Big fat notebook...American history

[marbles]

"Everything you need to know to Ace American history in one big fat notebook" can that be used as curriculum by itself? I'm having a hard time finding an American history that isn't from the point of view that I was taught, like America is God's chosen country and all that. I found a recommended book that I liked but it's supplemental stories and biographies. I've put off any American history for this reason, it's like all the stuff I can buy is from a very specific point of view and it's teaching that point of view. I just want an overview of the facts, not preaching. A notgrass curriculum was recommended somewhere but after deciding it looked pretty good, I found out it wasn't out yet why is this so hard?

[ViolaMum]

You don't want a religious perspective? Or you're worried about a "white-washed" version?

Notgrass is from a decidedly Christian perspective.

We did Land of Hope this year. It's beautifully written, and reasonably balanced. The reading level is definitely High School/early college. My 8th grader had a hard time keeping up, and she's a bright kid. My 10th grader did fine. There's a Young Reader's Version coming out sometime this year, I think. (Yep, January 2022.)

For my younger kids this year, I did Memoria Press's 200 Questions about American History. It's solid. You need Guerber's: The Story of the Thirteen Colonies & the Great Republic, (readings up to 1900) and SOTW4 (20th Century) for the reading. We used the flash cards, so it ended up being just more basic facts memory work. We also did loads of primary document reading from Teaching American History and added library books to fill in.

Your kids are upper elementary/middle school age? Sorry, I can't remember. If so, there's nothing wrong at that age with just perusing the biographies at the library, reading about famous people, daily life in the early US, maybe covering some of the major wars, and doing some geography (like States and Capitals) so that they get a big picture view.

[marbles]

Yes they're grades 6, 4, 1. We've been doing story of the world. You have given me permission to just continue that!

And to clarify, I don't mind a Christian or other religion perspective. Many American history curricula I've looked at have been in a framework of white Evangelical nationalism. Even sotw I edit sometimes as it talks about savages thinking Europeans are gods and worshipping them, becoming civilized, that kind of thing.

[Soliloquy]

I like Big Fat Notebooks a lot but they are not a full curriculum. With the added caveat that if you have a child that hates a subject but is willing to read a BFN I'd call it a win. Or a child who cannot process very wordy textbooks, a BFN could be the best thing ever to solidify what is learned in discussions, documentaries, etc.

When I want to find textbooks that are not written from a white American evangelical worldview, I look at secular homeschooling sites and blogs. I like to choose a variety of perspectives.

There is a vbulletin forum for secular homeschoolers, too, but I cannot remember the name of it. I'm not the only member who is Christian, either.

[marbles]

I found a bunch of secular curricula that aren't published yet! But for some reason the American history in particular is hard to find. I will keep on with story of the world. They pick up a lot of American history despite me not teaching it yet but I felt maybe I was missing something.

[ViolaMum]

I'd love to know what you find.

[rdsmommy]

Originally Posted by marbles

I found a bunch of secular curricula that aren't published yet! But for some reason the American history in particular is hard to find. I will keep on with story of the world. They pick up a lot of American history despite me not teaching it yet but I felt maybe I was missing something.

For their ages I would think an overview like BFN would be ok. They might also enjoy some The “Who was...” series or “Childhood of famous Americans “ series. My dd who loved reading read a lot of those on her own at that age and it made 8th grade US History in public school a breeze for her even though I hadn’t covered it all at home.

---------- Post added at 10:23 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:21 AM ----------

She also says everyone should watch “Hamilton “ the musical. She says she learned a ton of US history from that. She tried to convince her 8th grade teacher to play it in class because the other students kept asking questions that she knew were answered in the musical.

[HuggaBuggaMommy]

Originally Posted by marbles

I found a bunch of secular curricula that aren't published yet! But for some reason the American history in particular is hard to find. I will keep on with story of the world. They pick up a lot of American history despite me not teaching it yet but I felt maybe I was missing something.

If you're looking for an actual curriculum, there are two I know of that are balanced and include non-white perspectives: River of Voices from Blossom and Root and Oh Freedom by Woke Homeschooling. Both are Charlotte Mason/Living Book heavy, though River of Voices has recommendations for students who are more visual media learners than book learners. Both of these are downloads with just the guide, so you can add, subtract, or change book recommendations at your leisure.

