Or maybe I should say, “I GET A DO OVER!!”
Sometimes we just get one. It doesn’t happen very often for me.
Last year, we used All American History to cover early American history. Many of you followed my posts about that. There weren’t too many, because we fizzled. Badly. And I learned something.
Sometimes it’s not the curriculum that is the problem, it’s the method. Remember how I’m always saying to make your curriculum work for you? Well, sometimes there is a tweak that’s just too big to make, or that we don’t have the energy to make, that WILL make that awesome history program, science curriculum, or package of art lessons to work for you. Sometimes you just have to get what’s intended for your kids’ age group.
That was my mistake last year.
All American History was written for “bright 5th graders through high school”. That should have been my first clue right there. Bright 5th graders. We have special needs. They are bright, but not when it comes to textbook readings and definitely NOT workbook pages. There is nothing wrong with this curriculum, but my approach to it was very, very flawed.
What I overlooked was a little program designed to go alongside the AAH text, called All American History Junior. JUNIOR being the operative word! I thought it was just lapbooks for the AHH program. It’s not. I thought it would be “too young” for my boys. It’s definitely not. I thought it was another unnecessary expense on top of what we already had . I was wrong. You do get what you pay for.
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What it IS is just right for them. (Can I say IS is? Sigh. And I am the “grammar nazi”.) We are starting over from the beginning of All American History this year. I don’t think the boys will mind the repeat, because of all the great literature we will be including.
All American History Junior has scaled down lesson plans for the AAH text. It does include something called folderbooks, but they are really folded info cards designed to be used in a file folder. They will be PERFECT to include in our timeline books, especially when I print them out 50% of their regular size. It also includes crossword puzzles, review flashcards, maps, and even more than that.
This year I was blessed to be asked to be a Bright Ideas Press blogger! I was provided our curriculum for the school year, and I get to share a lot more about the fantastic curriculum that Bright Ideas Press has. We were already using All American History and Wonder Maps, and now we get to add in AAH Junior and Illuminations Year 4, which will just bring light and life into our history studies! I am excited to share it with you–which I’d do anyway, whether they sponsored me or not.
This year is going to be a good one.
Disclosure of Material Connection: Bright Ideas Press sponsored our curriculum for the 2012-2013 school year. I will be writing about our experiences using their programs, but I am not expected to write positively, just honestly. The experiences and opinions expressed in these posts are entirely my own. I am also an affiliate of Bright Ideas Press, and often the links provided in my posts will be affiliate links which, if you click over and make a purchase, help to pay this site’s maintenance fees.
by M.B. Synge. We have now read three of these volumes and they definitely hold my boys’ attention! We love the digital format of these particular books (as opposed to the PDF versions we have used in the past). Mrs. Synge does a wonderful job of telling the histories in a way that both draws the reader in and keeps them interested. Elementary and up.
by Mara Pratt. There are four volumes, but we are still reading Volume One. She goes into short biographical stories of key people in our history. We are learning a lot! Mid-Elementary and up.
