Short American History...

[Babs]

I wanted to cover American history this summer over 6-8 weeks. What program/books w/ schedules would you recommend? Not opposed to a unit study...Just has to be a good overview that fits into a 6-8 week timeframe.

Thanks!

Babs

[Hoggirl]

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[Babs]

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6th grade boy and 3rd grade boy (mostly for the 6th grader!)

[OhElizabeth]

Well I can help you with the 3rd grader. The Rainbow Book of American History by Earl Schenck Miers, which was recommended by someone earlier on the board, turns out to be really great for that! It has 50 short chapters and you could easily read 2 chapters a day if you wanted. It has big, gorgeous illustrations by James Daugherty and you can pick it up cheap on the amazon marketplace. (it's oop) It covers pretty much the whole of american history (I correlated it to the VP cards and found it pretty thorough) and hits on lots of topics boys would enjoy like steam engines, fur traders, etc. I don't have a 6th grader, so I don't know what a 6th grader would think of it. It's a very delightful spine though and would be enjoyable, not textbooky at all. For your older, have you considered just spreading it out and taking the next year to do american? 6th grade would be a great age to do Hakim's History of US.

[Babs]

Where can I find Hakim's history...is that online somewhere? I have seen it referenced and wondered...

I will look at the Rainbow book - sounds good. We like non-textbooky books!

Babs

[OhElizabeth]

Hakim should be at your local library. The Rainbow book might be too, just try. You'll find Hakim on ebay, on the sale/swap board here, lots of places. Core 100 of SL uses it as a spine and includes discussion notes. It's a VERY popular, non-textbooky spine to use. It could easily make a year or two of history for your kids.