Our Homeschool: American History 1500-1850 Reading List

This year, we are doing Core 3 from Sonlight, American History 1500-1850


I thought that I would list the books that we are reading in chronological order as a reference for when we swing back around to this time period, and also for anyone who is planning to study early American History!


Before our year began, I had to seek out books that fit into this time period, but were at a 1st grade reading level (for my younger daughter).  So, this list ranges from 1st - 3rd grades, with read aloud books here and there.  Many of them are from Sonlight's list, with others added as I have discovered them at the library, or on other blogs. 

American History Resource List 1500-1850
1st-3rd Grade

The Story of the U.S.A., Books 1 and 2
Meet Christopher Columbus by James T. DeKay
Pedro's Journal by Pam Conrad
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
North American Indians by Marie and Douglas Gorsline
Pocahontas and the Strangers by Clyde Robert Bulls
The True Story of Pocahontas by Lucille Recht Penner
Indians by Edwin Tunis
A Lion to Guard us by Clyde Robert Bulla
Abeka's Pilgrim's Progress Simplified
Dear America:  A Journey to the New World by Kathryn Lasky
American Girl "Kaya" books
The Thanksgiving Story by Alice Dalgliesh
The First Thanksgiving by Linda Hayward
Thanksgiving Day by Gail Gibbons
The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh
Welcome to Felicity's World:  Growing up in colonial America by Gourley
The American Revolution for Kids by Janis Herbert
What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin? by Jean Fritz
Calico Bush by Rachel Field
In God We Trust:  Stories of Faith in American History by Timothy Crater
The Matchlock Gun by Walter D. Edmonds
The Farm:  Life in Colonial Pennsylvania by James E. Knight
The Winter People by Joseph Bruchac
Can't you Make them Behave, King George? by Jean Fritz
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
Salem Days: Life in a Colonial Seaport by James E. Knight
Emma's Journal: The Story of a Colonial Girl by Marissa Moss
And then What Happened, Paul Revere? by Jean Fritz
Mr. Revere and I by Robert Lawson
American Girl "Felicity" books
Winter at Valley Forge
Carry on, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham
Revolutionary War on Wednesday by Mary Pope Osborne
Magic Treehouse Research Guide "American Revolution"
If you Were there when they Signed the Constitution by Elizabeth Levy
Meet George Washington by Joan Heilbroner
Phoebe the Spy by Judith Griffin
Sarah Whitcher's Story by Elizabeth Yates
Meet Thomas Jefferson by Marvin Barrett
How We Crossed the West:  The Adventures of Lewis & Clark by Schanzer
Westward to Home by Patricial Hermes
The Journeyman by Elizabeth Yates
Imprisoned in the Golden City by Dave & Neta Jackson
Robert Fulton, Boy Craftsman by Marguerite Henry
Maker of Machines:  A story about Eli Whitney by Barbara Mitchell
Justin Morgan had a Horse by Marguerite Henry
Emmas Secret:  The Cincinnati Epidemic (Sisters in time series)
Gold Fever!  Tales from the California Gold Rush by Rosalyn Schanzer
Bandit Moon by Paul Fleischmann
By the Great Horn Spoon by Sid Fleishmann
They Saw the Elephant:  Women in the California Gold Rush
Dear America:  Seeds of Hope by Kristina Gregory
The Underground Railroad for Kids by Mary Kay Carson
Africa Dream by Eloise Greenfield
Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine
Hands on History:  Projects about Plantation Life by Marian Broida
The Drinking Gourd by F.N. Monjo
Just a Few Words, Mr. Lincoln by Jean Fritz
Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers by Karen B. Winnick
A Picture Book of Abraham Lincoln by David A. Adler


This summer we will be taking time off from our regular studies and diving into PIONEER LIFE!  It will be mostly hands-on activities and crafts, but here is our tentative book list (not in any order):

Pioneer Life
1st-4th Grade

Little House on the Prairie series
Apples to Oregon by Deborah Hopkinson
Westward, Ho! by Laurie Carlson (activities)
Pioneer Girl: The Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder by William Anderson
If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon by Ellen Levine
Pioneer Cat by William H. Hooks
Twister on Tuesday by Mary Pope Osborne
Westward to Home by Patricia Hermes from the My America series
Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
Old Yeller by Fred Gipson

Our Homeschool: Declaration of Idependence, Carnivorous Creations, and Living Out Our Faith!

And here I had thought we would be on to Lewis & Clark by the beginning of February!  Ha!  Well that's not going to happen, but I'll tell you what is happening:

Jackson has become a little Ben Franklin dictionary.  When we are working on history, he chimes in with random facts that he remembers (or the parts that he thinks he remembers). I love listening to a little kids' version of a story.  It's always so much better than the real thing!

The girls made early-American acrostic poems today.  I'd love to show you a picture, but my camera is acting up.  Here is what they wrote:

"Freedom for All"

by Megan Cato

Amazing grace

Minute men

Equality

Red, white, and blue

Independence

Carriage

America's freedom

"America the Great"

by Jordan Cato

A new nation

Men in blue

Everybody helped

Redcoats

Integrity

Courage

A waving flag

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Also today, Jeff and the kids planted their Venus Fly Trap seeds into our Carnivorous Creations terrarium.  I spent about half of the time trying to make my camera work, and then a few more minutes pouting that I was missing such a great photo-op.  I finally joined the group and we read about plants in this book:

Then, we started the stratification process with our other carnivorous seeds.  What is "stratification", you ask?  Well, let me tell you!  I looked at a few definitions online, but everyone tries to make it sound more complicated than it is.  Wikipedia breaks it down best:

In horticulture, stratification is the process of pretreating seeds to simulate natural winter conditions that a seed must endure before germination.

