What a wonderful intro to civics for elementary students! Beautiful coloring pages, including pictures of the White House, U. S. Capitol, Betsy Ross, and the founding fathers, will help students engage as they understand how ideas from the past influenced America’s founders and the documents they created. Each of the 17 topics has a double page spread: one page with a paragraph or two of text followed by comprehension questions (which can be answered orally by younger children) and one correlating full-page picture to color. Three multiple-choice quizzes are spread throughout the book to help gauge the student’s understanding, and the answer key for both quizzes and comprehension questions is at the back of the book. A fantastic way to help kids appreciate their duties and rights as United States citizens! Contains easy-to-use instructions for use with students from K-5th grade, and two suggested scope and sequence options. The publisher recommends pairing this with book 2 for use in a single school year, doing a lesson per week. You could also work through the entire series in a year doing 2-3 lessons a week. 42 pgs. sc. ~Nancie
Note: Book 7, filled with patriotic music and coloring pages, is recommended for use alongside this workbook so that children are singing them throughout the year.
John Adams wrote that, “Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.” In a free republic, civics knowledge is not optional. It is a prerequisite for self-government.
Our American Civics curriculum for grades K-5 explains what every citizen needs to know. Our civics textbooks cover topics including:
Many Americans have never been given the chance to learn civics. We want to change that with our civics books.
The United States of America is in crisis. According to a 2023 Wall Street Journal poll, only 23% of adults under age 30 think patriotism is very important to them personally, compared with 59% of seniors ages 65 and older. America's military is not able to meet its recruitment goals. Americans do not know the geography of the world or of their own country. And, American schoolchildren have no idea how the United States of America is different, and in many ways, better, than other countries. A people without civics knowledge is in danger of having everything of value taken from them.
For nearly three decades, I have been a public middle school teacher and a home school dad of 7 children. I've experienced the failures of American education firsthand, and I see that our country is in danger of losing the constitutional liberties all citizens have enjoyed since 1789. Classical Historian's Civics Curriculum was designed to give our youngest generation what they need to practice self-government.
Book One: Introduction
Part 1: Law and Morality
Part 2: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern Heritage
Part 3: Founding of the United States of America
An American civics course for young children? Yes, please! This new series of 7 “open-and-go” workbooks covers a broad range of topics, providing kids with a solid foundation of American citizenship. Author John Degree seeks to instill an understanding and appreciation of civics in students, as well as a patriotic love for our country. Books are as user-friendly as you can get! Each workbook includes lessons with detailed “Ideas for Instruction” and easy steps for use with lower, middle, and upper elementary students (whether at home or in a class/co-op setting). Workbooks progress in difficulty a bit as you move up through them.
Engaging lessons teach America’s heritage, the story of its founding, the Constitution, the basics of how American government functions, and more! Lessons typically feature a two-page spread, with a page of text to be read aloud followed by comprehension questions (children unable to write answer orally), detailed coloring pages with a lesson summary at the bottom, key words for learning to paraphrase, timeline cards (Book 6), and an oral presentation for 3rd-5th graders. Multiple-choice quizzes spread throughout the book help to gauge a student’s understanding, while the answer key for questions and quizzes is found at the back. Animated videos, which will provide reinforcement of lessons, are still in production at www.classicalhistorian.com.
Two scope and sequence options are provided in each workbook: one for teaching grade-level students in a class setting sing one lesson per week and two books per year, and one for using all 7 books in a 9-month school year, doing 2-3 lessons per week. Since the books are consumable, you will want one for each student in your family. There are so many ways you could use these workbooks, so find what works best for you. The content is fantastic, no matter how you do it!
Note: Book 7, filled with patriotic songs, is recommended for use alongside each of the workbooks for every age level, so that students are singing them throughout the year.
There is a good review here about this, and I believe I found a couple good reviews of something else from this brand on Amazon. My child asks a lot of questions that would benefit from some civics…