Exploring American History

Young adventurers: Discover America's history

The History / Bible / Literature program Sonlighters have been wishing for—a delightful, age-appropriate first-grade American History program, done in Sonlight's signature style. Available in 4- or 5-Day!

In this 36-week program, you'll give your students their first taste of American history.

Sonlight A shares the stories of key events and important people in American history. You'll encounter key statesmen and meet the four presidents on Mount Rushmore. You'll cover the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, "The Star-Spangled Banner" (the song and the flag itself), and much more.

You won't find another program like this on the market. It's unique. And fascinating and fun!

In Sonlight A, you'll:

• Inspire a love of learning as you explore America's unique history.
• Read stories of the men and women, artists and presidents, plus a computer programmer, an enslaved potter, a determined dog, a joyful puppeteer—more than three score short biographies.
• Feast on more than two dozen of the best children's books on the planet, carefully selected from the tens of thousands published each year.
• Guide your children confidently each day: you get lesson plans, teaching tips and materials for the entire year.
• Purchase this History / Bible / Literature package and you'll get free shipping (lower 48), a one-year guarantee and other perks.

Estimated daily time for Exploring American History plus your other subjects: Student: 1.5-2 hrs | Parent: 1-1.5 hrs

Overview of the Bible

The Bible portion of the program includes an album of memory songs and The One Year Bible for Children, an excellent overview of the stories of the Scriptures.

The included Sing the Word CD helps you hide God's Word in your heart with memorization exercises. This CD (also includes the digital version), scheduled in the Sonlight A Instructor's Guide, wonderfully complements the rest of the Bible curriculum included in Exploring American History.

Overview of the History

In Sonlight A, our new History spine ties the year's studies together. The sixty chapters in the two-volume Heroes and Happenings introduces children to a wide range of people and events from American History. Some of them are well known, like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Some are far more obscure, like Dave the Potter, an enslaved African American who inscribed rhymes on his pots at a time when the enslaved were forbidden from learning to read, or Temple Grandin, the autistic professor who transformed how people manage cattle.

Besides this foundational two-volume text, the 4-Day History program includes timeline figures and seven additional books (and the 5-Day program adds three more!). Enjoy a deeper dive into the Revolutionary War, Westward Expansion, the time of the Pilgrims, and more.

You'll learn the stories of key events and important people in American history. In these enthralling books, lavish with illustrations and maps, You'll read a bit from the four big wars (Revolutionary, Civil, WWI, WWII), and the four presidents on Mount Rushmore. You'll cover the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the American flag, "The Star-Spangled Banner," and the Statue of Liberty.

You'll learn about events in almost every one of the 50 states. You'll learn about people from a range of religions and ethnicities, with diverse skin colors and contributions.

As a complete program, this history program is stunning.

Overview of the Literature

The Read-Alouds this year are stellar. These books naturally lead to conversations – about faith, about character, about relationships. These books present worthy heroes who display courage and honesty, who work hard, who love their families, and who do the right thing.

There are a range of fiction books. You'll read one set in the Appalachian Mountains, one in a lighthouse at Christmas, and one in the streets of Paris.

And there is a wonderful variety of fascinating nonfiction: a biography of Johnny Appleseed, born in New England in 1774. There is one book on nurses who served in Appalachia in the 1920s, and one set in France during WWII.

Grade 2 Readers

The Grade 2 Readers package is ideal for children who have progressed to reading long-vowel, 5- and 6-letter words with moderate fluency. By the end of the program they will have progressed to reading chapter books.

The Beginner's Bible, with full-color illustrations and simple text, takes up a good portion of the academic year.

The 17 additional titles (!) are a truly amazing collection of early readers.

There are some funny stories (Mouse Tales, Amelia Bedelia). Some history (Titanic: Lost and Found, Pompeii: Buried Alive! and Hill of Fire). Some historical fiction (Wagon Wheels, The Big Balloon Race, The Sword in the Tree). And three of the beautiful Frog and Toad books, funny and poignant. (Oh! And a detective story, which somehow matches the tone of Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon, but written for young children! Incredible!)

This is a witty, charming, interesting collection for early readers.

Click here to learn more about Readers.