[ViolaMum]

Originally Posted by HuggaBuggaMommy

If you're looking for an actual curriculum, there are two I know of that are balanced and include non-white perspectives: River of Voices from Blossom and Root and Oh Freedom by Woke Homeschooling. Both are Charlotte Mason/Living Book heavy, though River of Voices has recommendations for students who are more visual media learners than book learners. Both of these are downloads with just the guide, so you can add, subtract, or change book recommendations at your leisure.

I don't know Blossom and Root, but I have looked over Oh Freedom and I'm curious as to how you consider it balanced. Is it the use of non-white perspectives? Those perspectives are needed.

However, the main text is Zinn, which gets used frequently in the schools here, so I read A People's History. There were some things that pinged my radar so I did a deep dive into him. It is anything BUT balanced. Zinn himself scoffed at the idea of a balanced view. He wrote from a particular perspective and framed and curated the information from that standpoint. Many critiques of Zinn (from the left) present evidence where he misrepresented and misquoted plenty of primary sources.

My other criticism of Oh Freedom is her pedagogy. Learning with your kids is laudable. It's good teaching. But I think her methodology is problematic. It's not Charlotte Mason's pedagogy. Much of it is inappropriate for young kids who really don't have much understanding of logic. Her methods are much more appropriate for High School.

[HuggaBuggaMommy]

Originally Posted by ViolaMum

I don't know Blossom and Root, but I have looked over Oh Freedom and I'm curious as to how you consider it balanced. Is it the use of non-white perspectives? Those perspectives are needed.

However, the main text is Zinn, which gets used frequently in the schools here, so I read A People's History. There were some things that pinged my radar so I did a deep dive into him. It is anything BUT balanced. Zinn himself scoffed at the idea of a balanced view. He wrote from a particular perspective and framed and curated the information from that standpoint. Many critiques of Zinn (from the left) present evidence where he misrepresented and misquoted plenty of primary sources.

My other criticism of Oh Freedom is her pedagogy. Learning with your kids is laudable. It's good teaching. But I think her methodology is problematic. It's not Charlotte Mason's pedagogy. Much of it is inappropriate for young kids who really don't have much understanding of logic. Her methods are much more appropriate for High School.

Yeah, balanced as in a global majority perspective - it provides balance/counterbalance for the much more frequent Euro-centric perspective that students tend to encounter.

I don't have a problem with Zinn. I've read him, and yes I'd agree he has his own bent on history, but so does every historian. I think there should be that expectation for every history text, piece of historical fiction, and even original sources because those writing them have their own conscious and unconscious bias. That's said, I never use a complete curriculum the way it is written and have no issue skipping over stuff I find problematic either way; I realize not all parents or.people.do that.

I do not think Oh Freedom should be used for early elementary kids, as I've seen some parents doing. (Blossom and Root has three "tracks" in their curriculum - from gentle to more direct). We are not a CM family so I can't say anything about the method being specifically CM or not; it was originally advertised as CM but that may have changed since the revisions.

[Llee]

Sort of off topic. You mentioned this and then one of the featured groups I'm in mentioned the big fat notebook stuff too. I'm working with English language learners on the high school level this year. Most of them will be refugees. So I've ordered the whole set of these for middle school and high school so that I have more resources for them to access. So thank you for asking about it.

[Vipers_Princess]

We are using the BFNs as guides/baselines this year for DD16 who is developmentally delayed and working at a 6th grade level. The shorter doses of information are easier for her to understand and retain. I even picked up an extra copy of the Math book for myself, because I have always struggled with pre-Algebra and forward, and need to at least pass a basic pre-algebra test to get into the program I want at the community college {no math is actually required in the program, just passing it on the entrance test}

I second/third Hamilton. She learned a lot from that. Also Drive Thru History, either the DVDs or YouTube version. {I believe Amazon also has it} We also use biography shorts like the "Who Was" series.

[ValiantJoy07]

I'm running into the same issues...