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American history is really a critical subject to teach in our school systems. I remember that it was barely covered when I went to school and because of that and my love for history, I ensure my children obtain the best when it comes to a good comprehensive curriculum. I was pleased to have had the chance to review Memoria Press and The Story of the Thirteen Colonies & the Great Republic Set & 200 Questions About American History Set for grades 5-8. In case you might wonder why this set is appealing, it's because it combines H.A. Guerber's two-volume American history set from the turn of the 20th century. With additional heavy editing by Memoria Press, it provides a new set of lessons into the events that were so significant to history up until that time. H.A. Guerber (1859-1929) was a British historian and her two-volume set included lessons in patriotism, truthfulness, courage, patience, honesty, and more.
Memoria Press did a fantastic job combining the two works and with their additional editing, created a set that provoked an interest and an awareness that is much needed by youth. Memoria Press also made it easier to read and conscious of specific terms and words from a more sensitive politically correct culture. I was able to look at the original and I think it would have been hard for children to read and understand given it was penned in the late 1800's. Now for the details!
INTRODUCTION
The Story of the Thirteen Colonies & the Great Republic Set is a three-book set:
- The Story of the Thirteen Colonies and the Great Republic Text
- The Story of the Thirteen Colonies and the Great Republic Student Guide
- The Story of the Thirteen Colonies and the Great Republic Teacher Guide
The Teacher Guide's table of content lists the 32 lessons, an appendix and tests. It immediately jumps into the lessons and the lessons consists of five sections: Facts to Know, Vocabulary, Comprehension Questions and a section on Enrichment.
The Appendix includes great resources from maps to a letter from George Washington to the Emancipation Proclamation and much more.
The Student Guide is similar to the Teacher Guide minus all the answers.
The Story of the Thirteen Colonies & the Great Republic text contains a preface explaining the content and source. It's intended to be a historical reader for the elementary level either as a supplement or the source for introductory history starting with Columbus all the way to the Spanish American War.
There is a Hints for Teacher section that is invaluable as this is the guide to help in knowing how to teach the lessons with helpful tips in helping children to remember what they learned. Ranging from spelling bee type activities to utilizing flash cards as well as reading to the children first and having them recite certain passages back, are all exampled provided. The text (book) is not just a reader as it provides ways to incorporate subjects such as poetry, geography, and more.
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| My younger one becomes a little jealous I think when she doesn't get to participate in a review. Here she is reviewing the book as my other daughter begins her work. |
GETTING STARTED
We gathered both sets to start and focused first on The Story of the Thirteen Colonies & the Great Republic set. I'm going to use Lesson 7 for my examples and will begin with the text (book). The pages contain black and white illustrations ranging from important people, historical scene reenactments to maps. Each chapter ranges from two to three pages and each lesson contains the work from two or three chapters making each lesson manageable for completion during a week's time.
I first read the required pages to my daughter and then had her re-read the same pages. Each lesson is short but provides a lot of information. Below is the sample page from the text for Lesson 7:
As noted above, each lesson begins with a Facts to Know section of key persons and places. It's a nice summary of what they just read. The next section, Vocabulary, provides a lesson in spelling and the use of a dictionary as well as penmanship. The next section, Comprehension Questions, provides the students with an opportunity to fully express what they learned and if they understood what they read. It's a great opportunity for them to utilize their writing skills since each question requires the student to respond in their voice versus just copying an answer. Finally, the section titled Enrichment provides further instruction in various areas. For Lesson 7, the areas covered include maps, charting, timeline and a composition that has the student imagine they were given a land grant to create a new colony and what type of laws they would create, what type of government they would form, and a chance to describe their settlement and location.
Below is the sample page of the questions provided for the lesson as well as the answers from my daughter.
The Teacher Guide provides the same information as the Student Guide but includes the answers making it easy to check the student's work. All books are not large in size making it easy to tote anywhere you go if you are like us and are always on the go.
Here is an example of Test One:
As the curriculum moves forward, it looks just as interesting and comprehensive as the earlier lessons. I wanted to share Lesson 29 as it covers the Civil War which I've found myself increasingly interested in it and so will my children as they tend to like most everything I do. One of the Enrichment lessons include drawing the route of Sherman's "march to the sea." I found this one interesting to share mostly because I just finished a documentary discussing his march.
The next set in our review is the 200 QUESTIONS ABOUT AMERICAN HISTORY SET.
The 200 Questions About American History Set, grades 5-8, is a supplement to Guerber's The Story of the Thirteen Colonies & the Great Republic. As the title states, it contains 200 questions that contain information from the text. The questions are derived from Guerber's book and also from the Story of the World Volume IV.
The card set also includes the 200 Questions About American History Student Guide and 200 Questions About American History Teacher Guide. The Teacher Guide and Student Guide provides a section for Recommended Texts & Weekly Schedule to include teaching guidelines. I wanted to take it a step further and purchased the online Lesson Plan for this which was helpful in planning the lessons. It is not required as they do provide enough information to teach as noted in the photo below:
Within each of the Guides, are sections that include:
The Student Guide provides the questions and references where the answers can be found if the student doesn't remember as noted below:
- Drill Questions - these include questions and answers from the 200 flash cards.
- Timeline of American History is completed chronologically as the student progresses through the cards.
- Notable Quotes are presented along with the chapter they are derived from if the student needs help identifying the notable person.
- Presidents of the United States allows them to further their memory by listing all the of the first 45 presidents.
- The words to the Star-Spangled Banner, Old Ironsides and O Captain! My Captain! are the last pages of the Student Guide and are contained in the Teacher Guide too.
The Teacher Guide includes the tests and answers. The tests are given at the following intervals:
- Completion of Lesson 8
- Completion of Lesson 16
- Completion of Lesson 24
- Completion of Lesson 32
The Student Guide provides the questions and references where the answers can be found if the student doesn't remember as noted below:
FINAL THOUGHTS
After reviewing The Story of the Thirteen Colonies & the Great Republic Set and 200 Questions About American History Set by Memoria Press, I recommend the curriculum. Memoria Press is consistent with the level of curriculum they offer and are very thorough. It's teaching in an easier, logical and practical form. To date with all the other products I have reviewed by Memoria Press, are top notch. I like how they integrate other subjects into the main subject.
To sum it up, my daughter said:
"I really learned a lot from it and I really liked the short number of pages I had to read but they were informative."
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