World book has a list of topics that your students should learn from grade school through high school. For middle school years, I strongly disagree the way in which the topics are arranged for each of the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade social studies. It is basically set up in a way that is segmented and not cohesive at all. I feel these topics can be set up in a way that is based on time period, or at least region. For this reason, I have re-arranged the topics a bit to help it flow better. As you can see it is split into three sections. One section can be studied each year.
Region Studies:
Students should learn the following topics for each country: Africa, Latin America, Asia, Australia, The pacific, Europe, The Middle East, and America
Prehistoric peoples
Countries and Cultures, yesterday and today
The Middle Ages
Renaissance and Reformation
Scientific Revolution
Age of Reason (Enlightenment)
Industrial Age
World trade and resources
Contemporary problems and issues
Environment
Geography
Global Studies:
Relationships among nations: customs, traditions and beliefs, political and economic systems
United Nations
Milestones in human achievement
Transportation and communication
World trade
Citizenship and social responsibility
World geography
Advanced map and globe skills
United States
Native American Culture
Our African, Asian, and European backgrounds
Exploration and discovery
Growth and development of the United States
Colonial life
Struggle for independence
U. S. Constitution and Bill of Right
Westward movement in America
American Civil War
Reconstruction
U. S. as a world power
The meaning of democracy
Our American culture
U. S. political system
U. S. economic system
U. S. government
U. S. geography
As usual, I also recommend my favorite homeschooling history option of Using the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia which teaches history according to time period. It takes six years to complete this book, so a student could start in the sixth grade and go through high school if necessary. It would be better of course, for a child to have started the book earlier.
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