Early Modern & Epistles

Summary

With these wonderful living books your family will study both World and American history, getting to know the people and events of Early Modern times (about 1550 to 1850). Geography will focus on North America. Bible lessons will include several epistles. Older students will work on a six-year project of looking for doctrinal truths as they read through the Bible.

Daily lesson plans scheduling these books are available in Early Modern & Epistles.

Book List for History, Geography, Bible

Read the books listed under Family to all the students together. Add the grade-level books as individual reads for any children you have in those grades. For example, if you have students in grades 6 and 10, you will want to get the books under Family, Grades 4–6, and Grades 10–12.

[SCM]: Available from SCM
[Book Store]: Purchase from your favorite book store
[Library]: Check your library
[Public Domain]: Available free in the public domain

(AH) = American History book, so if you are in a different country you can easily identify and substitute books as desired.

You can also view all the books below in the CM Bookfinder for easy scheduling in our CM Organizer.

Family (all students)

• Bible
• Public DomainMaster Skylark by John Bennett (optional)
• (AH) SCMAmerica: Our Stories, Volume 1 by Lorene Lambert
• (AH) SCMNarration Notecards for America: Our Stories, Volume 1 (optional)
• SCMOur Neighbors: Their Stories, Volume 1 by Lorene Lambert
• SCMNarration Notecards for Our Neighbors: Their Stories, Volume 1 (optional)
• SCMThe Stuff They Left Behind: From the Days of Early Modern portfolio
• (AH) LibraryFounding Mothers: Remembering the Ladies by Cokie Roberts and Diane Goode (grades 1–6 or Family)
• SCMVisits to North America notebook by Sonya Shafer (one for each student)
• SCMHungry Planet by Peter Menzel (used with Visits to North America)
• SCMMaterial World by Peter Menzel (used with Visits to North America)

Plus . . .
Grades 1–3

• (AH) SCMBenjamin Franklin by Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire
• LibraryCan’t You Make Them Behave, King George? by Jean Fritz
• (AH) LibraryThe Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh
• Book StoreDangerous Journey by Oliver Hunkin
• Book StoreA Lion to Guard Us by Clyde Robert Bulla
• Book StoreOut of Darkness: The Story of Louis Braille by Russell Freedman
• (AH) LibraryThe Pilgrims of Plimoth by Marcia Sewall
• (AH) LibrarySamuel Eaton’s Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Boy by Kate Waters
• (AH) LibrarySarah Morton’s Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl by Kate Waters
• (AH) LibraryTapenum’s Day: A Wampanoag Indian Boy in Pilgrim Times by Kate Waters
• (AH) LibraryToliver’s Secret by Esther Wood Brady
• Book StoreAppalachia: The Voices of Sleeping Birds by Cynthia Rylant (optional, used with Visits to North America)
• Book StoreFamily Pictures by Carmen Lomas Garza (optional, used with Visits to North America)
• Book StoreThe Great Serum Race by Debbie S. Miller (optional, used with Visits to North America)
• Book StoreHey Canada by Vivien Bowers (optional, used with Visits to North America)
• Book StoreIf You’re Not from the Prairie by David Bouchard (optional, used with Visits to North America)
• Book StoreSong of the Swallows by Leo Politi (optional, used with Visits to North America)
• Book StoreSurrounded by Sea: Life on a New England Fishing Island by Gail Gibbons (optional, used with Visits to North America)

Grades 4–6

• SCMAlong Came Galileo by Jeanne Bendick
• LibraryBard of Avon by Diane Stanley
• LibraryGood Queen Bess by Diane Stanley
• (AH) Book StoreThe Landing of the Pilgrims by James Daugherty
• Book StoreThe Ocean of Truth: The Story of Sir Isaac Newton by Joyce McPherson
• (AH) LibraryThe Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
• Public DomainThe Story of Napoleon by H. E. Marshall
• (AH) LibraryA Young Patriot: The American Revolution as Experienced by One Boy by Jim Murphy
• Book StorePaddle-to-the-Sea by H. C. Holling (optional, used with Visits to North America)
• Book StoreMinn of the Mississippi by H. C. Holling (optional, used with Visits to North America)

