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American History: Observations & Assessments from Early Settlement to Today, High School Level
Respected Christian educator, Dr. James Stobaugh, offers an entire year of high school American history curriculum in an easy to teach and comprehensive volume. American Observations & Assessments from Early Settlement to Today employs clear objectives and challenging assignments for the tenth grade student. From before the birth of our republic to the principles of liberty, American history trends, philosophies, and events are thoroughly explored. The following components are covered for the Students will complete this course knowing the Christian influences that created a beacon of hope and opportunity that still draws millions to the United States of America. This 384-page student resource should be used in conjunction with the American Observations & Assessments from Early Settlement to Today for the Teacher. British History and World History are included in this comprehensive high school history curriculum for 10th, 11th, and 12th grades offered by Dr. James Stobaugh and Master Books.
382 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2012
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16 people want to read
About the author
James P. Stobaugh
67 books7 followersDr. James Stobaugh was a Merrill Fellow at Harvard and holds degrees from Vanderbilt and Rutgers universities, and Princeton and Gordon-Conwell seminaries. An experienced teacher, he is a recognized leader in homeschooling and has published numerous books for students and teachers. He and his wife Karen have homeschooled their four children since 1985.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 10, 2023
3.5 — rounding up to 4 stars.
I did a quick skim read through this book for homeschooling purposes. There is so much to like about much of MasterBooks homeschool curriculum. They’ve become my go-to in several subjects. I like how the material is presented in the main textbook spines, in an interesting way that teaches learners how to think instead of what to think. I don’t always choose MasterBooks, however, and the main reason is that many of the student activity worksheets are filled with cumbersome, open-ended questions that would take my kids hours sometimes to answer. I’ve found that it is a good idea to look at the sample pdf downloads of each workbook before purchasing, because some of the workbooks are very heavy with the open-ended essay questions while other workbooks have more simple fill in the blank questions. I assume it just depends on the author. We personally prefer more of the fill in the blank questions over heavy narration. I believe the classical, story-telling style of the textbooks is a good balance to the fill in the blank questions.
This book in particular, American History, has a good mix of True/False and fill in the blanks, while also including writing assignments and extra projects.
As far as the history material itself, I personally found it to be moderately presented and well-balanced in general, with a ton of information and primary sources—with some caveats. Personally, I was not crazy about how the Civil War is presented in this book. It did seem to lean towards sympathizing with the South and the idea of the Lost Cause narrative; the five page spread singing the praises of Robert E. Lee also felt off to me.
I had very mixed feelings about the last several chapters. The material felt much less balanced and much more opinionated in how it presented the last several presidents, “culture wars,” and contemporary issues. I also get annoyed, frankly, when homeschoolers are portrayed with such pretentious descriptions as “the generation of Elijah” or “the new patriots, the hope for our weary nation and dysfunctional culture.”
What I do really love about this book, however, is it’s extensive, insightful, and in-depth look at the history of chattel slavery, racism, and African American history in both the North and South as well as in contemporary society. I’ve never seen a history curriculum with a Christian worldview present such a rich and detailed look at this topic, and not just in little whitewashed blurbs, but extensively throughout the entire book. I realized as I read through it how much I have yet to learn.
I would recommend this history book set, with the caveats mentioned, for anyone looking for an in-depth spine which dives wayyyyy deep into American history as well as into the lives of many historical figures, both well-known and little-known. I do wish I could find American history books for high school that come from a more neutral and less politically opinionated perspective.
I did a quick skim read through this book for homeschooling purposes. There is so much to like about much of MasterBooks homeschool curriculum. They’ve become my go-to in several subjects. I like how the material is presented in the main textbook spines, in an interesting way that teaches learners how to think instead of what to think. I don’t always choose MasterBooks, however, and the main reason is that many of the student activity worksheets are filled with cumbersome, open-ended questions that would take my kids hours sometimes to answer. I’ve found that it is a good idea to look at the sample pdf downloads of each workbook before purchasing, because some of the workbooks are very heavy with the open-ended essay questions while other workbooks have more simple fill in the blank questions. I assume it just depends on the author. We personally prefer more of the fill in the blank questions over heavy narration. I believe the classical, story-telling style of the textbooks is a good balance to the fill in the blank questions.
This book in particular, American History, has a good mix of True/False and fill in the blanks, while also including writing assignments and extra projects.
As far as the history material itself, I personally found it to be moderately presented and well-balanced in general, with a ton of information and primary sources—with some caveats. Personally, I was not crazy about how the Civil War is presented in this book. It did seem to lean towards sympathizing with the South and the idea of the Lost Cause narrative; the five page spread singing the praises of Robert E. Lee also felt off to me.
I had very mixed feelings about the last several chapters. The material felt much less balanced and much more opinionated in how it presented the last several presidents, “culture wars,” and contemporary issues. I also get annoyed, frankly, when homeschoolers are portrayed with such pretentious descriptions as “the generation of Elijah” or “the new patriots, the hope for our weary nation and dysfunctional culture.”
What I do really love about this book, however, is it’s extensive, insightful, and in-depth look at the history of chattel slavery, racism, and African American history in both the North and South as well as in contemporary society. I’ve never seen a history curriculum with a Christian worldview present such a rich and detailed look at this topic, and not just in little whitewashed blurbs, but extensively throughout the entire book. I realized as I read through it how much I have yet to learn.
I would recommend this history book set, with the caveats mentioned, for anyone looking for an in-depth spine which dives wayyyyy deep into American history as well as into the lives of many historical figures, both well-known and little-known. I do wish I could find American history books for high school that come from a more neutral and less politically opinionated perspective.
