Two Streams of History

[MiddleCourt]

I am planning on studying the Middle Ages this year with my oldest two (they’ll turn 11 and 13 this fall). This is the third year that I’ve been planning on the Middle Ages and then haven’t, so I’d really like to stick to studying this time period with them. But, I also feel like it’s important to include some American history or civics in our studies this year. The last time we studied American history was 3 years ago and they were pretty young. Next year we will begin a two year US history study, so I’m leaning towards a civics course this upcoming year, as it would be beneficial and timely, given the national election in the fall. Has anyone done two streams of history with kids in this age range? I’m thinking one day of American civics and then the bulk of the week is focused on the Middle Ages. Or- we could spend maybe Aug- Nov on a condensed Civics course and then do Middle Ages the rest of the year, but I kind of like the idea of two history/social studies streams.

Any recommendations for curriculum to cover middle school US civics? Uncle Sam and You looks lovely, but overkill for what I’m thinking. I suppose I could just pick and choose what I teach from Notgrass. Have you heard of anything else that covers some basic info? I’m not worried about the nitty gritty of Government until high school, but an overview of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitutiom, elections, citizenship, etc would be great. 

[SilverMoon]

I'm leaning this way for my 8th grader. My older kids all covered civics through scouting and the younger ones live on the dance floor instead. But he's interested in medieval times, and I really don't want to spend all 8th grade on civics just to do it again in highschool. 🙃

In your case it sounds like Oak Meadow's Civics (grade 8 social studies) would be a good fit. I was just browsing through my older copy today. It's pretty light overall, and if you reduce the writing and/or research projects you could do most lessons in a day or two. 36 lessons total. If it was our only social studies we'd likely get through it in half a year. 

Maybe Crash Course with some worksheets from TPT would work. Preview them. Not every 11yo is ready. If they're too fast you can slow the speed on YouTube.