective of the Americans being traitors, blah, blah.

[eternalsummer]

15 years ago, we had world history in 7th, early american history in 8th (up to the civil war), post-civil war american in 9th, world again in 10th, and then american (split in 2 again) in 11th/12th (although this time it included mexico and south america).  History wasn't required in 11th/12th to graduate; you could take something called "American government" instead, which was just one semester.

 

So I guess it depends on the school district - you might be able to tell the last time there was a comprehensive american history year or partial year, to see if it was anytime recently for the PS kids.  It's possible they haven't done american history since 6th grade, in which case I wouldn't worry about it.

[Joker]

I thought a moment about this thread tonight as my dd met her upcoming 9th grade AP European History teacher. The teacher is from Liverpool and basically told the students that what they learned in middle school wasn't really going to help them in high school (as far as history goes). She said that this next year will be hard but then all the other years build upon, and pull information from, their European History year so it would be worth it.

 

My dds didn't start ps until middle school and we had done zero formal US History. Anything they learned was just through normal everyday stuff. They have done more than okay with it and are in Honors classes. I just don't think it was really that important. The thing that has helped them the most in ps history has been their knowledge of world geography.