Monday, May 12, 2014

TOS Crew Review: Golden Prairie Press American History Curriculum


Golden Prairie Press Review

We recently had the chance to review the 
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Since we started homeschooling several years ago, I have been piecing together our history curriculum, so I was super excited to get the chance to review this digital curriculum from Golden Prairie Press.  The reason I was making our own curriculum is because I wanted a hands-on program.  My kiddos just learn better that way:)  Most history sets I was finding were more structured "textbook" learning and my kiddos weren't retaining much of what they were being taught that way.  The Heroes and Heroines of the Past lessons included lots of hands-on projects, so we jumped on this opportunity!

Golden Prairie Press Review

This curriculum is called Digital Heroes & Heroines of the Past: American History Curriculum and retails for $98.99.

This digital curriculum includes:
Heroes and Heroines of the Past: American History Part 1 ebook
Heroes and Heroines of the Past: American History Part 2 ebook
Additional Materials Downloads- includes printables, videos and more

Historical Skits ebook- includes 19 skits to perform as a family
Sing Some History CD- includes 20 songs
Listen to Some U.S. History MP3 CD- Includes 20 speeches, poems, sermons, and documents 

Optional Book
Heroes and Heroines of the Past: American History Coloring Book


This curriculum is a 30 week program and is designed for grades 1-6.  Each lesson has a section written especially for 1-2nd grades and a section with the same information, but is written in a bit of advanced form for 3rd-6th grade students.  This is cool because it allows you to use the same curriculum if you have students in both age groups.  

Each lesson begins with a living history story, some from long ago, some more modern.  These stories are easy for the kiddos to follow along with...since I'm teaching to both of mine, I read them aloud, but they could easily be done independently by each student.  At the end of the lesson are a couple of comprehension questions, suggested writing topics and quite often a short geography lesson like finding the places we learned about on the map in the reading.  Answers are provided in the back of the book for teacher's reference.  After this section comes the most fun part for my kiddos...the hands-on learning!  Some days we are examining historical artwork, others we are crafting or building (we've made a tee pee in the living room, molded play dough Viking ships and Native American pueblos and more!) created and played historical games, listened to and studied the origins of historical songs and, our personal favorite, cooked up some historical recipes!  We've made Mexican hot chocolate from scratch and enjoyed a summer succotash, with lots more fun recipes coming up! 


Each lesson takes us 30 minutes to an hour to complete, depending on how long we spend on the project at the end.  

At the end of each unit is a section of recommended reading and resources to supplement the lessons, not that they need supplementing:)  These are super helpful though if your kiddo's interest was piqued and they want to take a more in depth look at a certain period of time or historical figure.

I must say, I am learning just about as much as the kiddos are each day!  I was public-schooled and don't remember learning many of these historical stories.  I'm not sure if that's because I was never taught them or I was taught them in a way that made them easy to forget:)  I know my kiddos are soaking in all this great information because they are quick to tell Dad (and anyone else who'll listen:)  all  about what they learn each day.  History has become one of their favorite lessons!

ABCD Diaries gives Golden Prairie Press an A+!

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