Basically a fake winter for your seeds.  So, yeah, that's what we did.  We stratified some seeds.  :)  This is what our terrarium is supposed to look like in 2 YEARS (if we can keep them alive that long.)

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Lastly, but most importantly, was our bible study today.  In the mornings, we read from "Jesus Freaks", "Pilgrim's Progress", and the Proverb for the day.  In PP today, Christian was going through the city of Vanity.  We had a good discussion about what we call "the gimmies" and talked about why it's so important to not care about material things.  The girls listed things that they can do when they are feeling tempted to have the gimmies (i.e. running away, turning off the t.v., closing the magazine, etc.)  The verse that was listed in this chapter was James 1:12:

"Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him."

This evening as I was preparing dinner, the girls ran out to get the mail and Jordan came back with some offer from Disney to buy movies for $1.99 if you join their club.  I told her it was junk mail and she asked if she could please have it.  I said okay, and a minute later she was saying, "Ooh look!  I want that movie, Mommy!  And I love that one!"  I raised my eyebrows at her and she said, "Uh-oh.  I've got the gimmies."  I asked her what she should do and she walked over to the garbage can and threw it away!  We all gave her high-five's and then we recited that verse.  Isn't it great how God gives us opportunities to apply the spiritual truths that we learn? 

Into the New Year

Whew!  The past two weeks have just FLOWN BY!  We've been busy little bees, catching up on chores and pen pal letters, making trips to the park (it warmed up to 55 degrees!!!), and getting back into our groove with homeschooling (more on that in a minute.)  And of course the kids have been having a lot of fun tearing into the craft packs and science kits that they recently received.

Here is Megan building a circuit with her new science kit from Grandpa and Grandma Taylor. 

I am still amazed that it has held everyone's attention for this long!  This is one of those activities that the kids will sit for hours playing with, and won't argue about who has what.

In science, we are working our way through Usborne's, "Mysteries and Marvels of Nature" as well as Sonlight's Biology I book.  We're currently studying insects, so I have a pretty unhappy 5 year-old princess on my hands.  This is the face that she has made for the past two weeks every time science rolls around!  Totally grossed out by BUGS!

This girl just wasn't made to enjoy the gory details, and Usborne books are full of them!  My other two kids are loving every bit of it.

History.  I have to be honest--we have been a' slackin'!  They have kept up with the reading, but we haven't been having as much discussion time or extra activities since we picked back up after the holidays.  Which reminds me, I have to go right upstairs and get our craft out for tomorrow...right after I'm done here.  Or after the kids go to bed.  Or maybe I'll...well, I guess you can see who has been doing the bulk of the slacking!

Here's what my kids are doing right now:

This is the custom Aggravation board that my dear dad made for me for my 28th birthday.  My Great-Grandma had a board just like this one, and she and her friends would have game nights when they were younger.  Everybody in our extended family grew up playing "marbles" on Great-Grandma's board.  My mom also went to a lot of trouble to find me a marble tin that was similar to my Great-Grandma's (Jackson is holding it in the picture).  It was truly one of the greatest gifts that I've ever gotten.  And now I get to watch MY children sitting around the board, playing Marbles.  It's awesome!  Here's a close-up of my dad's handiwork.  I'm trying to convince him to go into business making boards, but he's not sure just yet.

In the next two weeks, we are jumping into the heart of the American Revolution.  I have some fun activities planned, including writing our own family Constitution and learning to dance the Minuet.  We've also been watching the entire season of "Liberty's Kids" on DVD.  I am praying that by February we will be done here and moved on to Lewis & Clark.  We need a good expidition around here!!!

Other books we are reading this month:

Our homeschool: Colonial Days

What a fun week this has been!  The kids are really enjoying the colonial study that we are in the middle of.  The book that we are using the most is "Welcome to Felicity's World:  Growing up in Colonial America". 

This picture book is like a time capsule, similar to DK books except that it links everything back to the Felicity stories.  Earlier in the year, we read the Felicity books and watched the movie, and I think that has helped them to stay interested in this study. 

Also for our colonial study, we have been working our way through "A Sampler View of Colonial Life", and the girls have made several samplers of their own--sort of.  We are using plastic craft squares and thick craft needles, but they are at least getting the general idea of what a sampler is!  (I've really got to learn how to sew!)  We practiced the various stitches and then I let them loose to create their own samplers.  They've been "sewing" constantly for the past few days, bringing their work to me from time to time to admire.  It makes my heart happy to see them enjoying school so much!

Megan's first thought was to make a map of the 13 colonies, but after realizing how difficult it would be to connect them all and make them accurate, she decided to just place them around a big "M" and added a lake for good measure (because what's a map without a lake, really?).

 

Jordan followed suit and made a big "J" on hers, and then decided on flowers and shapes.  I was really impressed with her perserverence--she worked at it for over an hour!

Jackson made an attempt, but then practiced his scizzor skills all over it before I could get a picture.  Here are a few pics of him this month, just because he's so cute!

The one on the right is Jackson as I found him a few weeks ago when I went to check on him.  When he woke up I asked him why he had sister's headband on, and he said, "Because I'm excercise Jackson!"  I should have known.

Other books we're reading this week:

Lord bless you this weekend!