American History for 1st-3rd graders? (MFW? BF? ??)

[profmom]

What do you like for a year of American History for a group of 1st - 3rd graders?  I've been looking at MFW's Adventures in American History and BF's Early American History.  I also briefly looked at WinterPromise. 

 

My concerns about MFW are that it could be dry, and I don't see a sample for their history text Story of the U.S.  Can anyone give me a review of that?  I like that it includes a study of the states, but is that an interesting study with them?  Is this enough for 3rd graders?

 

My concerns about BF is the point-of-view.  Should we skip the guide and just read the books?  Is this enough for 3rd graders?

 

Is there another good option?  We'd like to do a year of American history before diving into Ancients the following year.

 

 

[Lieutenant Stranger]

I'm interested in this...I've been looking...and looking...and then I get distrac---- OH LOOK SOMETHING SHINY!

[Ewe Mama]

You probably aren't going to like my answer, but I will be using a combination of four different guides, gleaning the best ideas/sources for my family from each and tossing the rest. I am a (trying to be) reformed curriculum junkie for every subject, but history is my biggest area of addiction.

 

With Joy, my eldest, I used MFW. Even at age 7, she was a very independent worker and she plowed through it without problem. We read together and discussed her thoughts and ideas, then she worked through the notebooking and projects with my help, as needed. I found the state study to be rather dry and repetitious. We both liked the Story of the US.

 

After stepping away from boxed curriculum, I started finding more resources to ogle and look through. I downloaded Elemental History and Road Trip USA, and most recently BF. I liked parts of all of them, but not any a single one stood above the others. They all had pros and cons.

 

EH had some great book choices, but I didn't always like the projects (I like crafts/projects that can be useful or truly beautiful, in a CM manner. I hate watching my kiddos work long and hard on something and then just toss it aside when it is completed. I take pictures and toss, but that feels so disrespectful of their time and effort).

 

Road Trip had more complicated projects and recipes, but I liked the state study better. If I chop out the extra projects and stick to the basic info about states and state history, I think it goes well with the state study in MFW. I also like the more regional approach to the study.

 

I love notebooking and therefore enjoy BF. I am actually working through it myself to tweak the viewpoint a bit. I like the coloring pages. I like the books, although, I must confess, D'Aulaire books are not my favorites. It lines up well with MFW and EH. Sure there's some redundancy, but my three boys need repetition. My youngest, however, has the memory of an elephant, but she will enjoy it as well. I find it to be teetering on the brink of dry on its own as it has a predictable schedule, but with some of the simpler projects and resources from the other guides, it will be great.

 

I am making a schedule to line everything up and cross out the extras. We won't start until fall, but I am confident that this will work well with my four youngest kiddos. It will probably take us longer than 34-36 weeks to cover everything, but we school year round, so that's not an issue for us.

 

For the basic information you really can't go wrong with either one. BF has the coloring pages to keep kids focused and doing something while listening to the stories, but MFW has more variety. It all depends what you need for your group. I also have Creek Edge Press task cards for my son Simon to work through. That will give him a bit of beefier work to challenge him. Technically he will be in fourth grade this fall.

 

I hope this helps.

[Jennifer132]

We used Adventures. I personally didn't like it a ton, because the state study was very repetitive and it got boring, and alot of the activities revolved around recipes and food (my kids have food allergies). The don't remember The Story of the US-- maybe I've forgotten, or maybe it's new to the program. I do remember Pioneers and Patriots, and my kids liked that.

 

We did Heart of Dakota Bigger this year, which is also US history, and we really, really enjoyed it. I would look at that before MFW.

[hsmom2011]

Elemental History. We have stretched it out over 2 yrs for 2nd and 3rd. I added History Pockets and extra library books. I used Adventures with my oldest when in grade 2, and Elemental History would be my first choice.

[Farrar]

We did US history in 2nd grade.  My kids were too young for the Hakim series (and it's too long anyway for a single year).  But I decidedly did not want a Christian curriculum.  In the end, I didn't find anything great.  The Complete Book of US History is a nice easy guide if you want something simple, but I didn't find it to be fun or juicy enough to be a real curriculum.

 

In the end, we ended up using living books and projects.  I especially love the Betsy Maestro books.  They're perfect.  I also really loved the Brown Paper Schoolbag USKids History series.  Those were great.  And there's a single volume of stories called The American Story that has nice little anecdotes that was perfect.  Anyway, we cobbled it together.  There are so many great living history books for US history that I never wanted for resources.  

 

One good resource to look at is Guest Hollow's plan.

[Guest]

You say a group of 1st-3rd graders? Is this for a co-op style setting? If so, I think MFW Adventures would be wonderful. (And I'm saying that picturing a co-op we were involved in when my ds was younger, so I apologize if I'm misunderstanding!) We did Adventures this last year for our family and it was a bust. BUT, that is mainly because ds had done HOD Bigger Hearts for His Glory prior to Adventures and MFW was taking a huge step back for us. Adventures was perfect for my dd in 1st, and had we not done that HOD year before I think it would have been great for my ds, too. I think it would be ideal to tailor to a group of kids of various ages and stages. The states study can be a bit boring, but it is what it is, you know? Lots of books can be read to make that more interesting.  FWIW, we tried BF when my son was in 1st, and I found it incredibly boring. I think it may have been re-vamped since we used it, and I believe we had an older, used copy, too.

 

ETA: Story of the US - nothing earth-shattering, but I liked that the readings were short so it didn't bore the kids. It got it done painlessly. Pioneers and Patriots, OTOH, was a favorite!

[momto2Cs]

We did US history in 2nd grade.  My kids were too young for the Hakim series (and it's too long anyway for a single year).  But I decidedly did not want a Christian curriculum.  In the end, I didn't find anything great.  The Complete Book of US History is a nice easy guide if you want something simple, but I didn't find it to be fun or juicy enough to be a real curriculum.

 

In the end, we ended up using living books and projects.  I especially love the Betsy Maestro books.  They're perfect.  I also really loved the Brown Paper Schoolbag USKids History series.  Those were great.  And there's a single volume of stories called The American Story that has nice little anecdotes that was perfect.  Anyway, we cobbled it together.  There are so many great living history books for US history that I never wanted for resources.  

 

One good resource to look at is Guest Hollow's plan.

 

The Maestro books would be my recommendation, and then add in fiction, projects, etc.

[chelsmm]

We are also enjoying the Maestro books.  My kids are 1st and 2nd grade.  We supplement with dvds, story books, etc.  But the Maestro books are a great spine.  The pictures are nice, the readings are age appropriate for the most part (we came across a mention of rape in one- the one about American Revolution- I just skipped that word because my little ones don't know about that yet).

 

 

[Samiam]

I use MFW Adventures, and it was a great year, in terms of the history. One of my favorites, and my son reflects on that school year fondly. I admit, the state study was dry, miminal, and I was bored with it. My son loved it though.

 

I'm going to be using BF this year (mixing middle and younger son). I'm super excited, the books are fantastic. I'm adding in more readers and read-alludes, now that both boys are officially reading. I'm adding in more notebooking, and more projects (akin to our MFW year).

 

As far as the "I don't like the point of view" thought....keeping in mind, both MFW and BF are written to the parent, who then decides, filters, shares with the child....it's easy enough to filter out the POV statements, and focus on the actual history topic. I don't agree with BF POV in some things, but that is between me and them...I can stop the trickle down to my children easily enough.