American Revolution

I love history. I love to read about it, talk about it and watch movies about it. It's always been my favorite school subject. Casia shares this loves, so it's no wonder that she and I get carried away when we delve into historical topics. So I've been trying to limit the scope that we cover for each given time period, but I'll admit it, this is tough for me. I feel there is always more that we could cover; we could always go deeper. Fortunately, Jacob's there to rein me in. So I'm trying to breakdown America history into manageable segments and keep to a limited time table. This last unit we spent about three weeks on the French and Indian War followed by about five weeks on the Revolutionary War.

To learn about the French and Indian War and why it is so important in American history, Casia and I watched a video called "The War That Made America", produced by PBS. She also read a book called The French and Indian War by Christopher Collier. I like to assign reading for Language Arts to correspond to other subjects we are studying and I found a copy of Calico Captive by Elizabeth George Spears in our local library. It's based on a true story of a girl captured by Native Americans. Casia also read a Dear America book, Standing in the Light by Mary Pope Osborne which was also a story about an Indian captive. Casia enjoyed the topic so much that when I gave her a writing assignment to compose a short story, she chose to make hers about a girl that was taken by Indians and then decided to stay with them instead of returning with the English.

We then moved on to the Revolutionary War. I got a little overboard on my trip to the library and brought home about two dozen books. She didn't end of reading them all, but I like to give her choices; let her select what interests her most. I've listed the books and movies that she read and watched below. Casia learned about the early unrest in the colonies and how and why the French & Indian War had such an impact on the relationship between Britain and the colonies. We covered the acts passed by the British to tax the colonists; how they worked and why they angered the colonists. She also learned that about the process, and how long and drawn out it was, for the colonists to finally declare independence and win the war. Casia read several books about the major battles in the war and she learned about many of the Founding Fathers.

Next up, we'll be learning about the framing of the constitution, the structure of our government and the development of a fledgling country.

Revolutionary War Books:

The Revolutionary War by Brendan January

American Revolution by Mary Pope Osborne

American Revolution by Stuart Murray

The Story of the Boston Tea Party by R. Conrad Stein

Sybil Ludington's Midnight Ride by Marsha Amstel

The Story of Lexington and Concord by R. Conrad Stein

The Story of the Barbary Pirates by R. Conrad Stein

The Story of Valley Forge by R. Conrad Stein

Yorktown by Michael Weber

Great Women of the American Revolution by Michael Burgan
The Signers by Dennis Brindell Fradin
George Washington by Cheryl Harness

George Washington, Spymaster by Thomas B. Allen
Who Was Benjamin Franklin by Dennis Brindell Fradin

Who Was Thomas Jefferson by Dennis Brindell Fradin 

Patrick Henry by 

Paul Revere's Ride [Poem] by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Riddle of Penncroft Farm [Historical Fiction] by Dorothea Jensen

Movies on the Revolutioary War:

LaFayette: The Lost Hero

John Adams (HBO production): parts of it anyway, some didn't seem appropriate for a 10 year-old
The Revolution (History Channel)