3lilreds in NC Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Hi everyone! :) I started trying to teach my girls about the Revolutionary War today. It was an odd experience. Our book started with Taxation Without Representation, but gave no background information at all. I don't remember enough about it anymore to explain very well. I'm using Living Books Curriculum and there is no "spine" to explain these kinds of things. I thought I had something we could use, but lo and behold, we do not. What's out there that you like? An Amazon search brings up tons of stuff, of course, but no way to know what's good an what's not. Should I get SOTW 3? Something else? I can't believe I didn't figure this out before we started. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Paul Revere's Ride (Good for memorizing) http://www.amazon.com/Paul-Reveres-Henry-Wadsworth-Longfellow/dp/0140556125/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220553759&sr=8-4 Mr Revere and I http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Revere-I-Robert-Lawson/dp/0316517291/ref=sr_1_27?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220553860&sr=1-27 Ben and Me http://www.amazon.com/Ben-Me-Astonishing-Benjamin-Franklin/dp/0316517305/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220553906&sr=1-1 Little Maid of Ticonderoga (In fact, all the Little Maid of books. They are a bit harder than Ben and Me and Mr Revere and I.) http://www.amazon.com/Little-Maid-Ticonderoga/dp/155709330X/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220553978&sr=1-4 Ethan Allen and The Green Mountain Boys (Landmark - also harder than Ben and Me) http://www.amazon.com/Ethan-Allen-Green-Mountain-Landmark/dp/B0007DF0ZK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220554293&sr=1-1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwinMominTX Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Are you looking for a spine or read-alouds? You might want to check out Winter Promise American Story 1 for a good book list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcjlkplus3 Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 I'm always in favor of SOTW as a spine. Mary Pope Osborne has a research guide (written for elememtary kids) about the American Revolution. They probably have it at your library. FWIW - America was required to pay taxes to Britain, but had no voice in the British Parliment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trivium Academy Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Liberty! How the Revolutionary War Begun by ? Liberty or Death by Maestro George Washington by D'Aulaire and we're loving Ben and Me right now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3lilreds in NC Posted September 5, 2008 Author Share Posted September 5, 2008 I'm kinda looking for a spine. I am a bit lost on how to help them understand the specifics about the Revolutionary War without being able to paint the big picture first. Maybe I am not as good at this living books thing as I thought. :lol: Thanks for the great book ideas. I will look at the WP list; I have a pretty good supplemental list in my TM too. I think I need a spine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudreyTN Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 Funny you should ask! We're in the midst of our Revolutionary War study with Adventures in MFW. ;) I got teased by the "hints" of war but no explanation. So, I bought A Child's Story of America by Christian Liberty Press and it's working perfectly. There's a good 4 chapters on the war. Oh, Oh!! AND (since you have girls, even though my boys love it too) we're reading Lizzie and the Redcoat, a sisters in time book. It goes into a lot of political stuff too. There's another one called Lydia the Patriot, don't have it, but dd wants to read it. Hope that helped! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue G in PA Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 I second Liberty or Death! by Maestro. She and her husband ( I guess it's her husband!) have a whole series of books out dealing w/ the Amer. Rev. Just search her last name in your library system...they should carry all of them. Great pictures and info. My 10yo loved them. We also like the MTH book Rev. War on Wednesday and it's non-fic. companion. I would also recommend the Liberty's Kids DVDs if you can find them. I think somebody told me the History Channel is showing the Liberty's Kids series at 7am M-F in most areas. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudreyTN Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 You can watch Liberty's Kids here. And do a search on YouTube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magistramom Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 Don't forget that much of what we are doing during the early/Grammar stage is building a foundation. I got caught up in the little stuff when I was doing Sonlight 3 with my third grader. While you CAN hone in on specific topics (taxation without representation), you honestly do not need to have tons of tiny objectives to meet your main goal (a broad overview of an era). It's good to enjoy the stories at this age, and not focus on the intricacies - you'll have tons of time and interest for that during the logic stage:) Also, what you think is interesting, may be boring or too above your child. For each goal that you have let your child find the sub-points. What helped us too, was to make a bubble map. For this, put your goal in a bubble in the center of a piece of paper (Revolutionary War). Lay out a variety of books about the topic (Paul Revere, King George, Red Coats, weapons, Boston Tea party, documents, etc.). Let your child look over the titles and materials and try to form some bubbles from this initial info. As you read, they can make more bubbles - which will be your cue to help them find resources and field trip opportunities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magistramom Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 oh, oh, oh! Liberty Kids has a website too, and you may want to watch the PBS series on the Revolutionary War so you can add to your discussions. It helped me to TRY to stay a step ahead... There is also a series of books (beyond American Girl) about young American girls (Hope's Revolutionary Diary comes to mind - but there are more in the series). Enjoy learning together! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca Posted September 6, 2008 Share Posted September 6, 2008 3Lil Reds, I had this problem too- with the same curriculum. I borrowed the Landmark picture book: Liberty! How the Revolutionary War began from the library and then ended up purchasing it from Rainbow Resource. It gave a great overview of the events of the time period. We read one two page spread at a time. Then later, when we hit those topics in Voices of American History the mental peg had already been "hung" for my kids... Hope this helps, My history is/was sketchy- so I really struggled with this as I am learning right along with my kids... I think the point of that resource is to "whet" the appetite and give the children "flavor" not do in depth teaching... I hope this helps, Rebecca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllSmiles Posted September 6, 2008 Share Posted September 6, 2008 Here are some free spines you can find online American History Stories Volume 2 (this volume deals with the Revolutionary war and its causes) by Mara L. Pratt This County of Ours by H. E. Marshall The Struggle for Sea Power by M. B. Synge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arch at Home Posted September 6, 2008 Share Posted September 6, 2008 I think that my kids got a very good feel for the Revolutionary War period by reading the Scholastic Book, My America Series books which focused on this time period. The first is call My America: Five Smooth Stones. We often refer to this series when talking about this time period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arch at Home Posted September 6, 2008 Share Posted September 6, 2008 Oh...another series that added to the facts and flavor of the Revolutionary Times was American Girl's Felicity series. I hope that you have at least one girl as these are both girl series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathleen in VA Posted September 6, 2008 Share Posted September 6, 2008 Check out the Homeschool in the Woods Revolutionary War CD. There are lapbook activities that cover the topic of taxation without representation and she provides lesson pages that discuss these in detail. I also use A Child's Story of America from Christian Liberty Press as a spine. www.homeschoolinthewoods.com I tried this link and they must be having some tech difficulties so here is another link to another company that sells the CD. If you can get to the HITW site, though, they have lovely pictures of all the lapbook projects - very motivational.:) http://www.bluethistlehomeschool.com/item/Time_Travelers_The_American_Revolution_CD/1856/c110 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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