Okay, would like some input on some fun books to get on my list that relate to History of America. We don’t plan on using a formal history curriculum this next year, just reading and random fun activities, which I feel would be better. Looking at fun/relaxed ideas and books to teach history of the USA. We are looking at the 1st-2nd grade level.
Following! We’re starting American History next year and I can’t decide if I want to use a curriculum or literature coupled with some unit studies from Amanda Bennett.
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We are using an all-encompasing American History/geography based curriculum next year, but I have been looking for additional readers to supplement for my children who will be in 2nd and 4th then. I have found some great books on the Winter Promise site under their American History 1 themed program–lots of activity books there! I also found some good books under the Sonlight Core D program (these are good places to go for ideas for kids in grades 1-4 I think, but I could be remembering the grade levels wrong there, so just double check that). Also, you can look at the books that are used as readers in the Trail Guide to Learning curriculum under their Paths of Exploration program because it is early American History intended for Grades 3-5 with a K-2 Extension so there are good readers for those ages based on early American History if you just want to go there for good book ideas. I also found good reader ideas on this site:
Top 10 American History Read Alouds and Picture Books:
And also here on The Best Children’s Books site under the American History category:
Just a few places to start looking. I hope this helps! 
If I think of more, I’ll add them!
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Wow! What awesome suggestions! What curriculum are you using next year?
Hi @alimaree! I hope those suggestions are helpful!! We are starting the Trail Guide to Learning series probably this summer with Paths of Exploration and I just can’t wait 
I have been following their Yahoo group for several months and it’s been a great way to collect many ideas for additional American History themed readers as other families using the series also have children these ages who read quickly and sometimes are looking for additional readers as they go through the material. That is how I came across many of those ideas.
Another good resource I just remembered is the booklist from Adventures in America which is a curriculum for early elementary put out by Elemental Science. It is American History for the Grammar Stage. If you go to their Teacher Guide page here, and click on their sample of the Teacher Guide and Student Notebook link, you can scroll down to see their booklist of the titles used in their materials (page 4 of the sample document) and it includes a lot of good read alouds used in their materials and might be another good list of books to think of using even on your own. Many of the titles will overlap with other programs like Trail Guide to Learning, but it may be worth looking over.
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I’m interested to see others’ suggestions. We’re starting American history next year and we prefer living books and historical fiction. I’m excited to check out the curriculum @Forchristandkids suggested. Everything I’ve looked into on her suggestion has been wonderful. We enjoy the books in the Who Was or What Was series.
@Rarasmama I am so glad something I suggested along the way here may have been helpful! Best wishes with finding a program that works well for you for next year!! I’m right there with you in enjoying the living books and historical fiction!
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@Forchristandkids Thank you so much! I’ve actually been wanting to thank you for awhile. You had recommended G.U.M. drops for grammar. My daughter loves it! It was a perfect fit!
Oh, I’m so glad @Rarasmama! We are still using it this year too! I have considered switching to Fix It! Grammar by IEW for next year (my daughter’s 4th Grade year) now that she has used G.U.M. Drops for these past two years (I like the idea of her working on one story that builds throughout the entire year for a change of pace), but I hesitate to because she enjoys G.U.M. Drops so much! She literally does a little cheer on the days I get it out! Lol! I’m glad your daughter is enjoying it too!
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I’d recommend the Liberty Kids DVD series for when you study the American Revolution. Each episode is about 20 minutes long and looks at the war through the eyes of children, who meet various heroes. And for a gentle introduction, I’d also recommend the Magic Treehouse series.
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I recently purchased the complete collection of Liberty Kids on Amazon…1 DVD for less than $7! We love them
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Another great website is GuestHollow.com They have tons of ideas, links and a list of general info for a variety of topics, including American History. A lot of the resources they recommend can be found online or at your local library.
This year my girls wanted to learn more about this very same subject. We are using the American Girl historical dolls book series as our guide. We read the first book for each girl & then read the “Welcome to -------'s World” books. I have found that our library has most of the books. We also got some of the series books on audio cd’s from interlibrary loan. We have a large USA map on the wall that we are using to locate the state that each girl is from and it’s capital as well as the surrounding states.
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I second the recommendation of using Liberty Kids dvd series. My girls love this & they have watched it over & over again many times in the past 2 years since we purchased it on amazon. smile:
Awesome idea! @sonrisemom
Not sure if you have ever tried Beautiful Feet Books for early american history, but the guide uses great picture books by the D’Aulaires Beatiful Feet Books American. Also, All Through The Ages has an exhaustive book list by age, era and geography All Through the Ages. Lastly, Biblioplan has a great list for Early American/World Histoy and Modern Amercan/World History, organized by age level Biblioplan American.
Blessings!
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