Posted on 04/11/2010 1:50:27 PM PDT by kimmie7
Hello homeschoolers! I'm in the market for history curriculum. Previously we've done aBeka US History...son is in 5th/6th grade and I am feeling the need for something more comprehensive.
Just for fun, I've ordered the "Drive thru History" Soldiers/Jamestown DVD and love it, but it is hardly a comprehensive curriculum.
What do you currently use or have you used in the past?
American Heritage Foundation has a full K-12 American history lesson plan system. It’s FREE. Please check it out at http://americanheritage.org/k-12_lessons.html
I reviewed the first lesson (my undergraduate degree is in history with a specialty in military history and, more specifically, the American Civil War).
It's not bad, and it's solidly accurate - leaning conservative in my opinion.
Not very gracefully written -- but if supplemented with (the very well written) articles from the original AH magazine it would be EXCELLENT.
www.notgrass.com, it’s fantastic
This ping list is for articles of interest to homeschoolers. Metmom holds both the Homeschool Ping List and the Another Reason to Homeschool Ping List. Please freepmail Metmom if you would like to be added or removed from either list, or both.
The keyword for the FREE REPUBLIC HOMESCHOOLERS’ FORUM is frhf.
Here’s a list of resources compiled by the homeschoolers here. There’s a list of history resources, too:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2346553/posts
“www.notgrass.com, it’s fantastic”
That series is edited by a former pastor of my family’s, but I think you knew that already. As to actual curriculum, my mom mainly used BJUP, which was rather unimpressive until the 8th/9th grade “American Republic” book— at that point I started to write a lot more essays, and thus enjoyed the course much more.
You’ve got to look at Tapestry of Grace. It is outstanding! It covers History, Philosophy, Literature, Art, History of Christianity, Government, etc. It rotates through ancient to modern history every 4 years (K-12). All of your children can be studying the same time period at the same time. It makes for lively discussions & ease on your part.
http://www.tapestryofgrace.com/index.php
No, I didn’t know! But of course nothing of your family surprises me, only impresses me. :)
I still miss your posts on “that” forum, and I was just wondering about you yesterday. I’m glad you reminded me of your username.
hugs!
in the early years i used Story of the World... Veritas Press... Mystery of History... we also did the Famouse Men of Greece, Rome and the Middle Ages series... we supplemented with literature and Learning Through History magazine... as my oldest reached middle school, i liked Notgrass History... we also did some Omnibus... next year he will be going through Starting Points—which is a worldview study by David Quine... we will be supplementing with DVDs from The Teaching Company... we used a lot of Christian History magazines this past year as we covered the Renaissance and the Reformation...
T h e B a l d w i n O n l i n e C h i l d r e n ' s L i t e r a t u r e P r o j e c t
The books are free and simply excellent. Our kids loved them and would expound on all manner of subjects. They made me want to read them as well.
The comprehensive history by M. B. Synge is outstanding and a good read for adults. Your kids will know more than 95% of their peers - all the kids who aren't homeschooled.
We used T.R.I.S.M.S. for junior high, then Spielvogel for high school.
I could not find anything I liked for elementary grades so pulled my own together.
We are Catholic and use Connecting with History: http://www.rchistory.com/cwh_intro.htm
as well as Time Travelers:
http://www.homeschoolinthewoods.com/HTTA/TTS/
and History Pockets:
http://www.evan-moor.com/Series.aspx?CurriculumID=7&SeriesID=64
We also read tons of living history books. Timelines are wonderful if you can find a spot to squeeze them in. Ours are in notebooks right now and it just doesn’t work as well as when you spread it out on a long wall.
I just found this today.
The History Channel is giving away 12 hour DVD special entitled “America the Story of US”. The shipping is also free. You have to register at the link before July 1st. They are for any school including homeschools.
http://classroom.history.com/america-dvd/event/form
Someone want to ping the homeschool list on this one?
we’ve used many of the Baldwin Project stories as well as the listings at Project Gutenberg in our history and lit studies... Ambleside has a great list of readings too... we have also purchased many audio books at NAXOS...
yes it is!
I just found this today. The History Channel is giving away 12 hour DVD special entitled “America the Story of US”. The shipping is also free. You have to register at the link before July 1st. They are for any school including homeschools. http://www.classroom.history.com/america-dvd/event/form Someone want to ping the homeschool list on this one?
Hope you'll forgive the spam but I thought it sounded like a nice frugal resource some of you might be able to use.
THANK YOU!!!!!!
Another vote for Tapestry of Grace. It is outstanding!!!! We’ve tried many curricula, and this one if by far the best. Tons of books to read by a variety of authors. Covers the entire history of the world in a four year cycle. The cycle then starts over again, but your child will be at a different level, so he or she will read different books this time around.
We are just finishing up our first four year cycle and it is fascinating to see the opinions and conclusions that my children have reached based on their research. Very solid stuff.
Thanks, Jen!
I would agree, we are on the second time through on this one. The older kids are learning more this time. It works great for the little one, but with added reading and additional (more in-depth) assignments, the older kids are learning a great deal. My wife only has to teach one history lesson this way, instead of two.
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