Whining plead from someone that belongs on the K-8 about American History!

[home4school]

I bought All American History Vol. 1 for my 2 ds, ages 10 and 12, at a used book sale for a steal. Looked great til I got home, but now the reader is soooo dry and boring. I love the Student Activity Book and the TM for activities, ideas, etc. But the reader! UGH!

Has anyone used this program before you crossed over to HS with youngers? It says its geared for middle school, so I thought I would be appropriate for a 6/7 and could make it work for a 5th, but now I'm questioning.

I thought I really wanted to tie in Hakim and got Vol. 2. They don't match up that great, but it could be doable. Today I started looking at This Country of Ours, by HE Marshall and it looks like it would match up more easily but its hard to tell without holding it in my hand!

Has anyone BTDT with AAH with youngers and matched up some more interesting reading?

Thanks for your help! I hate regretting a purchase so soon after!

Blessings,
Kim

[Carol in Cal.]

I am disappointed in it, but I know how I could make it work if only I had time. I could read and digest the material, and then tell it like a story to DD. But, I don't have time for that, and if I did, I might use a different text anyway such as "The Story of the 13 Colonies" and "The Story of the Great Republic" because I think that those are better written and after covering the material briefly I would feel better about sending DD off to read the whole thing.

However, I have stuck with AAH intermittantly because the experience that it gives in notetaking and in helping a child see what might be key facts to a teacher is helpful and not something that DD is getting anywhere else. However, I am mostly using SOTW4, with Steward Ship-style unit studies on specific areas of American history that I want to emphasize, along with a lot of great living books. And it is working out quite well.

I wanted to love AAH, but I really don't, quite. It is not as engaging as I thought it would be from their website, because the introductory material in each section just goes on and on so by the time you get to the actual story, you're ready to throw the book across the room, I'm told.

[Jan P.]

I was thinking of getting this for my 8th grader. I don't think I will now.

Blessings,
Jan P.

[home4school]

It's unfortunate the reader is so dry and boring. In the TM, it says something like "do not read the text word for word to the student...preread and tell it like a story.." HUH? Why not just WRITE IT like a story!

Well, with $$ being such that it is, I need to try to use this! So I hope if I can find a better source for reading, we can tie in the notebook sheets and quizes.

Thanks for your input!

Kim

[home4school]

Jan, please don't let my input turn you against AAH. It has a lot of strong points and that is why I haven't chunked it completely! The Student Activity Book is great with mapping, notebook pages, review questions, further study ideas, and quizes. The TM is full of awesome ideas, activities, book lists, video suggestions, and more.

In all the reviews I could find thru Google, there wasn't a bad one in the bunch! I just have two ds, 10 & 12, that absolutely balk at anything having to do with school! I need something engaging to really catch their attention. That's my only complaint with AAH is I was hoping the reader to be more engaging. I did sit down just now and read some more from it and its not as boring as I made it sound.

Please just don't turn away from AAH bc of this thread! There is a yahoogroup that would probably be good to check out for more input.

Blessings,
Kim

[Carol in Cal.]

It's just that SOTW has spoiled us--we have a great desire for 'engaging' history now.

[Jan P.]

I'll be going to a convention this week, so perhaps I'll get to see a copy of it. My dd has been reading one of Guerber's books (out of print one), and we've used SOTW in the past. I liked the idea of the activity book, but I do like books that are well written too. I can alway come up with my own activities. Thanks for your comments.

Jan