In the first term, First Son will follow the Mater Amabilis™ study reasonably closely, modified only a little to add in a few Kansas-related books. I've posted those plans in the Mater Amabilis™ facebook group for those that are interested.
Beginning in the second term, First Son will spend six weeks studying World War I. I posted the plans for that study on the blog. As I mentioned there, I already owned a book on both world wars from Usborne: The World Wars by Paul Dowswell, Ruth Brocklehurst, and Henry Brook. You can find it on Amazon, but I bought my copy from a friend who sells Usborne books.
Mater Amabilis™ recommends Witness to History: World War II by Sean Connolly as the main book and I requested a copy from PaperBackSwap. I liked the aspect of the eyewitness accounts so I decided to use it in addition to the Usborne book.
I haven't used these plans yet and there's a good chance I've scheduled more than my rising eighth grader will be comfortable doing in the time suggested for history. We'll give it a try, though. (It's hard to know for certain, but it's possible my second child will manage these plans perfectly well.) I've modified the Mater Amabilis™plans considerably to use the Usborne book, but I have no reason to believe they're really better than those. It's also possible these plans would work just as well if you followed them and left out the Usborne book. There's a lot here.
Mater Amabilis™ says history at this level should take about 45 minutes each day three times a week. In addition, a supplemental reading book should be chose from the recommended books. I haven't picked a supplemental reading book yet; there are just so many good ones I'm still considering my options.
Our Main Resources
- Usborne The World Wars (I purchased this new through a friend.)
- Kingfisher HistoryEncyclopedia, as recommended in the Mater Amabilis™ plans (I bought this used from a mom in my local homeschool group.)
- World War II by Sean Connolly (Witness to History) (I requested this from PaperBackSwap.)
- I printed to PDF most of the articles linked in the plans and placed them in a binder before the term began.
- Movies or audio files I linked in a Google doc I shared with my son.
Optional Resources
- Stories of Karol: The Unknown Life of John Paul II by Gian Svidercoschi (purchased used)
- Caryll Houselander: Essential Writings selected with commentary by Wendy M. Wright, just a couple of pages
- Remember Pearl Harbor by Thomas B. Allen (from our library)
- Gaijin: American Prisoner of War by Matt Faulkner (from our library)
- Hiroshima by Nathaniel Harris (Witness to History) (purchased used)
Week 1
Lesson 1
The World Wars p
123-129 – Narrate. (The Second World War, The world at war, The Rise of
dictators, The fragile democracies)
Read a little about Pope Benedict XVI’s childhood in Nazi Germany.
Lesson 2
Kingfisher History Encyclopedia
p 398-399, 406-407, 412, 408-409. (The Rise of Fascism 1922-1939,
Weimar and Hitler 1919-1939, German Expansion 1938-1939, The Spanish Civil War
1936-1939)
The World Wars p
130-133 (Hitler’s Germany, The Road to War)
Notebook: Why do you think World War II happened?
Lesson 3
The World Wars p
135-143 (War begins in Europe, War breaks out, The fall of Western Europe, The
battle for Britain, Germany invades Eastern Europe)
World War II p
8-13 (Blitzkrieg, The Battle of Britain, The Blitz)
Stories of Karol
chapters 3-4: September 1, 1939 and Hitler’s “New Order” (I decided to assign this book as a saint biography, so First Son won't read it in this lesson.)
A letter from Caryll Houselander in Caryll Houselander: Essential Writings (p 82-84) in which she speaks of how to remain faithful in the dark time of war.
A letter from Caryll Houselander in Caryll Houselander: Essential Writings (p 82-84) in which she speaks of how to remain faithful in the dark time of war.
Notebook: Describe Hitler’s successes early in the war or
write about the future Pope’s experiences on September 1st.
Add an event to your Book of Centuries from this week.
Week 2
Lesson 1
Read about the Dunkirk evacuation on History.com.
Listen to excerpts of speeches by British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill:
- "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat" - 13 May 1940
- "We shall fight on the beaches" - 18 June 1940
- "Never in the field of human conflict" - 20 August 1940
Notebook: Written narration on the events at Dunkirk.
Lesson 2
The World Wars p
144-151 (European War to World War, Operation Barbarossa, The Siege of
Leningrad, Pearl Harbor)
World War II p
14-15 (Pearl Harbor)
Kingfisher History
Encyclopedia p 416-417. (War in the Pacific 1941-1945)
Listen to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s address to congress on December 8th. You can follow along with the transcript of the speech in your notebook.
Notebook: Written narration on the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Lesson 3
The World Wars p
152-157. (Japan’s new empire, Underground resistance, The home front)
Remember Pearl Harbor
by Thomas B. Allen (from our library) – Read chapter 2.
Listen to an excerpt from the “A call for sacrifice” speech by Franklin D. Roosevelt, 28 April 1942.
Read the text of the speech along with some context, printed
in your binder.
Narrate.