May 29, 2012
I’m a history buff, I love reading and watching about history. Give me a history book, whether it’s a book or textbook, and I’ll sit for hours (or as long as my children allow) and read. I had the chance to review the American History text and teacher’s manual by James P. Stobaugh which is written for the 10th grade student and I must say I can’t wait until I have a 10th grader! Not really, I’m not rushing my children to grow but this is such a wonderful history curriculum – I enjoyed just reading through it on my own and I learned stuff that I hadn’t been taught in public school – never ceases to amaze me how much revisionism I was exposed to.
This is divided into 34 chapters which amounts to 34 weeks of study for the student, within each each chapter are 5 lessons – I don’t know if highschoolers have to do school five days a week but if you only school for four I’m sure this can be altered to fit your family’s schedule. Each lesson should take between 20 and 30 minutes to complete with the included reading and the critical thinking questions, some open ended, some not. At the end of each week the student will take an exam over what was learned that week. Even though I don’t have children in this grade, I appreciate that this course work is to be completed independently with the parent checking and grading the work turned in. All responsibility falls on to the student to complete the work given in the time frame allowed.
You’ll find a lot of information in the text of the student book such as:
narrative background
critical thinking questions
concepts/generalizations
history maker
historiographies or historical debates
world view formation
history and world view overview
The only other items the student will need on a daily basis is a notepad for the writing assignments and a pencil or pen. Your student (or yourself) will go through the “Natives of the New World” through the “Civil War” and the “War on Terrorism” – they will get an well rounded education of the history of the United States of America before she was the United States and beyond – based on a Biblical, non-revisionist text. James P. Stobaugh and his wife have home educated their four children since 1985.
The teacher’s manual will making grading your student’s work much easier and faster with the choice to grade weekly or daily. The student questions are wonderfully organized at the back for ease of use in testing as well as reviewing. I really like the teacher’s manual gives a brief overview of the chapter in the first thoughts area and then an outline of the learning objectives complete with what questions/assignments go with each. This makes it very teacher friendly and helps in the teaching if the teacher doesn’t have time to read through each lesson first.
I cannot say enough about this wonderful high school history curriculum for students who want a Biblically sound version without God removed from history. I want to also say this text is not boring like some school texts, it’s very engaging and the illustrations are beautiful and sometimes strikingly painful, depending on the area of history being studied. You can purchase the student and teachers books at Master Books.
**Disclaimer: I was provided a copy of this curricula from Master Books in exchange for my honest opinion, no other compensation was given.
This is divided into 34 chapters which amounts to 34 weeks of study for the student, within each each chapter are 5 lessons – I don’t know if highschoolers have to do school five days a week but if you only school for four I’m sure this can be altered to fit your family’s schedule. Each lesson should take between 20 and 30 minutes to complete with the included reading and the critical thinking questions, some open ended, some not. At the end of each week the student will take an exam over what was learned that week. Even though I don’t have children in this grade, I appreciate that this course work is to be completed independently with the parent checking and grading the work turned in. All responsibility falls on to the student to complete the work given in the time frame allowed.
You’ll find a lot of information in the text of the student book such as:
narrative background
critical thinking questions
concepts/generalizations
history maker
historiographies or historical debates
world view formation
history and world view overview
The only other items the student will need on a daily basis is a notepad for the writing assignments and a pencil or pen. Your student (or yourself) will go through the “Natives of the New World” through the “Civil War” and the “War on Terrorism” – they will get an well rounded education of the history of the United States of America before she was the United States and beyond – based on a Biblical, non-revisionist text. James P. Stobaugh and his wife have home educated their four children since 1985.
The teacher’s manual will making grading your student’s work much easier and faster with the choice to grade weekly or daily. The student questions are wonderfully organized at the back for ease of use in testing as well as reviewing. I really like the teacher’s manual gives a brief overview of the chapter in the first thoughts area and then an outline of the learning objectives complete with what questions/assignments go with each. This makes it very teacher friendly and helps in the teaching if the teacher doesn’t have time to read through each lesson first.
I cannot say enough about this wonderful high school history curriculum for students who want a Biblically sound version without God removed from history. I want to also say this text is not boring like some school texts, it’s very engaging and the illustrations are beautiful and sometimes strikingly painful, depending on the area of history being studied. You can purchase the student and teachers books at Master Books.
**Disclaimer: I was provided a copy of this curricula from Master Books in exchange for my honest opinion, no other compensation was given.
June 7, 2013
First, let me say that I love history. My husband and I both do, and I'm one who could watch the History channel all day long if I had the time. So I was anxious to get my hands on this curriculum. Though looking back now, I wish that I had this in a paper, tangible version. Using it on the Kindle (I have a plain Kindle and my son has a Kindle Fire) is not as useful as having a hands-on textbook. I find that I much prefer hands-on textbooks than e-versions. Electronic just doesn't stack up to the real thing.
This is an independent study textbook for tenth grade history. I like how the book covers the positive parts about our American history as well as the negative. This textbook would be a great idea for a homeschooling family and would be good for use in a private school setting as well. This is a history textbook with a Christian foundation. http://jamiswords.blogspot.com/2013/0...
This is an independent study textbook for tenth grade history. I like how the book covers the positive parts about our American history as well as the negative. This textbook would be a great idea for a homeschooling family and would be good for use in a private school setting as well. This is a history textbook with a Christian foundation. http://jamiswords.blogspot.com/2013/0...
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews