Included below are:
  1) an overview
  2) courses by grade
  3) course materials listed by grade level
  4) Criteria for selecting curriculum
  5) sample pages from the worktexts
  6) sample pages from support materials

OVERVIEW
Words cannot do justice in comparing our programs to anything else offered! Rather than provide one text our first grade social studies program is enriched and carefully balanced. The latest full color worktext serves as the core of the program and is accompanied by enrichment worksheets, five blank books for unit projects, a full color maps and globe workbook, a supplemental workbook, a special complementary maps binder, and a full page bulletin board schedule. 
     After carefully reviewing other social studies programs we found a wide range of extremes. These included extremes in views and in the volume of work given to students. Typically we see students in the classroom over-loaded with work while home schooled students are on the opposite end with either not enough material to provide a comprehensive course or nothing at all. While it was a challenge to provide a truly comprehensive, consumable, and enjoyable social studies courses we are happy to report that feedback from parents and students tell us we did.

What makes this social studies program superior?

• This is the most complete consumable social studies courses we could put together!
• as a secular curriculum this program provides an unbiased presentation of events; not sugar coated or one sided
• has the most balanced amount of work; not too much and not too little
• provides vocabulary development
• covers comprehension of social studies graphs, map skills such as reading and understanding various maps, and the globe
• easy to use teacher's guides created for the one-on-one teacher such as a first time, experienced parent educator, or tutor 
• teacher's guides provides answers to all course materials and offers enrichment ideas 
• includes a full page bulletin board schedule providing a wealth of information at a glance; fosterimg student independence  
• a full color format that is visually attractive yet not too busy
• interesting and informative reading
• feedback from parents and students tell us this keeps in line with the rest of the program, a program where students finish a days worth of school work in about two and a half hours a day average (for a basic program)

COURSE BY GRADE
Below are the courses most students are studying per grade level around the country, these are the ones we offer. If you must have a different course, such as World Geography in 6th and World History not until 7th, we can accommodate you. If you cannot get what you need from this site call Curriculum Services at 877-702-1419. Most people adopt the courses that are most commonly taken at the grade level even if it is not what is taken in their area. Your choice should be balanced between what you must have and what is available. We will accommodate you if possible.
  1st grade theme: Families
  2nd grade theme: Neighborhoods
  3rd grade theme: Communities (Two courses offered: Standard and Advanced)
  4th grade theme: US Geography
  5th grade theme: American History
  6th grade theme: World History 

COURSE MATERIAL
1st Grade Course Materials Include:
  1) Core worktext, full color (New Edition!)
  2) Maps Skills Worktext, full color (New Edition!)
  3) Enrichment Workpages for the core worktext
  4) a two color supplemental workbook featuring historical American legends
      It includes stories about the following people:
        Pocahontas (and John Smith)   George Washington
        Betsy Ross                               Davy Crocket
        Annie Oakley                            Dred Scott
  5) Complementary Maps Binder
  6) a set of five blank books for unit projects
  7) a ledger size (11" x 17") bulletin board schedule 
All Textbook pages are of letter size. 

FYI: Our Criteria For Selecting Course Materials
The courses' components meets all our criteria. First and foremost on our list is the curriculum must be visually appealing but not too "busy". See the sample pages below. It must also have student appeal while being as self-instructing as possible. In addition it must be comprehensive and adaptable to different learning styles. Because we specialize in providing write-in texts for our text supported courses we focus first on consumable text books and then compare them to their hard-bound counterparts. We were delighted to discover, once again, that the consumable texts came in first place in all categories.
     Course materials must offer a balanced amount of work. For example, not enough course material will not be comprehensive enough while too much creates another host of problems. These include not allowing enough time to cover all the concepts or to go over concepts not readily understood. There is also the problem of student and teacher burn-out in addition to not having enough time for recreation and other family activities. See articles SACC, One Subject a Day, and Testing.

SAMPLE PAGES
Full Color Worktext  
Standard first grade social studies concepts are covered in the core worktext. Students study kinds of families, housing, neighborhoods and communities, plus geography, resources, conservation, and pollution. Economic principles are discussed with needs and wants plus employment and work. History is discussed by looking at families long ago and how common U.S. holidays help Americans remember historic events. Special concept pages introduce special biographies, places around the world, technologies, plus other highly interesting social studies concepts. 
      We are told students especially enjoy the five hands-on unit projects featured! While the activities were originally created for a group of students they can be easily adapted for one. Because we see that in some classrooms the reality often is that most of the work of a project falls to one or two hard working students it should not be difficult to adapt the projects to one student and one "helper" such as a parent.

From the 1st Grade Maps Worktext
The text starts at the beginning for young children by teaching them what a map is and how to read maps. It continues with the four cardinal directions, map symbols and keys, understanding globes, finding places on a globe, and the five themes of geography. It includes a two page full color map of the United States, a map of the world and a picture glossary.

MORE SAMPLE PAGES
Enrichment Workpages for the Core Worktext  
These black and white work papers are provided to reinforce concepts taught in the core worktext. They include: putting things in order, making lists, understanding needs and wants, following directions, interpreting pictures plus interpreting maps, charts and graphs.


American Legends Workbook
This two color supplemental workbook teaches deeper thinking skills and writing. The stories about the six historical people listed below are told in chronological order. It provides a nice balance of six men and six women who are each depicted in a positive light to provide positive role models children at this age need. Your student will be asked to read the stories (alone or with your help), comprehend and fill in charts, answer multiple choice questions, write short answers, cluster ideas (shown below), draw a picture using facts from the story, fill in blanks with the right words, and write a short story. The the following people are featured:
        Pocahontas (and John Smith)   George Washington
        Betsy Ross                               Davy Crocket
        Annie Oakley                            Dred Scott

From the 1st Grade Maps Binder - A Color Study Guide
Pictured below is a colored page out of our maps binder. Crayons and a blue ink marker was used in this sample. Because students will learn and retain more by coloring an illustration than by just looking at a color plate a  complementary grade appropriate maps binder, with one map for each week in the school year, is provided for every student. The principle behind the inclusion of coloring books for courses where much information is conveyed visually came from the college level. Among the first to show up were coloring books on anatomy and biology courses such as general biology, botany, marine biology, and geography. 
     The more time spent coloring provides greater learning and retention. The success of these binders, used as instructed, can be demonstrated. If one were to quiz two students, a second grader who diligently colors his maps and a high school student who does not the younger student, typically, will demonstrate surprisingly greater knowledge. The success of these binders stems from several factors. They include:

1) Brain Activity - this interactive activity involves more parts of the brain than looking. 
2) Time Factor - your student will spend a great deal more time coloring a map than he/she would looking at one. In fact, a 
    student can devote several hours to map work.
3) Creative Aspects - Students usually strive to make their maps as attractive as possible. Map work can be very enjoyable as 
    various mediums such as crayons, colored pencils, fine tipped markers, pen, and pencil can be utilized. If the student is 
    motivated he or she can embellish their maps by adding special features, such as hills, mountains, mountain ranges, forests, 
    rivers, bays, canals, lakes, trails, and deserts or adding additional political features such as cities, labeling bodies of water, 
    even major highways and waterways used for travel. A map can even be made to show climate, industry, or agriculture. A 
    corresponding legend can be added if desire.