Second Grade American History Spine

In second grade I would say skip a spine and read all the beautiful childrens books you can get your hands on. There is a small book, almost a pamphlet really, of elementary books for AH. In chronological order. Turning Back the Pages of time. I highly recommend it for lower elementary.

I agree, after having three second graders, that you don’t need a spine.  Picture books, biographies, historical fiction – those are the best!  Most children this age aren’t developmentally ready to grasp the flow of history the way they can when they’re older. Not to say you definitely shouldn’t use a spine,  just encouraging you not to agonize over it or spend a lot of time examining them when you could spend that time  on other wonderful choices that will engage your son.  There are so many fabulous picture books, in particular, that can aid in learning about the time period with illustrations of, for instance, houses and landscapes and dress of a particular period, all in the context of story. I have found this especially true of books about the American Revolution and Civil War, not surprisingly, and still use these as primary tools for my youngest daughter who is nearly ten. Between these and historical fiction, she is feasting!  With this particular daughter, I’ve decided to wait until at least middle school before I expect her to grasp the event-to-event style of a spine, currently broadening the feast instead with timeline and lots of discussion, even movies where appropriate.

I did use the Earl S Miers book when my middle daughter was about ten, before BFB reprinted it; I found a vintage copy at a used bookstore and loved the language and the art. I don’t recall whether it included racial insensitivity, as this was over ten years ago, but I do remember thinking that some of the information went over her head even at ten. So, maybe not the best for a 2nd grader, in our family, anyway.  We do read a ton of older books that sometimes use language that we wouldn’t use in our home, but this has provided a lot of discussion points that have been valuable learning.

My highest recommendation goes to:

Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans – Edward Eggleston

Adventures in Colonial America series – James E. Knight

Cheryl Harness (so many great books and well illustrated!)

Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin (about the artist)

Some newer ones, expanding the category (hopefully, not overly political, you never know with newer books):

This Is the Rope: A Story from the Great Migration – Jacqueline Woodson

The Other Side – Same as Above

White Socks Only

Russell Freedman (may be too old for his, yet)

David Adler Picture Book series: MLK, Jr.; Helen Keller; Rosa Parks; Harriet Tubman; Jackie Robinson; Frederick Douglass; Amelia Earhart; Sacagawea; Louie Braille, more+

Emma’s Poem: The Story of the Statue of Liberty – Linda Glaser – ages 4-8

Hanukkah at Valley Forge– Stephen Krensky – gr. 2-4

The Yankee at the Seder– Elka Weber – gr. 2-5

As Good as Anybody: Martin L. King and Abraham Joshua Hershel’s Amazing March Toward Freedom– Richard Michelson – ages 6-10

D’Aulaire books,

Jean Fritz

Alice Dagliesh

Clyde Robert Bulla: Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims, Pocahontas and the Strangers, 

Eve Bunting: The Wall, Dandelions, Train to Somewhere,

 Dreaming of America, Baseball Saved Us, 

Sam, the Minute Man, and George the Drummer-Boy

Sarah, Plain and Tall series

Little House series

The Courage of Sarah Noble (set in 1707),

Bc playful pioneers was mentioned- when is a good age/grade to begin reading the first, maybe second books of the Little House series?