Looking for a good curriculum???

Question

Does anyone know of a good literature-based curriculum for social studies? I've looked into Sonlight, but I'd like to teach more of a standard social studies curriculum (my community, my state, my country, and branching out to world history).

Even a resource book would be great!

Answer 1

Alpha Omega is great.  I used it with all 15 of my HS kids!  Very student-centered instead of teacher-centered.  Also one of the most reasonably priced.

The main reason I chose it, tho, was that its courses most closely resembled our state's curriculum.  You may want to check that out before you choose your HS curric... you never know, your kid(s) may end up back in your public schools.

Answer 2

OH YEAH!

Look up the "Thomas Jefferson education system." (yes, named after our founding Father)

I LOVE that system.  Best EVER

the book "The 5,000 year leap" talks about how our country should be run...  Great book! ... I don't think that's what you're looking for though.

Look for that system.  It's AMAZING!

Answer 3

AmblesideOnline (http://www.amblesideonline.org) uses a Charlotte Mason approach to schooling (very strong literature base).  _The Well-Trained Mind_ by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer is not so much a curriculum as a path.  It, too, is heavily based on great literature and uses a four-year chronological history study that integrates literature into history studies.

Oops - didn't see you were looking specifically for social studies.

You may need to look for individual resources to study each "unit" (community, state, etc.)  A decent teacher supply store should have lots of social studies resources for you to browse.  Or you might just create your own.  What do you want to study about your community - community helpers like police officers, firefighters, mail carriers, and librarians?  The history of your community?  Write these up in a lesson plan and find books at the library that support each "objective".

Answer 4

Abeka is great

Answer 5

You may want to look into winter promise.  http://www.winterpromise.com

It may be difficult for  you to find a program that starts with my community and my state, simply because most of these curricula are national in scope.

You could design your own unit studies for your state and community, using a simple history text as a base and finding supplementary material.

Here are some tips for designing your own unit study:

http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/...

Here are some tips for homeschooling history:

http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/...

Answer 6

Each family has their own opinion on what they enjoy.  Instead of giving you my opinion I think it would be better to direct you to a website that lists all the options and there you can read opinions and reviews from hundreds of people and see the overall rating for them.  It is www.homeschoolreview.com.  Also if you have any questions they have a chat board that seems to have veteran homeschoolers with a wealth of information.  I have referred myself to this website numerous times when making curriculum choices and changes (which seems to happen a lot with us, lol).

Good luck in finding a great match for your family!

Answer 7

Depending on the age/grade of the child there are many, Abeka, Christian Liberty Press, even Usborne books can be great for this.

I prefer the first two as a basic study, and use Usborne as a additional resource.

In the higher grades look for King Fisher, or Streams of Civilization volume 1 and 2.

There are many more pricey ones, but content wise Streams of Civilization is pretty good.

Christian Liberty Press, and several other discount home school stores carry them.

http://ebiz.netopia.com/clpress/