All American History Vol 1 Student Reader [Hardcover]

Celeste W. Rakes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2007

Having taught American history a number of times, each time writing (and re-writing) her own materials, Celeste has shared her love of history with many students in her homeschool classes. Designed to be engaging and written in a comfortable style, All American History reads like a good book -- bringing America's story to life piece by piece.
Containing hundreds of images and dozens of maps, All-American History Volume I is a complete year's curriculum for students in grades 5 - 8 when combined with the Student Activity Book and Teacher's Guide. It is also adaptable for younger and older students. The first volume covers Exploration through 1840.
Each week includes a chapter from the Reader, maps, forms, and review questions in the Activity Book, and plenty of hands-on and further research ideas in the Teacher Guide. (As well as great teaching tips, ANSWERS to everything, and a great book list!) The teacher book also provides additional hands-on and further research ideas for the younger students you may use this with.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 442 pages
• Publisher: Bright Ideas Press; 1st edition (March 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1892427125
• ISBN-13: 978-1892427120
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 8.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #244,286 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars All American History, Uniting America's Story, Piece by Piece by Celeste W. Rakes, July 30, 2007

By 

Cynthia E. Downes "Cindy Downes" (Broken Arrow, OK, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: All American History Vol 1 Student Reader (Hardcover)

When I first received Volume 1 of this curriculum, I thought it was going to be just another history textbook. However, I was pleasantly surprised! This one is unique and worth considering for your children.

The reader is excellent and the information is well presented. I think students will enjoy the text. Each unit includes easy-to-read text, illustrations of famous people and events, maps, and a section on the impact of the unit's events on our nation. The illustrations, however, are black and white which makes it somewhat less interesting than a similar book in color. Maybe a future edition will add color illustrations.

What I like the most is the activity book! Each unit includes activity worksheets to accompany the text. The fun part is that Celeste has included small images of famous people and flags to cut out and paste on the worksheets. Visual learners and your younger children will like this part and it will help them to remember what they learned. The worksheets also include a fill in the blank and multiple choice quiz to check older student's memory, as well as map work and additional ideas and resources for further study.

This curriculum comes in three parts: The Student Reader, a Student Activity Book, and the Teacher Guide with Answer Key. Normally, I don't like having to purchase a separate teacher book, but in this case, it's not that expensive ($16.95) and it is well worth getting. It includes a lot of background information as well as additional activities that will make multi-level teaching a lot easier. For instance, in the lesson on the Revolutionary War, students will make invisible ink secret messages, create a newspaper, make candles, go on a nature hike to identify trees and animals, learn how to fly and store a flag, and much more.

I particularly recommend this to parents who have visual learners and who have to teach multiple grade levels at one time. The author recommends it to be used for grades 5-8, but I would not be afraid to use parts of it with younger children.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great history tool, December 8, 2009

By 

M. Geiger - See all my reviews
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This review is from: All American History Vol 1 Student Reader (Hardcover)

We are now 13 weeks into this product and it is all that I thought it would be. It is a great overview of American history and I can add to it easily with supplemental books for more details if I like.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars nicely written, but chapters are a little long; overall we like it, September 11, 2008

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Scott (Florida) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: All American History Vol 1 Student Reader (Hardcover)

nicely written, but lessons are a little long. the student book is a little confusing too, but overall we like it and is what we wanted.