shinyhappypeople Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Please! I am capable of purchasing a shiny new US history program, but I really don't want to. I have a lot of resources already on my shelves and hard drive. Resources I own: ETA: I can't believe I forgot the NtK books: I have 3rd, 4th (own) and 5th (library). I love them. I also found a couple of US Revolution-themed comics, a book about the presidents... and I'm going to stop looking now because this is getting ridiculous. I need to de-clutter. Complete Book of US History Smithsonian's Children's Encyclopedia of American History History Pockets: American Revolution 3-D Maps: US History Dinah Zikes Foldables: American Journey Our Constitution Rocks! (a little above my kids' heads, but I really like this book) Time Travel in the Kitchen: US History (got this for my 11 yo who loves to cook) Sonlight Core D (?) the first year of US History - but I'm just... ugh. Not loving it. I'll probably sell it. My kids would revolt if all we did was read. Video: Discovery Education streaming (free subscription through school district) Netflix Amazon Prime plus all the usual free sources like youtube and teachertube. Historical Fiction: I own some US History related titles, and my library has almost everything I might want to use. Lapbooks HOAC Lapbooks: (I went a little nuts at currclick's last sale) A Summary and Review of American History 1585-1681 A Summary and Review of American History Civil War Through Spanish American War A Historical Look at American Indians American Revolution American Government The US Constitution Lewis and Clark Expedition The Louisiana Purchase Westward Expansion American Civil War Knowledge Box lapbook: American Revolution My (optimistic, completely unrealistic, but well-intentioned) thinking when buying these lapbooks was that I would pull what I like from each and go from there. I don't see us doing a ton of individual lapbooks. I thought it would be fun to supplement with mini-books, though. But, now I'm thinking: CRUD! There are too many moving parts and I don't know how to pull it all together. I'm at a loss as to where to begin. How do I pull all these resources together to make a cohesive whole? How do I figure out the big picture? My temptation is to get lost in the details. ALSO: one of my great-great, etc..... grandfathers was one of the founding families of Germantown PA, and another one fought in the Revolution, so I'd like to work in a bit of family tree stuff related to them. This is important to me, because I think it will help make history more than just a bunch of stories about strangers, kwim? Plus, it's just plain cool to have a direct tie to these places / events. :) The girls LOVE crafts, cooking, art, and music. I really want to buy Great American Artists for Kids: Hands On Art Experiences in the Styles of Great American Masters. I'm embarrassed admitting that, by the way, because I already have *so much.* Please help. I'm in totally over my head. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyerin Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Just do it! It's OK if it's not tidy and pulled together. You can have a GREAT year of US history with what's on your shelves and library books. In your shoes, I might check out the Betsy Maestro books from the library in order, one at a time. After you read through and narrate/discuss/whatever you want to do with the first one, then spend a couple of weeks or more doing some of the activities from your lap books, your videos, map work, crafts, recipes, whatever's in your collection that applies to that time period. Then check out the next one and repeat. There are seven of them, and they'll take you from pre-European settlement through the Louisiana Purchase (ish). They're fantastic. Meaty enough for an 11yo, yet would be accessible read aloud to kids as young as K-2nd, IMO. After you finished those, you'd have a better idea of what it looks like to use some of those lap books, and you might feel better about using the ones that come after the time period that the Maestro books cover (Westward Expansion, Civil War). Sounds like a fun year to me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinyhappypeople Posted August 5, 2014 Author Share Posted August 5, 2014 Just do it! It's OK if it's not tidy and pulled together. It's becoming increasingly clear to me that I am a perfectionist. I feel frozen both because of the abundance of resources that I have, and the multitude of ways that this could be accomplished. What do I want my kids to know at the end of the school year? That's the big question. If I can answer that, then maybe I can focus more. I feel so scattered... hey look! a butterfly!... when I try to sit down and fit the pieces together. My new mantra needs to be "History done imperfectly still blesses my children." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Well, I found The Complete Book of US History to be a good spine. It's what I used as a jumping off point. Here's what I did... The entire book was more than I wanted to do in one year, so we're splitting it into two. In that case, the first five units make a nice, full year. I plan on giving a month each to First Americans and European Exploration. After that: Colonial Times, Revolution, and Westward Expansion each get two months each to flesh out. Starting in August and taking December off, that puts us finishing at the beginning of May. (It also has us covering colonial times...pilgrims...around November.). I plan to spend some of May doing American Tall Tales...but it's open to finish up the other stuff if needed. Just plug in whatever lap books and fiction as you come to the right time period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Analysis paralysis. :-) But let me assure you that choosing from a variety of resources is not "cobbling together" anything. It is just as valid as buying one subject-in-a-box. It is, in fact, what most classroom teachers do, and you're at least as competent as they. