Name: Spreading the Feast Gathering
Start: 2025-07-11T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-07-12T23:59:59-05:00
Location: LaGrange, KY

Tagged: American History, high school, joy hakim

This topic has 12 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 3 months ago by retrofam.

Viewing 13 posts - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)

Author
Posts
December 14, 2017 at 11:08 am
Theups1
Participant
Joy Hakim books A History of Us… too much of a textbook?
Thank you!
His
Shari
December 14, 2017 at 11:37 am
Tamara Bell
Moderator
I purchased the Joy Hawkim book that BF uses for the Intermediate level of EA and world history. I had wanted a bit more depth than what SCM has for the period of 1945 onward. It did feel a bit more textbook-ish although not terribly. My issue with it and why we won’t use it is that the author’s bias is STRONG in the book. Very strong. No doubting her ideology and it comes through in her writing and coverage of people/events.
December 14, 2017 at 11:50 am
Theups1
Participant
What’s her ideology?
December 14, 2017 at 7:53 pm
Tamara Bell
Moderator
I don’t want to get into debates about politics here on the forum. It’s a pleasant place to be. She definitely writes with a very liberal ideology. I prefer to find more neutral writings.
December 14, 2017 at 7:55 pm
Tamara Bell
Moderator
In defense of BF choice to use the book, they responded that they don’t care for how her ideology comes out in the writing but can find nothing else for this age group that covers 1945 onward in great detail. They don’t use the entire book. They pick and choose what passages to read.
December 15, 2017 at 9:26 pm
Theups1
Participant
Thank you for your help. 🙂

December 16, 2017 at 7:59 pm
Claire
Participant
I have used these books as long as we’ve homeschooled. I was a huge fan on here (see old posts under me) but now that we’ve hit high school I am really, strongly NOT loving them anymore! It happened over night. I think the writing is childish and choppy where it could very easily have been done with complex sentence structure and such. I don’t know how this escaped me in the elementary years? I guess then it worked?!
I may continue to use them for our American History rotations though because like BF says there is little to nothing out there for start to present American History in terms of a spine.
Anyone have a good one to share?
December 20, 2017 at 10:05 am
totheskydear
Participant
I read the first two books in her History of US series and didn’ really get the feeling of any “agenda”. They’re not my favorite books and the abundance of pictures is overwhelming for me, but I did like that she asks questions that make you think about what you would do in a certain situation, that she is careful not to talk about any person or group as all good or all evil. There’s also a good list of supplemental books at the back, many of which are used in the SCM guides and/or AO.
December 20, 2017 at 2:51 pm
Tamara Bell
Moderator
We’ll have to disagree. I didn’t read any other book beyond her book All The People Since 1945. As I read it aloud to my husband, his mouth dropped at the way certain political figures were being painted.

December 21, 2017 at 9:41 pm
totheskydear
Participant
Well, I haven’t read that one yet… if I do, we may agree. 😉
February 26, 2018 at 10:23 am
Claire
Participant
… I found a new series that we like for high school … posted it in another post with links ….
America – A Narrative History (vol. 1 & 2, 9th edition)
by George Brown Tindall and David Emory Shi
February 26, 2018 at 2:26 pm
retrofam
Participant
Biblioplan has a spine called a companion for each year. I am trying Ancients next year, but they have Modern too.
February 26, 2018 at 2:28 pm
retrofam
Participant
Diana Waring’s spine is another option, either her book or the audio cds.