Welcome to an exciting year of history study! This class will focus on both American and World history from the time of the Explorers to the American Gold Rush. Students will learn about exciting people and events from this time period including the Pilgrims, Native Americans, wars and revolutions, constitutions and the institution of slavery.
This version of BiblioPlan is designed for both a homeschooling co-op and a school setting. It contains everything a teacher needs to design a full year of 34 weeks of Hands-on History with a co-op class or school classroom, including easy, weekly Hands-on History ideas, reading and writing assignments, classroom map and discussion work, information beyond the readings, supplemental reading lists, an example of the maps and the Cool History answers
BiblioPlan Hands-on History is based on the following books:
The Story of Our World History for the Classical Child Volume 3: Early Modern Times - From Elizabeth the First to the Forty-Niners by Susan Wise Bauer
In her foreword, Mrs. Bauer recommends this fourth volume for students grades 4-8. Based upon the violent nature of many historical events covered in this volume, she used a matter-of-fact approach rather than her story-telling manner seen in volumes 1-3. BiblioPlan reads through this book in a different sequence than chronologically for several reasons. The book contains 42 chapters which requires a doubling up in some weeks of more than one chapter a week. Also, unlike the other Story of the World books, each chapter contains two different countries or subjects with a large amount of information in each. In light of both of these issues, some major juggling of chapters has been done in order to make the readings easier to digest. Countries and continents are kept together and the goal, in most weeks, is to keep from having to read more than one major subject in a week. This means that we will be jumping around in the book, but hopefully it will make for better understanding.
A History of US (volumes 2-5) by Joy Hakim
The Joy Hakim books have a reading level that is grade 5+; however, younger children find the information of listening interest. Any version is acceptable. Chapter titles are given instead of page numbers in order to accommodate the three different versions of these books. The series contains ten volumes, of which five are used in this year’s study. Not every chapter is included, and some chapters are listed as optional in order to not overwhelm. Though Joy Hakim is not writing from a Biblical worldview and readers may disagree with her political positions on some subjects, the subject matter is rich in detail and goes way beyond most United States history books. Discussion and discernment is important in choosing any history curriculum.
You will notice in some weeks that the readings in the History of US may be a week ahead or a week behind the Story of the World readings in terms of content. This happens because there are so many more chapters in the History of US, and in a desire to make the reading as sequential as possible, the book readings may be off by a week or two. The benefit to this system is that they get to spend two weeks on a subject instead of one which increases their retention of the material.
Book 2 - Making Thirteen Colonies
Book 3 - From Colonies to Countries
Book 4 - The New Nation
Book 5 - Liberty for All?
The other books referenced in this guide are: For American History:
A Child’s Story of America - 2nd edition - Christian Liberty Press
This book leans toward the younger child or the reluctant reader. It is written from a Christian perspective in an illustrated narrative style.
For World History: Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World History (2000 edition for younger readers)
WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THIS GUIDE
Readings:
Readings for the week are listed in order of importance. The Story of the World readings, History of US, the Child’s Story of America and the Encyclopedia Readings. Either page numbers or chapter titles are given for each week, depending upon the source. For the Story of the World readings, they should be read in the order they are listed unless otherwise noted.
Hands-on History Craft Ideas:
This Teacher’s edition contains Hands-on History craft ideas for each week in a 34 week period. The activities in this edition are designed to be easy to do within a one hour class period, although it is advisable to make an example at home to discern how long it will actually take to make the item. The crafts are adaptable for a wide range of children and are intended to enhance the learning experience. In an effort to build on U.S. history, the activities often will diverge from the Story of the World reading in order to bring U.S. history alive within the time frame of the reading. A short explanation for each primary activity will be included. Optional activities will not always have an explanation.
Maps Example:Each week there are one or two maps that accompany the readings for that week. The maps are hands on friendly. They can be done independently or with an adult helping. The maps are based on the readings in the Story of the World. The book and a globe are all you would need to answer the questions on the maps. The Maps can be purchased at www.biblioplan.net. Samples of the maps are included in the teacher’s guide.
Summary and Fun Writings:
Summary writing is a helpful way for a child to grasp what they have learned in their reading. A summary can be as short as a couple of sentences or as long as a page. It is a good learning tool for writing practice, getting the main idea of a passage and putting thoughts on paper. An alternative to the summary writing would be the fun writing activity. Besides the summary writing, this Teacher’s Edition includes a fun writing activity for every week of the school year. Some of the fun writings require a bit of research; some are thought provoking; some are meant to be humorous and some are meant to help the child give their perspective inside the history story.
Cool History Pages:
Each week there are Cool History Page/s based on the Story of the World reading. The questions are listed in order to make it easy to access answers. Answers to the Cool History pages are included in this teacher’s edition. The Cool History pages can be purchased at www.biblioplan.net.
Bonus Questions:
Each week, on the Cool History page, there is an Optional Bonus Question or Activity. These bonus questions are usually not in the Story of the World. They are fun little questions or activities to teach a child how to do research, to explore beyond their reading and to expand their history knowledge.
Class Lesson:
Each week, the guide gives a synopsis of the Story of the World readings and the History of US readings. Interesting U.S. facts will often follow this section, and may or may not have been in the History of US readings. They are meant to expand learning.
Classroom Map Work and Discussion:
The Map Work and Discussion section is the classroom teaching guide. It works well with the teacher using a large classroom map or with each child having his/her own map. The map work and discussion is based primarily on the Story of the World readings and is written in a sequential style. Following the guide helps the teacher cover what was read that week at home and offers expanded information to increase the learning experience. The teacher need not cover everything in the section as there is often more material than time allows.
A highly recommended resource for each child to use in the class are the Painless Learning Placemats. These are write-on wipe-off maps. One is The World and the other is the United States. The one side has a full color map of every state (or country) and the other side has the matching black and white outline. Children can use dry erase markers to fill in the black and white outlined map. It is easily cleaned and can be used every week in a classroom. The children find on the map the countries that they learned about in their readings. This gives the children a great sense of geography, and puts their history reading within the context of the whole world. The Painless Learning Placemats can be purchased at most teacher’s stores and also on the Internet. They usually run between three to five dollars each but are reusable year after year.
Extras:
You will find, tucked into the guide, the following categories: Amazing Americans, Fascinating Facts, Missionary Minutes, Brilliant Brits, Dastardly Dictators, Highlights on a President and Interesting Individuals. These may or may not follow the readings, but are all designed to expand learning. They are written in story style so they can be easily read to the class. The teacher has the option to pick and choose which ones to focus on in the lesson.
Optional Readings:
Optional readings are included at the end of each week. These are books that correspond with the readings for that week. The lists can be given to the parents for supplemental readings or used by the classroom teacher for assigned readings.
History Sharing Day:Included in this guide is a Hands-on History Alive sheet. It is an opportunity for the child to research a person or event in the time period and give a class report. The directions for the History Sharing Day are included on the Hands-on History Alive sheet.
A section entitled SETTING UP THE CLASSROOM is also included in the Teacher edition for Co-ops and Schools.The Teacher Guide can be ordered online as an ebook or a hard copy. Place order here.
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