Learn how you can use living books to gently introduce American History to young learners in your homeschool.
This post is sponsored by Sonlight. I received this curriculum for free and was compensated for my time and honest review of this curriculum. As always, all opinions are my own. Read the full disclosure here.
With the start of a new school year approaching and the addition of my youngest child to our formal lessons, I’ve been looking for literature-based curriculums for my 5-year-old. I was thrilled to learn about and try Sonlight’s American History Curriculum Exploring American History: History/Bible/Literature K from Sonlight.
Today I am excited to share all about this sweet curriculum that is perfect for anyone looking to teach American history through living books.
Exploring American History: K-1st
Designed for young children ages 5-6 in kindergarten and first-grade, Sonlight’s Exploring American History: KBL K uses living books to introduce American history to young children. The 36-week program is an effective, no-fuss, open-and-go curriculum. It requires minimal prep and planning for the instructor and little prep is always a huge bonus for me when choosing curriculums for early elementary ages.
Sonlight is a Christian company and biblical truths are entwined in their curriculum. I appreciate how they have incorporated bible, history, and literature together with Exploring American History: KBL K. Additionally, I love that the curriculum requires no worksheets to be completed and very little handwriting activities. You will appreciate how thorough the lessons are without requiring any rigorous work. This curriculum is gentle and perfect for young learners.
Teaching with Living Books
If you have spent any amount of time reading the homeschool-related posts on this blog you know I love using literature-based learning in our homeschool. Exploring American History: KBL K is literature-based and uses the most delightful living books for each lesson.
Reading quality books and discussing them is a part of our lifestyle. For that reason, this curriculum is a perfect fit for my children.
Without a doubt, my favorite resource from this curriculum is the Heroes and Happenings Volumes 1 & 2. They are age-appropriate, beautifully illustrated spines with stories that introduce kids to a wide range of people and events in American History. Unlike other American history curriculums I’ve tried, the Heroes and Happenings Volumes contain stories of some lesser-known events and figures from history. I really love this about the curriculum.
I would even recommend getting the Heroes and Happenings even if you are not in need of an American History curriculum. The Heros and Happenings volumes can each be purchased individually. They are a wonderful resource to add to your homeschool library.
Sonlight’s Exploring American History: History / Bible / Literature K Kit comes with the Sonlight K Instructor’s Guide, Heros and Happenings Volumes 1 &2,
One Year Bible for Children, Sing the Word! Teach Me Your Paths, Timeline Figures, and over 20 living books.
Alternatively, you can purchase only the instructor’s guide and use your local library to get the picture books needed. In that case, I suggest you first check your library’s catalog to see if the needed books are available through your library.
The founder of Sonlight recently did a Facebook live dedicated to Exploring American History KBL. It is a great resource if you want to learn more about the curriculum. You can check it out here. Also, you can sign up to try Sonlight for FREE by visiting here.
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