Modern American History modules 5 and 6 for grades 1 to 3

I know what you are asking and I wondered also what I would do.  I am going to go ahead and use the spines Story of America and Story of the Nations now with mine (grades 2 & 4) because I think they will be able to understand them ok.  Then when we come around to it again, I’ll see where we are at that point.  It wouldn’t be too difficult to have them read on their own another spine at that point.  They will be much older by then and would probably be reading most things on their own already anyway.  I like This Country of Ours by HE Marshall, but it is a little more difficult for them to understand now.  I thought I would let them read that one on the next rotation.  Just a thought.  Also, about World History or American History… I would say it would be ok to do it either way.  TruthQuest History recommends American History for grades 1-4 then starting the rotation chronologically from creation to modern in 5th grade thru 12th.  There are so many different opinions out there.  I think that whatever you teach your children will be beneficial to them.  My goal is for my children to remember more about History and Geography than I did when I went to school, and I don’t think that will be a problem.  🙂

I am also switching to SCM modules next year, simply because I need the schedule and the day by day plan.  I’m going to follow whatever is there and not think about it anymore.  I tend to overthink this thing of planning history and what happens is I spend so much time trying to plan, that I’m not getting as much done as I should.  So, that is why I’m going to follow exactly what Sonya has laid out!!!   Thank you, Sonya!!  I think about it like this:  if they are learning a little something everyday about history it doesn’t matter exactly what it is, over time it will become a great deal of information.  And using the living books approach they will have made many connections and that is what it is all about anyway.

HTH,

Yolie

I think it’s completely up to you.  You can follow the Mods as written, or choose to focus on Just American History first time through, thereby freeing up 2 days a week to do something else.  Or, you might continue to do the 5 days a week and finish Mods 5 & 6 in one year instead of 2.  If you really like the spine you use the first time around and feel your kids would get something out of it if you use it again, then that’s your choice.  Over the years you may find something else you would prefer.  Don’t worry so much about it now.  You know what you want to teach at what grade/level, but you don’t need to decide how you are going to go about doing that until then.

Remember that you are not a slave to any resource or curriculum — they are a tool for use to use and how I use something may be very different from the way you use it.