My 9th grader is set on doing US history this year so I'm scrapping his history he was doing (with the rest of the kids) and looking for something that he would like. I want a bible based curriculum so I'm looking at Abeka and BJU.. Abeka only has 8th grade and then 11th grade. I can get the 8th grade from a friend. So I'm REALLY leaning towards that one.. I wonder if there is much differance in the two. Maybe 11th goes more into detail... Anyhow, other than those two curriculums I have NO idea where to look. I don't have a lot of cash right now so it would have to be inexpensive.. Any advise? thanks Angela
CoMom has a free website called raising refounders. It has a bunch of her us history stuff. We are using it for 8th grade. (and 5th) I think with some good biographies or writing assignments it could be a good high school program.
mommix3, try learningthings dot com --> History by Grade Level They have everything that you need. I hope you find it helpful.
I am all for winging it, especially with history. There is a bunch of material at most libraries (although not always Christian), and you could have him/her do some writing assignments about what they are reading. As far as curriculum goes, I used to love BJU (because of my school-at-home mindset in the past). Now, I would suggest Mystery of History or Story of the World. These are written for younger ages, but I believe each gives a way to modify it for older student. Story of the World is not too expensive if you just get the main book. They have activity books, but that would not really be necessary. You could let them read through and maybe even pick out a certain period of time or event to concentrate more time on. The rest you could have them write out their own questions with answers.
Not Christian, and since we are secular I can't advise a religious based curriculum but for that age area I really REALLY love Joy Hakim's A History of US, they have guides you can get to go with them that are fabulous!
I would highly recommend the BJU 11th grade US History book. It provides a good deal of information and is still an enjoyable read for kids. It is appropriate for a 9th grader. Most 8th grade curriculums do not go enough into the why of what happens. If you are planning on testing since this is high school BJU has good tests too. I am very critical of history tests since I went to school to be a social studies teacher and have writtten enough of them in the past. We did Abeka for World History and I ended up writing my own tests since I disliked their test. I would also suggest adding a DBQ writing section to any high school history. The ones put out by Walsh are really great http://walch.com/Document-Based-Assessment-for-U.S.-History-High-School.html Kids in high school really should get used to writing using primary source material. It is great prep work for college. If you did not want to go the textbook approach, Beautiful Feet has a good program and so do Notgrass.
Just read books. Get an ereader and put some of these books on it. http://www.delicious.com/cornopean/bundle:USHistory
sos has a good one too if you want to use them, they are not as interactive as Cmoms stuff is, very cool! My kids learned a lot ( dd especialy) with sos history in high school levels.
After listening to people here, we now have an agreement with Oxford University Press and are building online quizzes, self-studies, guided studies, and online courses for each of the History of Us books. If you'd like to experiment with some of the quizzes, just let me know. I'll post messages here whenever we finish materials for another book in the series. Obviously, to build online courses etc., we have to read each of the books and understand the material in detail. They really are well written.
Printed out the first unit at Refounders.com They look nice. My son read this lesson and did the first page of questions.. Which is GREAT!! I'm excited to get to use this curriculum. I'm totally greatful for the person who put this on the internet.. they did an AMAZING job!
I highly recommend Exploring America by Ray Notgrass. It is a HS US History Curr and you get hs credit for history, literature, and Bible. It is an all-inclusive curr. and you get all of the main readings included with it, a big plus! We just did a full review here: http://heartsathomekids.com/store/index.php?main_page=page&id=37 I will be using it when my dd gets into hs!
I have no idea! They are a family run business and Mr. Notgrass is super nice. We are totally impressed with their curriculum.
LOL!! Took me a minute to figure that one out, Steve.. You are too funny... Heartsathome, sounds like something I may be interested in. We've been doing similar, but it's been a bit watered down since we are also teaching youngers with the same curriculum. It's also not US history, and he REALLY wants that. Going to check it out.. Thanks Angela
I will be sure to check on what is posted in here. We have been winging it this year, but I think my DS is ready to follow a set path. Thinking of building one on each President and the various effects they had on the economics of the US. Tie math into it.
This is EXACTLY what I was looking for!!! They have world history and Gov't too?! COOL! I'm thinking he may just have to wait until next year for US history. Geography may be the way to go this year. Do they make one for that?? HMM. I'm going to look into that? Thanks so much for the recommendation. AWESOME. Angela
I don't sell all of their stuff, but here is what I do sell: http://heartsathomekids.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=420_207 Here are the products from their website:http://www.notgrass.com/homeschool-curriculum-resources.php I don't see geography though. They have some great middles chool things and just came out with a new American History for middleschoolers.