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyerin Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Well, I found The Complete Book of US History to be a good spine. It's what I used as a jumping off point. Here's what I did... The entire book was more than I wanted to do in one year, so we're splitting it into two. In that case, the first five units make a nice, full year. I plan on giving a month each to First Americans and European Exploration. After that: Colonial Times, Revolution, and Westward Expansion each get two months each to flesh out. Starting in August and taking December off, that puts us finishing at the beginning of May. (It also has us covering colonial times...pilgrims...around November.). I plan to spend some of May doing American Tall Tales...but it's open to finish up the other stuff if needed. Just plug in whatever lap books and fiction as you come to the right time period. ooh, I like this! I've never seen the Complete Book of US History, so I didn't know what it was like, but this sounds like a good plan! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 ooh, I like this! I've never seen the Complete Book of US History, so I didn't know what it was like, but this sounds like a good plan! Amazon has a Look Inside for it. ETA: For my first unit, I actually do very little teaching re: the land bridge/ice age aspect. I decided to focus more on ancient Indian cultures (Maya, Aztec, etc). The book is very basic, which makes it perfect as a spine/outline. I ended up spending about $80 on extra books I wanted to include with it (picture books and historical fiction) because my library didn't have many offerings for the time period. I also spent a lot of time googling crafts (how to make a Viking ship? paper basket weaving? toilet paper roll Revolutionary soldiers?) because I *didn't* already have a lot of resources (lap books and such) and because my kids are younger and love crafts. Here's my Pinterest board -- as you can see, my pins are mostly craftivities but I was going for the "WOW" factor and stuff my kids would remember, more so than deep understanding. ;) But I think you can put as much or as little into it as you want. The book (Complete Book) actually has a few activities included at the end of each section (ie. there's a morse code activity, some writing prompts, etc.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Another Lynn Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 If I were in your shoes, I would have to eliminate some resources before I could work with that. I think you said you have girls and one is 11yo. Not sure if you have more than two or what your other age/s is/are. So, with a grain of salt: my suggestion is to simplify and streamline. I would pick something to be a read aloud spine (CBOUSH or NTK or whatever). I would add some good biographies. I would put history related books (non-fiction, historical fiction, biographies - whatever), and require X minutes of reading/ day (time requirement depends on what else you are doing for literature as well as their ages). And, that's probably where I would stop because I'm not crafty. But you said your girls like crafts - so then I would pick a craft/project/thing you "do" for once a week or every other week or once a month - whatever works for you. I love the idea of the Great American Artists - but pick something that you know you won't hate doing (because they'll love anything, right?). In short - don't look at all your resources. You have a limiting resource and that is time. Thing about how much time you want to spend (your time and their time) and fill it carefully - and don't fill it too full! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Not at home, so I can't search my bookmarks, BUT maybe you just need someone else's American History outline so you can go along and pencil in your resources. That is basically what I did, although I didn't already own any resources, so you are ahead in that respect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 We split US history into 2 years. I did something similar to you. What do I have and how can I split it up? I used the complete book of US history for the first part and the Veritas Press cards as a spine for the second. Not looking at it at the moment I think I divided into the following units: Native Americans Explorers Colonial Times Revolutionary War Westward Expansion Civil War Reconstruction Age of industry Wars Modern times I get a big sheet of paper list all the units and made a grid of resources I have.--Non fiction, fiction, hands on resources, etc. I make the topics under the unit based upon either the spine I'm using or what I have on hand. I make a word doc and line it all up. :) it's actually not that difficult and you don't have to be that detailed. I like to organize everything ahead of time, but you certainly don't have to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 I cobbled myself together a very nice US history program for my rising 8th graders this year. I think it will be fabulous. :) What I did was choose a spine which covers the time period I want to study (History of US - Hakim), roughly followed SL's reading schedule for the spine (compacted the 5 day schedule into a 4 day schedule because we prefer it that way), decided what other resources in that Core (100) were worthy of our time, chose other resources (original documents, documentaries, etc.), and put a schedule together. I made a schedule for the boys' independent reading and one for literature read alouds (yes, I still read aloud to them in middle school). It took about 40 hours to put it all together, including all of my research time, but it is lovely. Don't be afraid to jump on in and do it as you wish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitterpatter Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 Perhaps you just need a good timeline to pull it all together in an orderly fashion? Looks like you have plenty of good resources. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventuresinHomeschooling Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 I'd pick a spine to help organize you. Then I would write a loose outline that corresponded with your spine's chapters and fit in literature, projects, lap books, supplemental reading that fit with each chapter. Then you have order. If you have a resource that doesn't fit with your spine, consider whether it's necessary and if you really, really want to fit it in, or put it aside. There are tons of project ideas from pinterest (as long as you don't get overwhelmed by the buffet,) or you can get some good ideas from a few library books like Colonial Crafts books, etc. If you find that you have a hole, you can fill it in with some library books, but if you have Sonlight, you shouldn't have any holes. I think the main thing you need though is a spine to help you have a starting point and a framework to organize around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.