Holmes Takes America

Students will cover a range of topics and timeline events, and most importantly, explore the many perspectives of these occurrences and eras that are so often left out of historical texts.

Some of the topics covered include: 

• The First People
• The Disappearance of the Anasazi
• Native American Regions and Tribes
• Early Exploration
• The Lost Colony of Roanoke
• Early Colonization
• Impact of Colonization on Native Americans
• Puritans, Quakers, and Witches
• The Atlantic Slave Trade
• The History of Slavery in the United States
• French and Indian War
• Key Events Leading to the American Revolution
• The Revolutionary War
• War Spies and War Heroes, Women of the Revolution
• The Founding of a Nation
• The History of Money in America
• How the US Built Its Government
• The Naturalization Act
• How Slavery Influenced American Culture
• The Louisiana Purchase
• Westward Expansion
• The Underground Railroad
• The Trail of Tears
• Branches of Government
• The Civil War
• The Emancipation Proclamation
• Lincoln's Assassination
• Rebuilding a Nation
• ...and dozens of other topics in between!!

Subjects are woven together to create a seamless year of learning.  With an emphasis on critical thinking, investigative reasoning, and empathetic understanding, we left no stone unturned in this year's 'detective school.'  We incorporated subjects such as:

• The Fallacy Detective helps us understand what went wrong during the early phases of American culture.
• Philosophy encourages free thinking.
• Kid Reporter walks us step-by-step through investigative journalism.  We learn to distinguish fact from opinion and the importance of honest reporting.
• Anthropology: There is great emphasis on the representation of cultures, including hands-on experiences, and cultures in literature.
• Government: We cover a history of government, politics, elections and voting, as well as beginner economics.
• Language Arts: We read through history with a range of inclusive texts and novels.  Vocabulary and book studies are included.  We do not cover grammar.
• Geography of the US with cartography and early land development.
• United States History! Historical timelines for every unit, historical figures, and hands-on history don't stop short as we journey through the first several centuries of US History.

The open-n-go format is written to help older students venture into a more independent learning environment.  However, our Teacher Manual is filled to the brim with weekly introduction pages, copies of weekly projects for planning, the famous Luminara 'Cool Teacher Moments' and 'Magic Makers.'

So grab your best magnifying glass, because we're on the case!