American History Books to supplement Core D+E...

If you are not using Sonlight Curriculum, this post probably won't mean much to you, but I get asked this question all the time,

"I am doing Core D+E, the condensed American History study, and I would like to know some more great books my kids can read that will go along with it."

My answer has always been to look at the catalog;  look at all the books used in Core D (the first year of  American history) and Core E (the second year of American history) and get all the books that aren't used in the condensed version (D+E).

To make things easier for my customers, I have done the work for you. Here is a list of all the books not used in Core D+E but which are used in D and E separately. I should note that not all these books pertain to American History, but they are engaging books for children 8-11 years old.)

If you would like the complete list of the books used in Sonlight's program, you can email me for a free catalog. This would make a great resource for you even if you aren't homeschooling. Summer or family readers anyone?

Core D books not used in Core D+E:

History Books

• Adoniram Judson: Bound for Burma [American Missionaries]
• And Then What Happened Paul Revere?
• Incans, Aztecs and Mayans
• From Sea to Shining Sea for Young Readers  (5 day)
• The Light and the Glory for Young Readers    (5 day)
• The Very First Americans   (5 day)
• The Winter at Valley Forge   (5 day)

Read Aloud Books

• Calico Bush
• A Child's Introduction to Poetry
• The Journeyman
• Justin Morgan Had a Horse [One of my daughter Kari's favorites from this Core]
• The Sign of the Beaver
• Swift Rivers
• The Candymakers  (5 day)
• Lawn Boy  (5 day)
• The Secret of the Sealed Room  (5 day)
• Tree in the Trail  (5 day)

Readers--Regular and Advanced

• The Bears on Hemlock Mountain
• The Courage of Sarah Noble
• A Lion to Guard Us
• Meet George Washington
• Meet Thomas Jefferson
• Robert Fulton, Boy Craftsman
• Sarah Whitcher's Story
• The Skippack School
• Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims
• The Thanksgiving Story
• Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia
• George Washington: Our First Leader
• The Corn Grows Ripe
• Mr. Revere and I
• Naya Nuki
• Stone Fox [Watch out, a tear jerker!]
• The Story of Eli Whitney
• Tikta' Liktak
• Vostaas:White Buffalo's Story of Plains Indian Life

Core E books not used in Core D+E:

History

• Lincoln: A Photobiography
• Story of the USA, Book 3 
• Story of the USA, Book 4
• William Wilberforce
• The World Wars
• American Tall Tales (CD-5 day)
• Sounding Forth the Trumpet, For Young Readers (5 day)
• South America (workbook)
• A Unit about Canada (5 day)

Read-Alouds

• The Winged Watchman
• Half Magic (5 day)
• The Kitchen Madonna (5 day)
• The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs
• Thee, Hannah!

Readers

• All of a Kind Family
• Bruchko
• From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
• George Washington Carver
• Gone Away Lake
• The Perilous Road
• Plain Girl
• Sing Down the Moon
• The Terrible Wave

I hope this is helpful to you and I pray that you and your children will have wonderful conversations about these stories as you learn together.

Blessings,
Jill

Homeschoolers are changing history...

I love history.

As a child my history teacher dad took us on all kinds of road trips. We drove up to Alaska, down to Veracruz, Mexico and from coast to coast, stopping at historical landmarks, museums and spots of interest along the way. You know those pyramids in Mexico where human sacrifices took place? I have climbed them. I have seen the wagon wheel ruts put in solid stone from so many covered wagons passing over them.

The first Pony Express station? I've been there--I think you get the idea. Living and breathing history as a child, I just took for granted the many things that others only learn about in books.

What I learned though, is that while people are making history, they seldom realize it. Some people do--I mean Thomas Edison knew he was making history, so did Henry Ford and Alexander the Great. But, regular people seldom realize it.

They go about their lives, living and working and breathing and dying, and what they do seems mundane. But later, in retrospect, we can see the impact they had on history.

I am thinking of the scribes who faithfully copied great literary works, the folks who first found out that coffee was amazing in the morning, people who charted the stars and so many more. We don't know their names in most cases, but we know what they have done. They changed history.

I believe that the moms and dads that sit around their living rooms and kitchen tables faithfully teaching their children are doing the same thing today. I know it can be lonely and trying and some days we ask ourselves why we do it.

But, homeschooling is about more than education. I believe homeschooling families across America and across the world are raising children to be competent men and women, well read, articulate and with a heart for the world. As a minority we are changing the way America thinks about education. We are changing the way society thinks about families. We are changing educational history and impacting our communities one family at a time.

Take care,
Jill