History Year 1: Quick Start

The History Year 1 Course Set includes the three items listed below.

Are you missing an item? Compare your packing slip to your order. You may have ordered the “course book” rather than the “course set.”

If something is missing, contact our Customer Support Team at [email protected] and we will be happy to help you.

With purchase of the course set, you receive access to two digital items: Student Explorers (PDFs) and Audio Dramatizations (MP4s). Both items can be found here. The access code is located in the About This Course pages in the front of the course book.

About This Course

Click below for a printable download of this information.

Course Pacing

This family-style course is broken into four units for a total of 60 lessons, each about 60 minutes long. This includes 20 minutes for a family read-aloud book of your choice. History is a subject that commonly leads to discussion. This may make your lesson times vary. We encourage you to discuss and explore the topics that spark interest in your family. 

If you complete two lessons per week, it will take one school year to complete a course. We recommend completing three lessons a week if you are teaching children in grades 6 and above.

Four-Year Outline

All history courses (years 1–4) cover ancient times to modern history; each course stops in different places and periods to explore in depth. Thus, children see the whole sweep of history and how it fits together during each course. Each of the four history courses places an emphasis on US history, the Founding Fathers, and principles of freedom.

Download the Four-Year Outline here.

Lessons

There are a few lessons that require additional items. We suggest that you look ahead a few lessons to gather the items. 

Bold text indicates instructions to you. Regular text is what you read to children. [Text within brackets are the answers to questions you ask the children.]

The Big Book of History Stories

The Big Book of History Stories includes maps and color images referred to in the course book as well as 21 illustrated stories that correspond with the lessons. Lessons indicate when to read the stories.

Student Explorers

The lesson indicate when to use the Student Explorers. Not all lessons use them, and in some lessons the older children use the Student Explorers while younger children do not.

Print a Student Explorer for each child (based on their grade level), and place each Student Explorer in a 3-ring binder. For how to access the Student Explorers, read the About This Course pages in the front of the course book.

Audio Dramatizations

The password for the audio dramatizations page is in the About This Course section at the beginning of your history course book. Once you open the audio online, you can stream the audio or download it. To download, right-click and choose “Save As.”

The Keys of History Board Game

The Keys of History board game helps children review important information about key historical figures and events in a fun way. It also adds variety and family or class interaction. The course indicates when to play this game. In addition, we also suggest that you play this game occasionally during the Year 2, Year 3, and Year 4 history courses, again providing a wonderful review of key information learned in the Year 1 course. An instruction card is included with the game along with the following items:

• 10” x 10” game board
• 8 player pieces
• 22 black tokens
• 22 game cards
• 2 instruction cards
• 1 die

The game may be played by 1–8 students.

Teaching Older Children

Students in grades 7–12 create a history notebook from loose leaf paper that students put in a binder. The course book and student explorers guide students through creating this notebook.

The Grades 10–12 Student Explorers contain in-depth reading assignments and activities that students complete independently to prepare them for college-level learning.

Teaching Younger Children

Occasionally, in a big box under the lesson heading, you will see a message that suggests you skip the lesson if you are teaching only children in younger grades. All lesson material is appropriate for all ages, but these particular lessons may be too complex for younger children.

If you have both older and younger children, it is suggested you do all the lessons and let younger children participate to the degree you choose.

Recommended Resources

As part of the course, you are encouraged to select and read four books to your children, one for each of the four units in the course. For a list of suggestions, click on this link Read-Aloud Suggestions. 

Reading engaging books with high literary, moral, and educational value is a powerful way to teach and instill a love of history. Twenty minutes is allotted in most lessons for the teacher read-aloud, but to finish a book by the end of the unit, most read-aloud books require that you read outside of lesson time as well. For your convenience, we offer a Read-Aloud Book Pack for each year of history. Click below for more information.

History Year 1 Read-Aloud Book Pack

New History Updates

See all the latest information about the updates for History Years 1–4. If you have our current editions, you will still be able to access all the digital extras on the website as described in the About This Course pages in the front of the course book.

Click here to see the latest updates.