Grades 7–9

• LibraryAmos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates
• SCMBook of Centuries (one for each student)
• (AH) LibraryCarry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham
• (AH) Book StoreDiary of an Early American Boy by Eric Sloan
• SCMDiscovering Doctrine by Sonya Shafer (one for each student)
• (AH) LibraryEarly Thunder by Jean Fritz OR LibraryJohnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
• SCMGrowth in the Word by Sonya Shafer
• (AH) SCMPoor Richard by James Daugherty
• Book StoreRenewal: The Church That Expands Outward by Luke H. Davis
• Public DomainThe Story of Modern France, chapters 1–23, by H. A. Guerber
• SCMThe World of William Penn by Genevieve Foster
• SCMThe Year of the Horseless Carriage by Genevieve Foster
• Book StorePaddle-to-the-Sea by H. C. Holling (optional, used with Visits to North America)
• Book StoreMinn of the Mississippi by H. C. Holling (optional, used with Visits to North America)

Grades 10–12

• (AH) Book StoreAmerica: The Last Best Hope, Volume 1: From the Age of Discovery to a World at War by William Bennett
• (AH) Book StoreAmerican Voices: A Collection of Documents, Speeches, Essays, Hymns, Poems, and Short Stories from American History edited by Ray Notgrass
• (AH) The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin
• SCMBook of Centuries (one for each student)
• SCMDiscovering Doctrine by Sonya Shafer (one for each student)
• Book StoreFamous Men of the 16th and 17th Century by Robert G. Shearer
• SCMGrowth in the Word by Sonya Shafer
• (AH)Book StoreLafayette and the American Revolution by Russell Freedman
• (AH) Book StoreLewis and Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns
• Book StoreRenewal: The Church That Expands Outward by Luke H. Davis
• Public DomainA Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
• SCMThe World of William Penn by Genevieve Foster
• SCMThe Year of the Horseless Carriage by Genevieve Foster
• Book StorePaddle-to-the-Sea by H. C. Holling (optional, used with Visits to North America)
• Book StoreMinn of the Mississippi by H. C. Holling (optional, used with Visits to North America)

Note: We recommend that grades 10–12 students add an American Government course either during the Modern Times study next year or complete part of it this year and part of it next year. One possibility might be Exploring Government from Notgrass Publishing, taken at a slower pace.

We also recommend that grades 9–12 students read about and discuss current events. Selected articles from World magazine or website work well.

Bonus Titles

Here are more great titles that you can use for substitutions or leisure reading or to create your own heritage history stream as desired. We will add to this list as we discover and review more new-to-us books.

Grades 1–3

• The Biggest (and Best) Flag That Ever Flew by Rebecca C. Jones
• Galileo’s Leaning Tower Experiment by Wendy Macdonald
• The Firekeeper’s Son by Linda Sue Park
• Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman by Alan Schroeder
• Starry Messenger by Peter Sis Note: Preview the pictures; some are intense.
• Squanto: Friend of the Pilgrims by Clyde Robert Bulla

Grades 1–6

• Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters by Patricia and Fredrick McKissack
• Pocahontas and the Strangers by Clyde Robert Bulla
• Squanto’s Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving by Joseph Bruchac
• A Voice of Her Own: The Story of Phillis Wheatley, Slave Poet by Kathryn Lasky

Grades 3–5

• Dear Benjamin Banneker by Andrea Davis Pinkney

Grades 3–12

• We Were There, Too!: Young People in U.S. History by Phillip Hoose

Grades 4–6

• Good Queen Bess: The Story of Elizabeth I of England by Diane Stanley
• Peter the Great by Diane Stanley
• Shaka: King of the Zulus by Diane Stanley and Peter Vennema

Grades 4–8

• SeeSaw Girl by Linda Sue Park

Grades 5–9

• Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba by Patricia M. McKissack

Grades 7–9

• Anacaona (The Royal Diary series) by Edwidge Danticat
• The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox

Grades 7–12

• I, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino
• Talking Leaves by Joseph Bruchac

Grades 9–12

• Lasting Echoes: An Oral History of Native American People

Grades 10–12

• Give Me Liberty: The Story of the Declaration of Independence by Russell Freedman
• Washington at Valley Forge by Russell Freedman