Add an event to your Book of Centuries from this week.
Week 3
Lesson 1
Read articles from History.com and the Smithsonian on the
Internment camps.
Look at pictures of the camps.
Gajin: American
Prisoner of War by Matt Faulkner (from the library)
Notebook: Write a position paper on the Japanese-American
internment camps.
Lesson 2
The World Wars p
158-163 (The War in North Africa, Life in occupied territories, The battle of
the Atlantic)
World War II p 16-17
(Fighting in North Africa)
Narrate.
Lesson 3
The World Wars p
164-169 (Propaganda, The Holocaust, Auschwitz-Birkenau)
World War II p
40-41 (The Holocaust)
Read Inside a NaziDeath Camp from Eyewitness History, printed in your binder.
Read Elie Wisel’s “Listen to the silent screams” speech to
mark the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, printed in
your binder. Note: the Hebrew words in bold are the opening words of Kaddish,
the Jewish prayer for the dead.
Watch Elie Wiesel addressing the Auschwitz survivors gathered in
Krakow for the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz- Birkenau.
Listen to Pope John Paul II’s “Holocaust Speech,” given at
Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial in Israel, in 2000. The text of the speech is printed in your binder.
Notebook: Write a prayer for the victims of the Holocaust
and their families.
Add an event to your Book of Centuries from this week.
Week 4
Lesson 1
Kingfisher History
Encyclopedia p 414-415 (War in the West 1939-1945)
Look at the maps of the Battles of the Coral Sea and Midway
in your binder. Keep them in front of you as you read about the battles.
The World Wars p
170-173 (The Tide Turns, Coral Sea
and Midway)
Find Midway Island on the globe.
Read the article on Midway at Eyewitness to History.
Notebook: Written narration on Midway.
Lesson 2
The World Wars p
174-181 (The Battle of Stalingrad, The death of an army, The secret war, Kursk)
World War II p
20-21 (The Soviet Defense)
Notebook: Written narration on the Battle of Stalingrad.
Lesson 3
The World Wars p
182-189 (Allied bombing in Europe, Bombs, Bombers, Battle of the Titans)
World War II p
24-25 (The Enemy Below)
Watch video of Nazi V-2 rocket launches.
Watch videos of Doc, the B-29 bomber in Kansas.
Narrate.
Add an event to your Book of Centuries from this week.
Week 5
Lesson 1
The World Wars p
190-201 (Women on the front lines, Island fighting, Entertaining the troops,
Special forces, The Italian campaign, War in the Pacific)
World War II p
28-33 (War in the Pacific, Defending Australia, Advancing through Italy)
Narrate.
Lesson 2
The World Wars p
202-207 (The Defeat of Germany, Preparing for D-Day, The D-Day Landings)
World War II p
34-35 (D-Day)
Look at some photos of D-Day at Business Insider.
Notebook: Written narration on D-Day.
Our library also has a DVD called Eisenhower on D-Day I may have First Son watch when the others aren't around.
Our library also has a DVD called Eisenhower on D-Day I may have First Son watch when the others aren't around.
Lesson 3
The World Wars p
208-223 (Hitler – the military commander, Fighting for France, Mother of
Invention, Special Relationships, Germany’s ill-fated cities, To Germany’s
Eastern border, Into Germany from the West, The fall of Berlin)
World War II p
36-39, 46-47 (Air Raids on Germany, The Battle of the Bulge, V-E Day)
Listen to part of Churchill’s victory speech.
Narrate.
Add an event to your Book of Centuries from this week.
Week 6
Lesson 1
The World Wars p
224-231 (The defeat of Japan, Iwo Jima and Okinawa, The Manhattan Project,
Hiroshima & Nagasaki)
World War II p
42-43, 48- (Through Burma, The Atomic Bomb)
Kingfisher History
Encyclopedia p 418 (Peace in the Pacific 1945-1948)
Narrate.
Lesson 2
Hiroshima by
Harris p 22-45 (Making the Decision, Mixed Motives, Flight over Japan, Blinding
Flash, Burning Wind, Scenes of Horror, Heroes’ Welcome, The Destroyed City, The
News Breaks, Second Strike, Japan Surrenders, Invisible Rays, Occupied Japan)
Watch video footage of Hiroshima before the bomb housed at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.
Watch video footage of Hiroshima before the bomb housed at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.
Notebook: Position paper on the use of the atomic bomb to
end World War II.
Lesson 3
The World Wars p
232-238 (The world after the war, The end of the war, The aftermath of the war,
The war and the 20th century)
World War II p
50-51 (What Have We Learned from World War II?)
Kingfisher History
Encyclopedia p 419-420 (The United Nations 1945-1948, Italy and the Balkans
1943-1949).
Notebook: What did you learn from this study of World War
II?
Add an event to your Book of Centuries from this week.
My dad suggests we watch The Longest Day at the end of our study, but I haven't decided whether we will.
