Please list your favorite history spines for 6th-7th-8th grades. Please read inside.

[Janie]

Many of you know that I am now teaching in a private Christian school. Next year I am assigned all middle school (6th-7th-8th grade) history and English back to back. I can use the combined two periods anyway I like. And I have the option to change the curriculum.

Currently, the history curriculum is Abeka NWH (6th), BJUP World Studies (7th), and BJUP American Republic (8th). I continue to push the move to classical education with some slow success. Though I really want to change to a classical-friendly classroom curriculum, I already have a lot of time and energy invested in preps from the Abeka NWH and BJUP World Studies from this year. I won't have the option of my old homeschooling days to change books whenever I want, so my choices will need to last a while.

Would you list your suggestions for curriculum at these grade levels that will prepare students with and for more rigor? Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks!

[training5]

bump! I would love to know what the Hive thinks.

[Laura Corin]

I don't know if it is what you need, but I like the Suzanne Strauss Art books for middle school. I've used the Ancient China ones and thought that the end-of-chapter essays/projects required quite a lot of thought.

Best wishes

Laura

[Nicole M]

... thought that the end-of-chapter essays/projects required quite a lot of thought.

Darn, Laura! Why haven't I heard of these books before!? I'm always on the lookout for books with good questions & projects -- since US textbooks fail so miserably in this area, and "narrative" spines don't have any questions at all!

Thanks for posting about this. I just purchased a very inexpensive copy from Amazon so I can loot it over. (There are few things more thrilling than finding a book that costs less than a Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha!)

[Stacy in NJ]

History of us books? They are primarily secular, though.