History

Specific Information About History Courses

Why Study History?

K12’s History program, with integrated topics in Geography and Civics, opens young minds and imaginations to far-off lands, distant times, and diverse peoples.

History, the story of the past, is an integral part of the K12 curriculum. Knowledge of the past prepares us to understand the present and shape the future. By knowing the main lines of human endeavor, and by exploring how people have lived and how civilizations have developed, young people are better prepared to do everything from reading a newspaper to appreciating a painting to casting an informed vote.

The Story in History

For young children, K12 emphasizes the story in history. Stories help children understand and retain basic ideas about distant peoples and times. They demonstrate how civilizations have changed over time, and how they have stayed the same. The K12 History program builds on children’s natural delight in stories and curiosity about the world. The story we tell includes great men and women, as well as common folk. It is the story of high ideals, enduring achievements, tragic failures, and ongoing struggles.

For older children, we offer two history strands. American History tells the remarkable story of the United States of America from the arrival of the first people in North America to the dawn of the twenty-first century. Again, we emphasize the stories of real people. We study the triumphs and failures of famous and unknown people. Students examine why events happened as well what happened as they explore history and practice historical thinking skills.

Intermediate World History surveys the odyssey of the human past from the period before written records to the early twentieth century. Students learn how historians gather information as well as what historians have learned about the past. Students develop their own analytical skills as they use documents, art, and architecture to bring the story of the past alive.

Courses

In Kindergarten, we begin with an emphasis on geography before providing an overview of American history as told through a series of brief biographies of famous Americans. We also tell original stories or connect lessons to classic stories. For example, when kindergartners learn about France, they read Madeline; when they visit Spain, they read The Story of Ferdinand.

In grades 1–4, students get a general overview of world history from the Stone Age to the Space Age. Because most good stories begin at the beginning, our program is organized chronologically as well as geographically:

	Topics	Time Span
Grade 1	From the Stone Age to Alexander the Great (Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, China, India)	c. 5000 – 200 B.C.
Grade 2	Ancient Rome to the Middle Ages (Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Islamic Empire, Medieval African Kingdoms, Medieval China, Feudal Japan)	c. 200 B.C. – A.D. 1350
Grade 3	The European Renaissance to the American Revolution (Renaissance, Reformation, Age of Exploration, Native American cultures, Muslim Empires, Africa, Far East, American Colonization and Revolution)	c. A.D. 1350 – 1789
Grade 4	Modern Times: The French Revolution to the Present (Scientific Revolution, Age of Reason, Democratic Revolutions, Nationalism, Imperialism, World Wars I & II, Cold War)	c. A.D. 1600 – 20th century

Intermediate American History is a two-year survey of American history intended for students in the middle grades.

American History before 1865: From the great migrations to North America during the last Ice Age to the end of Reconstruction
American History since 1865: From the post–Civil War era to recent times.

Intermediate World History is a two-year survey of the human past from the period before written records–prehistory–through the early part of the twentieth century.

World History A: Covers the period from before written records through the Middle Ages
World History B: Covers the period from 1400 to 1917