U.S. History Assessed Curriculum: Fill & Download for Free

Greetings,Here’s the deal…U.S. History has become less prominent as a required school subject for at least three compelling reasons.First, S.T.E.M. and English/Language-Arts dominate high school curriculum. U.S. History must compete with every other course for the last one or two slots in a student’s schedule. Fitness, Band, Choir, Foreign Language, Drama, Art, Community Service, Vocational Education, and other electives are often more attractive options.Second, many public schools offer Social Studies which also incorporates Civics, Geography, Economics, and Government in addition to History, so the concentration on America’s story receives far less attention.Finally, unlike Math and English, standardized tests like Smarter Balanced do not assess History. As a result, there is no incentive to emphasize U.S. History in a student’s education.Sincerely,AJG.

First answer is yes, definitely, but not exclusively.Khan is a great tool to have in your kit for homeschooling, but it is not complete.For example, my teen is doing the AP U.S. History. The Khan course is like a textbook. It has articles, and videos, but no assignments. A textbook alone does not make a course curriculum. I add supplemental reading, work assignments, and assessment. Only then do I feel comfortable calling it a course with high school credit.We’ve also effectively used Khan for math as summer math practice to keep skills up. However, I found it to be far less effective as a stand alone math curriculum.So yes, use it as a tool, but don’t rely on it.

I’ve taught both general education and special education and in both I found that the need really is in prep time. More money would always be good and perhaps with the extra education involved it should be there but there weren’t enough hours to accomplish all I needed to do. I was a Resource Specialist at the secondary level and my case load was 28 to 1. They were spread out over four periods but some received more than one period of Resource a day so my classes were generally 9 to 13 students. Since I was credentialed in several subjects I actually had them for a combined subject specific/ Resource class. I taught Algebra 1, English (2,3), U.S. History and Government.I had to design my class to meet their IEP goals and have it aligned with the regular curriculum. I was responsible for IEP preparation for all the students which included a yearly IEP setting goals and reporting out on those on a quarterly basis. Some students required a triennial which included a full academic assessment, plus other assessments provided by other team members psychologists, and other service providers. As case manager it was my job to set up meetings, coordinate with all of the members, confer with the parents, write the report and manage the meeting.In addition, as the academic provider I prepared lesson plans, delivered the lesson, corrected all work, retaught that which was necessary, and reassessed for knowledge. My husband said that he was thankful that I waited to do this job until after our children were grown because he hardly saw me. I would come home from school around five or six and take an hour’s break for dinner and conversation. After dinner I would correct papers, prepare future lessons, research things and lay out my clothes for the next day.I got up each morning and went to school with joy; it wasn’t a job it was my passion. I enjoyed watching my students grow and when they got a concept or learned a strategy that helped them learn better I celebrated. Time, I needed more time to develop, correct interpret and plan.