When to teach US history.

[caitlinsmom]

When do you do it? I have a hard time waiting till 4th(ish) grade to teach it. That seems so weird to me (I dont know why) when this is the country we live in. To me it makes a bit of sense to be talking about our own country right from the get go. Am I the only one who thinks this? Do you teach US while you are also teaching world history?

[RoughCollie]

One way to do it is to have world history for a period of time (say, 3 months) and then do a month of U.S. history, and then switch back and forth. Eventually, you'll get to world history that involves the U.S. and the kids will get the big picture. This also mixes it up a little so the kids don't get tired of history. Or maybe I mean so I don't get tired of history -- U.S. history, especially, is not my favorite subject.

 

RC

[Tracey in TX]

We've always talked about it, but haven't yet made it an actual subject. Kids have been introduced since babies as we love history. This year we'll take 2 months and cover Texas history, which is mandatory for ps 4th grade. Visit the state capitol again and then head into U.S. history for remainder of year. Yeah! Children cover so little in elementary school that to begin it in 5th grade is typical. Our children will be light years ahead just having a rudimentary understanding of world history in context to the brevity of the USA.

[Wendi]

Around Thanksgiving, we'd read about the Pilgrims, Native Americans, etc. On the Fourth of July, we'd read about the Revolution and the Declaration of Independence ("The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" is great!). On Presidents' Day, read a picture book biography of a president. You get the idea. That's what I did. I did want my ds to be familiar with the great stories of early American history from an early age. The past few years, we've also enjoyed going to historical reenactments; there's a great one near us that covers U.S. history.

 

Wendi

[E_Edgerton]

I feel like American History condenses a great deal of violence and hardship (Native American issues, Civil War, WW1, Great Depression, WW2, current events etc.) in a relatively short amount of time. So, I think it may be better to deliver this at a later age...however appreciating our freedoms and traditions (Constitution and Bill of Rights, Lewis and Clark, Presidents and First Ladies, States and Captials, etc) shouldn't be limited to a certain age.

[Aubrey]

We've always talked about it, but haven't yet made it an actual subject.

 

:iagree:

 

Now that we're getting to it, ds is just salivating, & he can understand more of the connections--the basis for our gov't, etc.

 

But it is also sad, as PP said. We just talked about Pocahontas last night, & he was in tears.

[runamuk]

I'm teaching American History this year (3rd grade). Our curriculm doles it out in one week lessons - last week was Native Americans, this week is the Vikings and Leif Eriksson, next week is Columbus. It's more of a quick overview and I know I'll need to go back over everything in more depth later on.

 

I'm kind of wishing I had started with World History first.

[chaik76]

I feel that we're covering it each year...learning about what was going on in the Ancient Americas, etc. Vikings came to America pretty early, so you cover those in Year 2. Yes, you don't get to the Colonial America stuff until third grade or so, but then you have a sound base for why all that stuff happened.

We do incorporate some stuff on the holidays...

ETA: One of the reasons I personally chose to do it this way is because I feel that Americans, for the most part, hyper-focus on American history to the detriment of World History, which can help us understand our own (and no, I'm not accusing anyone of doing this...I'm basing this on the 11+ years of American History I got vs. the 2 semesters of World History I got...)

[Carrie12345]

I plan to wait until "year four" for modern history but, like pps, I think we get a good dose by focusing on US holidays and celebrations, along with casual conversation.

 

I look forward to the kids being able to participate in thoughtful conversations when we get to that period, with some decent knowledge of early history as a reference point. And I look forward to seeing it from that perspective, myself.

[caitlinsmom]

Yes, you don't get to the Colonial America stuff until third grade or so, but then you have a sound base for why all that stuff happened.

We do incorporate some stuff on the holidays...

ETA: One of the reasons I personally chose to do it this way is because I feel that Americans, for the most part, hyper-focus on American history to the detriment of World History, which can help us understand our own (and no, I'm not accusing anyone of doing this...I'm basing this on the 11+ years of American History I got vs. the 2 semesters of World History I got...)

 

I hadnt thought of it this way really. I was focusing so much on being able to relate now that I was forgetting the whole picture. Thanks everyone!

