The high school US history unit that we use for our homeschool is simple to administer, very educational, and fun. Our kids have loved studying United States history.
A History of US: Text and Movie Study
We start our study of US history following the ten book A History of US series by Joy Hakim. We read one book and follow up with a movie either about the time period or set in the time period being studied. A report follows each book/movie combination. (The eleventh book in the set is a sourcebook that include wonderful primary sources.)
Below are the books with the accompanying movies we use. There are many great movies you could use. If you have other ideas, please mention them in the comments and I’ll add them to the US History Movies list.
Book 1: Prehistory-1600
The Magnificent Voyage of Christopher Columbus
Book 2: 1600-1740
Desperate Crossing: The Untold Story of the Mayflower
Book 3: 1735-1791
Book 4: 1789-1850
Book 5: 1820-1860
Book 6: 1855-1865
Book 7: 1865-1890
Book 8: 1880-1917
Book 9: 1918-1945
Book 10: 1945–present
A Patriot’s History: Research Notebook
The second phase of US history study is to read A Patriot’s History by Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen.
While reading, the student creates a page for each chapter, outlining the most important historically significant events along with dates, people, and places that are important. They might add a images, drawings, or other visual reminders about the events. These are then organized into a notebook in chronological order as a timeline.
Founding Documents: Family Discussion
We read and discuss the following source documents:
- What Do You Do?
- The Declaration of Independence
- The Constitution
- The Bill of Rights
- Amendments to the Constitution
Please join in and share how you teach United State history to your homeschool high schoolers!
We also discuss selections from the following source documents:
- The Federalist Papers
- The Anti-Federalist Papers
What Do You Do?
Please share how you teach United States history to high schoolers in your homeschool!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
http://www.teachwithmovies.org is a website that lists movies that go with different periods of history as well as different subjects, like science, literature, etc.
I do this same type program for US History, but I break it into two years. The first year we do Book 1-5 and the second year we do Book 6-10 of the History of US, using book 11, the Sourcebook with source documents in it, all along the way. It includes readings from source documents for Book 1-10. As we read the History of US, we also have a historical fiction book of the time period going as well, and do discussion and weekly papers based on it. For example, during the civil war time period, we read Uncle Tom’s Cabin (one of my favorite books!). Here are some of the historical fiction books we used:
Johnny Tremain
Carry on, Mr. Bowditch
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
The Scarlet Letter
To Kill a Mockingbird
Amos Fortune, Free Man
Calico Captive
Red Scarf Girl
. . . .and lots more!
We also do hands-on projects, like sewing a moccasin slipper from fleece fabric, while we studied Indians, or making Johnny-cakes while we studied Valley Forge.
Thanks for the post!