KrissiK Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 I've got a rising first grader and I'm trying to figure out history for her. In the past, I've done SOTW1 for my older 3 kids, and while it worked great for kid #1 who is a very auditory learner, kid #2 didn't learn much, and kid #3....she's even more of a visual learner and it turned into a nightmare. Anyhow, kid #4 is a visual type, too, so as much as I want to do SOTW1, I don't want that grief. So, I think I'm looking for something that doesn't exist, but I though I'd run it past the Hive to see.... 1) american history would be nice... something that would cover say... Explorers, colonial period, major historical figures 2) I've looked at both A Beka and BJU and they don't go in depth enough 3) she likes crafty stuff and coloring I think she would like History Pockets, but HP for primary only has two books for Am. History - Native Americans and Life in Plymouth Plantation. I'll be using those, but I'd sure like some sort of spine to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faithful_Steward Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans? It is free for Kindle on Amazon or you can print it from Gutenberg. Memoria Press also reprinted it and uses it for young ones. You could add those History pockets, library books (If you lived, D'Aulaire, Jean Fritz), and Scholastic projects (watch for these on Dollar Days). Did you look at the Abeka 4th grade book? it is definitely accessible for a first grader. It is colorful and includes memory work in the back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 I would get all the Betsy Maestro books. They are incredibly detailed, beautifully illustrated, available in paperback so not too pricey, and cover exactly what you're talking about - prehistory and explorers up to about 1820. You could add in Jean Fritz biographies and get a couple of project books - I would suggest More Than Moccasins and Colonial Kids - and call it done, especially if you also do history pockets. Double ETA: Oops...This is the first one: http://www.amazon.com/Stories-Time-Discovery-Americas-Americans/dp/0688115128/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_z And here's the second.... http://www.amazon.com/Exploration-Conquest-Americas-Columbus-1500-1620/dp/0688154743/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1435247795&sr=8-3&keywords=betsy+maestro&pebp=1435247801009&perid=1BTGFV6TX5KZSRWQ0M3M 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kharisma Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Not a living book, but Adventures in America might fit the bill. Maybe The Children's Book of America by William Bennett. On second thought it is a nice collection but jumps quickly from indians through the man on the moon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almondbutterandjelly Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 You might check out Christian Liberty Press' American Pioneers and Patriots or Child's Story of America. Get some Dover coloring books and the other HIstory Pockets to supplement (they do have Colonial America, Explorers of North America, Moving West, the American Revolution, and the American Civil War -- so what if they say Grades 4-6? The crafts still work in littler hands.) If you want "depth," you're going to have to go a little older anyway. For your visual learner, did you look at Abeka's History stuff for 5 year olds? They have large cards that would be a great supplement. http://www.abeka.com/ABekaOnline/BookDescription.aspx?sbn=202045 My other thought is graphic novels by Capstone Press, but those are older, too. Very visual, though, and tons of history ones. Timberdoodle.com has several or check out Amazon. Here's an example: http://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Roanoke-Colony-Graphic-History/dp/0736896570/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1435254446&sr=8-14&keywords=graphic+novel+capstone+press Oh! Almost forgot! The cartoon series Liberty's Kids is wonderful for visual learners! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 I would get all the Betsy Maestro books. They are incredibly detailed, beautifully illustrated, available in paperback so not too pricey, and cover exactly what you're talking about - prehistory and explorers up to about 1820. You could add in Jean Fritz biographies and get a couple of project books - I would suggest More Than Moccasins and Colonial Kids - and call it done, especially if you also do history pockets. Double ETA: Oops...This is the first one: http://www.amazon.com/Stories-Time-Discovery-Americas-Americans/dp/0688115128/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_z And here's the second.... http://www.amazon.com/Exploration-Conquest-Americas-Columbus-1500-1620/dp/0688154743/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1435247795&sr=8-3&keywords=betsy+maestro&pebp=1435247801009&perid=1BTGFV6TX5KZSRWQ0M3M Yes, I second the Maestro books. We used those and they were great. It's easy to add in some crafts or coloring pages if she is in to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RKWAcademy Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 I'm doing Adventures in America (Elemental History) with my rising 1st graders. They enjoy it because it includes coloring but they also love the little stories (they are not very deep at all but are a jumping off point for real books). From there, I add in a lot of additional books (it includes a good list but I add more), including the Betsy Maestro books. It also happens to cover the 50 states but not very completely. My kids love it and beg for history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted June 25, 2015 Author Share Posted June 25, 2015 OK, I think I have at least one of the Betsy Maestro books in my pile here. Thanks the advice. I think I have a jumping off point here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsWeasley Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 We did American Girls as a spine for history in first. It's not super comprehensive, but it was fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 (edited) .... Edited July 11, 2016 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest joshberg Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 If you are looking for a spine I would definitely recommend the book A Child's First Book of American History. It is written by Earl Schenck Miers and illustrated by the great James Daugherty. It covers American history from the Vikings up through the end of WWII. It is written in narrative form like a parent or grandparent telling the story of America to their child. The illustrations are beautiful. It's available in both hardback and paperback. Also, Beautiful Feet Books has an Early American study for K-3rd you might check out. You can stretch it out over two years and it covers the Vikings, Jamestown Colony, the Pilgrims, colonial period, Declaration of Independence, Revolutionary War, Constitution, and up through the life of Abraham Lincoln and Buffalo Bill. There is lots of coloring as they provide a free download of coloring pictures to be used with the study. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAttachedMama Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 I was also going to suggest Beautiful Feet Press for this age. Not a spine, but the books are WAY too good to pass up for this age range. They are all books you will want to own in your home library IMHO. It is such a fun way to study Am. History. We modified the instructors guide quite a bit because we didn't care for their provincial take on history---but that was SUPER easy to do. I just didn't read certain sentences in the IG. All of the books were fine. They also have a free notebook page source with coloring pages for all of the books on their website. Kids color while you read and paste their pictures into their notebooks (composition books) and you write a sentence narrating the reading for the day. They also do some copywork which was nice too. ETA: Everyone kept recommending the Betsy Maestro books for my kids when they were this age too. We tried them, but my kids did NOT appreciate them at this age. They thought they were boring. They worked much better when my kids were older. Just an FYI.... Your experience may be different. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted June 26, 2015 Author Share Posted June 26, 2015 I was also going to suggest Beautiful Feet Press for this age. Not a spine, but the books are WAY too good to pass up for this age range. They are all books you will want to own in your home library IMHO. ETA: Everyone kept recommending the Betsy Maestro books for my kids when they were this age too. We tried them, but my kids did NOT appreciate them at this age. They thought they were boring. They worked much better when my kids were older. Just an FYI.... Your experience may be different. I will look up Beautiful Feet. I also wanted to agree with you about the Maestro books. I do have a couple of them ( didn't realize I did I have so many books) and I think they may be a little above her level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristin0713 Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 We used American Pioneers and Patriots as sort of a spine this year while covering American History memory work in CC. It was super. My kids (8 and 6) loved the readings and for each unit, we mapped the journey that was highlighted. We did a few of the simple activities in the book as well but the mapping was our big activity and it was really very easy to implement. I did add some extra read-alouds that correlated with the topics along the way. I wish I had something like it to use next year for world history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KateHW Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 For my K, going into 1st, we are watching Liberty Kids as an intro to American history. We watch an episode, read a couple picture books about the event/person in the episode, and if I can find one we like we'll do a craft. It's been fun and easy and he's really learning. For awhile he went around striking a pose and calling out, "give me liberty or give me death!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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