My 8th grader has never had American History (yeah, a great job ps is doing there.) We need an American History text. Any advice?? These were suggested by our "school". I have no idea about any of them. A History of US 1855-2001 A History of US Prehistory through 1860 All American History Vol 1 All American History Vol 2 America History Of Our Nation Cicero US History, Series 1: 600 B.C.-1801 Cicero US History, Series 2: 1801-1901 Cicero US History, Series 3: 1901-Present
We used All American History Vol 1 this school year. It isn't as textbookish as some textbooks but it was too textbookish for Ems. We made it halfway through then stopped. If Ems was more traditional in how she learns, it would have been a great book. It isn't horrible. It just wasn't our cup of tea.
I forgot to add that there is also a thick activity book that has the students cut and paste pictures to the question pages in order to help them apply information. This is the only part Ems liked. lol
I also found All American History too textbookish for my liking! We did pretty well with Vol. 1, but got bogged down with Vol. 2.
What about A History of US: 10-Volume set by Joy Hakim - I got these from the library before and liked them (I do NOT like the audio book though). You can do tests and quizzes based on Hewitt Tests (comes with a schedule as well) https://www.hewitthomeschooling.com/Junior/jItem.aspx?id=2852 We are using it for 10th grade (Sonlight - and my son LOVES American History)
I've read a few poor reviews for Joy Hakim's books. What do you think about her point of view? I've read that it seems to be skewed towards a positive view of socialism and communism. Some mentioned she seems to be somewhat anti-America and anti-Christian. I've also read she gets some facts wrong, both historical and biblical. Not to trying to pick apart the curriculum, I'm genuinely curious, as I've read these reviews and comments across a wide variety of websites and they are popping up way more often that I'd like. I know Sonlight says directly: And while I am honestly all for presenting different viewpoints and letting the student come to their own conclusions, I've also read one reviewer say it took her child an hour to read the Hakim book and then another hour for them to go through the Sonlight guide to "fix" everything that was wrong with the Hakim material. It almost seems counterproductive?? Can you dispel some of this for me? Maybe these reviewers are disgruntled about other things?! haha
That's why I say to check it out at the library. Its not anti-christian from what I have looked at and read before - but very general. Some people WANT a purely Christian history and from what I have seen/read that's NOT Hakim. It's a comprehensive read when using all 10 volumes. I read somewhere that even a SL paper that followed the Hakim reading (which btw is done on different days) was controversial. So I think a lot of it depends on what you are looking for in a history book. We are looking for varied content which is why we chose SL - yes biblical views - but not for EVERY subject That make sense to you?
We will be using the Hakim books, I have them and really like them. We are not Christian so I guess her lack of a religious focus in her books isn't a big deal to me, in fact it makes them more appealing to us.
This is one of the reasons I think it appealed to Jake - he is tired of "all the Bible stuff" in every subject. He doesn't mind some as he sees it as history as well but he's just not (in his own words) "bibley" :lol:
Totally understandable! I'm more concerned about the historical inaccuracies. But, then again, is there any perfect History text? I'd venture to guess most have some discrepancies, somewhere.
Your right, there is no perfect history book. They are all in the eye of the one viewing history. For me, anything that puts Native Americans in the light of being horrible savages is way off the accuracy charts, this was their land first and we came and acted like savages taking it away.... but them maybe I'm sensitive since hubby is Blackfoot? Anyway, my point is, if I were to write a text in the ways that I see history it would probably be very different than someone who isn't sensitive to the Native American side of our country. And Dana, I agree, there has to be some religion in history.. after all it shapes so much of it (and not just Christianity), but I really don't think that should be the sole focus on any history text, ever.
My dd (13 yo) is doing a series from ~1600 to 1849 by a California High School teacher called MODERN HISTORY: Early American History: native Americans through the Forty-niners. The teacher's name is Linwood Thompson. He majored in American History and minored in drama so his lectures are quite entertaining. He dresses up (complete with props) and is great with accents. When he talks, he takes on the persona of whomever he is talking about. For example, when discussing the Vikings, he was very convincing. My 10 yo loves to watch the video, he is so entertaining even though she isn't doing this curriculum just yet. Anyhow, this comes with a work book. For each lesson (30 total) there are definitions and short answer questions. Each lesson also has an essay to write but if he isn't to the point of writing 5-6 paragraph essays, he can skip this part. My dd is doing it for a High School elective so the writing portion is madatory for her. The text book that accompanys the lecture with reading for each lesson is called "The Story of America - Beginnings to 1914" along with outside reading of Danial Boone, The Alamo, Ben Franklin, etc. THese videos are 1/2 hour each and come from The Teaching Company. If you watch their sales, you can get these lectures for 80% off but you have to order the workbook over the phone instead of online. HTH's. Kim
I was just talking to someone about those videos yesterday and it turns out they are at our local library Always worth checking into!!
I've never heard of them; I'm going to check out our library. It really does have a lot of stuff! ETA: We have two copies. One is checked out, and I'm having the other sent to my branch!
ok am I the only one who did not realize that people had US history in jr high? I went to school from 4th to 10 grade in BC so my schooling was filtered with the explorers. Canadian explorers and some US exploreers.
TMom, as homeschoolers, we do not have to teach US history at a specified time. We covered it in elementary and will cover it again in high school. It is an "a-g" subject requirement for freshman admission to the University of California and Cal State universities. Cal Baptist is a private university and while it doesn't require US history, they would like it if students covered the same "a-g" subject requirements as UC and CSU. However, the "a-g" subjects are not required. So we are doing it again so we can cover the necessities and cover ourselves incase Ems decided to apply for Cal Baptist.
Another option is to check out The Baldwin Project. These are old books on-line. I've been reading them to my kids; it's got me considering a Kindle or Nook! http://www.mainlesson.com/main/displayarticle.php?article=feature
THis is one of the schools I was looking into this year. We decided to wait another year with dd to finish her Music AA degree in town before sending her out as a transfer student btw. But thanks for clearing it up. I have done US twice have one more round with ds cause we increase what we learn as we go. But I didnt know ps was supposed to teach it in Jr.
