Question about how to structure American History Canadians.

I’m a Canadian and I’ve got 2 high schoolers and a Gr. 8 student.  I don’t use Truth Quest, but I usually condense the American history and add more Canadian history.  I feel like they still get plenty of American, especially in areas where it directly impacts Canadian history (western expansion, fur trade, Confederation, war of 1812, loyalists (American Revolution)….).

I tend to write a lot of my own teaching materials and use great living books that I’ve discovered on my own and through book lists and materials done by homeschoolers before I started teaching, so I’m not going to be a huge help in adapting a teacher’s manual.

 I did pick up the SCM history, geography and Bible at the last conference because I appreciate the format, so looking at that, I’d say that I would pick some of the living books that are in the American history course that I also feel are do not miss from a literary point of view–Sign of the Beaver, Carry on Mr. Bowditch, for example and add a few more that I like (Genevieve Foster’s books are great for combining American and global events) and then I look at the timeline of the time period we are studying and see if there are any “holes” I’m missing after I add Canadian history in.  A lot of American history is easily added when you look at the global events.  Colonial America, for example, is fascinating and examining the British-colonial relationships can only add to Canadian history studies.  The Acadian expulsion from Canada lends itself well to studying Louisiana and it’s changing “ownership”.  When I do pioneer era of Canada then I also add basic American pioneering, too (because Lewis and Clark are important to study, IMO, and I’m a Laura Ingalls Wilder fan since childhood and I couldn’t help including her any more than I could stop using living books 🙂 

Also, the borders were very fluid for a long time–Duluth, MN was briefly “Canadian” (pre-confederation) and the whole great lakes area fluxuated quite a bit, so some American history is legitimately Canadian, albeit for a brief time. 

I understand about finding what you think will fit and wanting to stick with it.  Maybe you should ask here in another thread if people can list their top 5 “do not miss” American history moments and see what they say.  That might give you a good indication.