American History Curriculum
Told through Story
Grades 1 - 8
(For a high school history credit, see below)
Living Streams American History
New World Wonders
This year, discover America’s thrilling story, from the Vikings to the founding of the United States of America
Don’t just read history…live it!
Living Streams American History brings the people of the past to life.
Your children don't memorize dates and events.
They meet the men and women who lived them.
A full year of American history, told from a Christian worldview through story.
Does history reading feel tedious? A textbook of names and dates nobody remembers by dinner? Kids slumped over the table, waiting for it to be over?
It doesn't have to be like this.
Children were made for story. Tell them history as a living story, full of real people who feared and hoped and fought and prayed. They remember it years later, because they lived it alongside the people who were there.
That's what Living Streams does. Living Streams is history told through fast-paced, action packed story.
Every moment, every person, every event comes to you through storytelling. You'll hear their voices. You'll see the world through their eyes. Your children won't stand outside history looking in. They'll walk through it.
And it's history that doesn't flinch. The hard parts are told honestly and gently, so real conversations happen at your table about courage, consequences, and the God who works through all of it.
History is His story of His work in, for, and through mankind. New World Wonders tells it that way.
Rainbow Resource Review
Listen to the homeschool experts at Rainbow Resource describe Living Streams American History.
Including Your High Schooler
Can I Use This for High School? Yes.
With a bit of supplementation, you can absolutely count this as a high school history credit. You're the one who assigns credit on your transcript, and a rich year of early American history earns a full credit when you add the depth a high schooler is ready to explore.
The common benchmark for a high school credit is about 120 to 150 hours. Homeschool laws vary from state to state. Most states leave credit and transcripts to the parent, but a few (and any umbrella or charter program) have their own rules.
Add these items to make Living Streams American History work as a high school credit:
At least three autobiographies with summaries written by hand in their notebooking journal Suggestions: Ben Franklin, Mary Jemison, Olaudah Equiano, Jonathan Edwards, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams (unfinished), David Crockett, or Ethan Allen.
Primary source documents to read and respond to in their notebooking journal:
- Columbus's letter on his first voyage (1493)
- Alexander Hamilton's hurricane letter (1772)
- William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation
- John Winthrop, "A Model of Christian Charity" (1630)
- Mary Rowlandson, A Narrative of the Captivity (1682)
- Jonathan Edwards, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" (1741)
- Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776)
- Patrick Henry, "Give me liberty or give me death" (1775)
- The Declaration of Independence, then the Constitution and Bill of Rights
- Letters between John and Abigail Adams
- National Archives, America's Founding Documents — Declaration, Constitution, and Bill of Rights, in the founders' own hand: archives.gov/founding-docs
- The Avalon Project (Yale Law) — thousands of documents, 17th and 18th century sections: avalon.law.yale.edu
- Founders Online (National Archives) — every letter and paper of Washington, Franklin, Adams, Jefferson, Hamilton, and Madison, fully searchable: founders.archives.gov
- Fordham Internet History Sourcebook, Exploration — Columbus, Cortés, and the early voyages: sourcebooks.fordham.edu
- Gilder Lehrman Institute — curated primary sources with student-friendly introductions: gilderlehrman.org
Assign it 1.0 Credit
Watch a Flip Through of Living Streams American History
This video was done by a homeschool mom I met at the Massachusetts homeschool conference. She does a great job of explaining how the curriculum works. She has many helpful videos.