I need some ideas for history for Highschool... my dd soon to be 14 wants to do AMerican history next yr. I have seen All American History by Bright Idea press, but am wondering if it will work for her... anyone use this? Thanks for your help!
Our plans for highschool include the History of US by Joy Hakim. Though I hear often that they are on a younger level, after buying them and looking at them, I really feel they are better set aside until at least 9th grade. There is a lot in them that I dont' feel my kids are ready for before then.
I know it isn't a packaged curriculum complete with tests way of doing it, but I have found with history, my ds14 does better still with reading books and watching documentaries. He absorbs so much of it that I have not needed to test him other than orally discussing the chapters. We will be doing American history next year, too. I'll be using a college textbook since his interest level is higher than the typical high school course. We will also be using America's Providential History and then discuss the differences in the two takes on the causes and effects of the course the US has taken from its beginning. We also have quite a number of American history documentaries to watch. Looking forward to another fun year!
We used BJU's American History book and sd really liked that one. I thought it was well laid out, the questions were pretty good and the tests were not superficial. They have an activity book that you can use which is good for reinforcing the information.
I've used All-American History, both volumes. It was a bit too textbookish for our tastes. Vol. 1 went a lot better than Vol. 2. It really got bogged down in places, and I had some trouble with the organization of it.
I am having a hard time finding something... I want something that will keep her intrest...sigh... I thought All American History might work, but I am wondering if she will like it.
https://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/index.php?option=com_hsbc_epp_order&Itemid=1528 Homeschool buyers co-op has a special deal on high school American History. The idea of America by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation from Pearson. HSBC has it for free. If the link doesn't work go to www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.com and click on the history tab on the left.
I found a college text for a quarter at a yard sale that looks interesting. American History: A Survey (Volume II: Since 1865, Brinkley) I was pleased to find a post-Civil War edition since my own education never got past the Industrial Revolution.
Brooke, Rachael took the OGT (test here in Ohio for graduation) the other week. While we're not concerned about her passing it, she had a little difficulty with the Social Studies test in American history when it came to post-WWII. After two years of American History, we kinda just petered out after Civil Rights and Viet Nam. They asked about American/Russian policy during the cold war. And she's currently taking American again now, but hasn't gotten that far yet. We use Notgrass for high school American History. It includes history, lit, and Bible. She's in the middle of "To Kill a Mockingbird" for the lit part of it. (Just to clarify...OGT isn't required for hs'ed kids, but Rachael needs it for PSEO next year!)
We tried it but didn't like it either. I didn't think it was for highschool though. Is that the intended level? We tried it when my older two were in 5th and 7th grade. We have been using MFW, with some beefing up on literature. We will probably continue on and do the next two years which are mostly American History. I am considering enrolling DD in a Potter's School Class instead.
Right now I am using History of US by Joy Hakim and A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn for my high schooler.
One of our Hearts at Home moms just emailed me her review this morning! I don't even have it posted on our store yet. But, here it is. She used it last yr and vol 2 this year. Here is her review: When I was first researching this curriculum to me it looked like this was going to be like a regular history textbook. I was wrong! It looks like a big, sturdy, hardbound textbook, but it reads like a living book. It is very informative and comes alive for the teacher and the student. My son is in the 6th grade this year and we have been using this curriculum since 5th grade. He really enjoys History and enjoys reading the lesson each week. This can be done as a read aloud or easily done independently. Each lesson includes reading that is broken down into different subjects, photos of famous people and events, maps, and a section at the end called Impact which tells about the impact of the unit's events on our nation. This curriculum comes in three parts: The Student Reader, the Student Activity Book, and the Teacher Guide with Answer Key. A great asset to this curriculum is the Activity Book. It comes pre hole punched and perforated which is wonderful. I immediately take it apart and put it in a big three ring binder broken down by unit. Each lesson includes activity worksheets to accompany that lesson. A neat hands on to this book is that it includes small images of famous people and flags to cut out and paste onto the worksheets. This is great for my son to keep his hands busy while I am reading the lesson out loud. He also likes to cut and paste them himself. It's great quiet, busy work. The worksheets also include a fill in the blank and multiple choice quiz to check older student's memory, as well as map work and additional ideas and resources for further study. This can easily be adaptable up to a high school level by using the ideas for further study and extra research/homework. The Teacher Guide is a great resource, especially if you are teaching multiple grades at once. It includes a lot of information and gives ideas for teaching different grades. There are activities written out that can go along with each lesson, but I really loved the book lists. For each unit is a long list of readers and literature books that go along with the time period you are studying. This is broken down into early elementary grades all the way up to high school! The author recommends it to be used for grades 5-8, but it is so flexible and easily adaptable to teach younger students as well as meaty enough to use with extra projects for High School Students! There are 2 Volumes to this full American History Curriculum each with 32 lessons. Volume 1 begins with Exploration through 1840. There are great studies on each different explorer and lands they explored along with neat activities learning about the science of navigation equipment and navigating the stars etc... the map exercises really bring alive the places that you are learning about. Volume 2 covers the Civil War to 21st Century. There are great maps that highlight where the wars were fought and showing the states as they were being formed. I really like that there are many forms on each president. They fill in facts about the president and paste their photo onto the sheet. This helps the student to learn about each president and also learn them in order! There are forms for memorizing the States and Capitals too. This is a very well rounded curriculum with a lot of information!
I would disagree with her, Carrie. It does NOT read like a "living" book to me, but more like a textbook. We found it VERY boring, especially during the times when there's nothing like a war going on. I will agree that there's lots in the Activity books. I found that helpful. But part of that was because I'm so use to Mystery of History, and I thought this would be similar.
Did anyone say Notgrass? They are going to be my World and I know they have US history I think Jackie can tell you about that?
I mentioned that Rachael is using it now, but not any more than that. It's working well, but I honestly can't see Faythe using it next year. She's so completely different from her sister, and I don't think she'll be up to all that reading.
That is what I am having problems with. My dd will not want to do all the heavy reading that is required some of them... sigh... Why is there not a good indepth program that is fun to read, exciting to learn from... am I overlooking some?
