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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: Sept 28 2012 at 6:39pm | IP Logged
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Does anyone know of a good "guide" for studying United States history for elementary children?
Something cheap ;) Literally just a guide, perhaps with some suggested activities, so that I could pick and choose my resources for each era or area of study, but know that I am hitting on all of them.
To give an idea:
1)We do everything very Montessori, which at the elementary level looks like a weekly work plan of specific assignments (some from the adult, some self-chosen) and projects; then a 3-6 year overview of what is going to be covered within that timeframe - with lots of time for personal exploration in areas of interest while assuring all requirements are covered as well (requirements from the parent or from the law ;) ).
2)I am *happy* with Mystery of History volume 1 (have not yet reviewed volume 2, but my son is kind of doing a self-study of Redemption to the present due to his work in the level 3 Catechesis of the Good Shepherd atrium; and his intense love for all things ancient languages, knights, and the Orient). Mystery of History provides a story for each "topic" with follow-up activities, a timeline project, etc.
I am not even looking for THAT much. Just enough to tell me the topics to be covered. Then I will pick my resources appropriately. Or my son will have the greatest say, but this way I can provide the "outline". We will make timelines and read Little House books and such --- and I do have the early US history from Our Lady of Victory (my son argues with some of the facts in the book, so he is picking up US history from somewhere I guess!).
I really don't want to have to put this together myself.....
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Garden of Francis
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: Sept 28 2012 at 6:42pm | IP Logged
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PS
I am also really not satisfied with anything that overly pushes patriotism (in our family if the push is too hard, it will ricochet the wrong direction); or *overly* pushes the Catholic faith. I want to present these two topics in a balanced, accurate and fair manner; I find that people with either of these two biases go TOO far - sadly so, because they are both noble causes.
Hence I want a guide, which will have some bias I suppose, but less so than a textbook :)
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Garden of Francis
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pumpkinmom
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| Posted: Sept 28 2012 at 7:34pm | IP Logged
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I bought this from RC history and it has somewhat of a guide. I think it was worth the $5. It has dates of Catholic events and saints. But, it's not perfect.
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Cassie
Homeschooling my little patch of Ds-14 and Ds-10
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: Sept 28 2012 at 7:38pm | IP Logged
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Hm. That looks like a great supplement for sure!
Has anyone used this one from the same place:
http://www.rchistory.com/readers-guide-to-american-history/?? This looks like it might be what I am looking for... maybe?
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: Sept 29 2012 at 7:27pm | IP Logged
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I went ahead and ordered the Reader's Guide to American History, so we'll see how it goes when it arrives :)
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Sept 29 2012 at 7:39pm | IP Logged
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Have you looked at Kathryn Stout's guides here?
I haven't seen the history one in person, but I was able to find the science guide or much less used on Amazon.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: Oct 10 2012 at 9:06am | IP Logged
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Ok I bought this one:
Reader's Guide to American History
It arrived yesterday so we only just started the first topic (barely!), but I LOVE it!
It is a thin guide, with the history of the United States divided into 8 sections. Within each topic is a SHORT list of dates/events to be memorized (we started a timeline with notecards with the first dates - date on one side, event on the other); people/place/topics to know and learn about; important documents of the era then suggested resources; and a small number of suggested activities. There are also study topics from Hirch's Core Knowledge series which are far better than our state standards anyway l)
Finally, suggested resources take up two pages, are organized by reading level and expected availability (in print, out of print, etc) - and recommended poetry and songs as well. I am less concerned about just these resources but to have the topics and to have the suggested resources gets us in the right direction, covering all the basics, then fill in the rest with interest.
Very nice, very compact, lots of white space, so easy to just follow along :)
It is geared for 3rd-8th grade, with plenty of wiggle room for younger children; and i could see expanding on the research and assignments to do a high school course if needed.
Perfect so far!
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hsinfljmj
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| Posted: Oct 10 2012 at 11:01am | IP Logged
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Thanks for the review! It looks great!
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4Real Forums : Across Time and Place
Topic: United States history - middle elementary