[chaik76]

I hadnt thought of it this way really. I was focusing so much on being able to relate now that I was forgetting the whole picture. Thanks everyone!

Have fun, whatever you decide!

[Oakblossoms]

I hadn't planned to teach it as a separate subject at all. Just wait for the time period it comes up. But, I picked up a free spine and thought I would give it a try. The boys are enjoying it, so we will keep on doing it this year.

 

If my boys were in school they would be in 6th, 3rd, and K.

 

(We aren't really classical homeschoolers though. I just love the board;))

[SnowWhite]

When do you do it? I have a hard time waiting till 4th(ish) grade to teach it. That seems so weird to me (I dont know why) when this is the country we live in. To me it makes a bit of sense to be talking about our own country right from the get go. Am I the only one who thinks this? Do you teach US while you are also teaching world history?

 

 

I am currently doing it in grades 2 and 3. With my younger ds, we will get "some" in WinterPromise's Sea and Sky program in grade 1, then I'm thinking we'll do the whole shebang in 3rd and 4th (to combine with older ds). My thinking is just like yours, and I am only grazing over the top of ancient history in the younger years instead of going into it in-depth.

[Paula in PA]

We use SOTW, so we've covered it as it came up in the first 2 books. We did do some extra emphasis when covering Native Americans, though. For this year with book 3, we have added a couple of extra resources dealing exclusively with American history, plus a couple dealing with PA history. We decided before we started that we want to cover history chronologically. I have to say, dd has a greater interest in and understanding of history than I ever did and I do believe it's because we aren't doing all the extreme jumping around like I got in PS.

[bettyandbob]

I've never taught it as a separate subject. But my dc have gotten US history all along, even as preschoolers. With preschoolers just about every federal holiday is a history lesson. When homeschoolers in my area organize field trips, I take advantage, even if they are out of time with the period we are studying. When I did year 4 with my then 4th grade dd and 8th grade ds I emphasized the US stuff a bit more with ds and had him do a lot with History of Us as well as other materials.

[Ellie]

I teach (or used to teach, when my dc were still home, lol) U.S. history all the time, even if we were focusing on other eras/countries/whatnot. I *love* U.S. history.

 

Here is what Rea Berg, founder of Beautiful Feet Books, says about it:

 

 

 

T

here is a philosophy of teaching which suggests that teachers begin with the dawn of creation and teach history sequentially from that point. Though this sounds good and reasonable in theory, in practice it can lead to history being perceived by a young student as dry, boring, and lifeless. This arises out of the fact that the events of ancient history are often too foreign and removed from the world of your average 6-year-old to hold any significant meaning. On the other hand, young students can readily identify the heroes of America's story, and will be more able to comprehend the remarkable and inspiring stories of Leif Erikson, Columbus, the Pilgrims, Pocahontas, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and others who played such providential roles in establishing our nation.

 

 

 

T

here are a number of reasons why we prefer to begin primary grade students with a foundation in early American history rather than teach ancient history first. As Americans, we feel that it is a priority to learn first about our own providential heritage. That foundation acts as a basis for comparison with other cultures. Due to the fact that we are surrounded with icons of our heritage (i.e. The Fourth Of July, images of George Washington crossing the Delaware) the young reader will more readily identify with American history. We are then able to build context around those symbols and events, while discovering new stories in the process.

 

 

 

A

practical reason for learning American history first is simply the abundance of excellent literature available. On the other hand, it is difficult to find good primary level literature for ancient history. A cursory treatment of ancient history, especially related to the Greek and Roman influences on our culture, undermines its contextual relevance. Also, much of the Greek and Roman influence on our culture, in areas such as law, architecture, philosophy, and art - demands a maturity beyond the typical primary student. Additionally, these students will not be able to comprehend the original writings of philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle which is imperative to understanding the ancient world.

This, of course, is the opposite of TWTM philosophy. :-)

[mcconnellboys]

I teach it within the context of world history, so a little pre-history gets covered during study of the ancients time period; a little more during study of the middle ages; then the early modern and modern periods are really very heavily skewed toward US history, while still covering world subjects, as well, so that things can be viewed in context.