American History CC Cycle 3 Reading Plans

For a more thorough study of CC Cycle 3-related content, we recommend using our Mission Lasting Liberty curriculum plan instead of these CC Cycle 3 American History Reading Plans.

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Note: After designing curriculum plans for over a decade, we’ve developed a Christian Classical Curriculum series called Mission: Great Commission, which integrates the study of the world (including U.S. History) and the ongoing fulfillment of the Great Commission, with a focus on loving God, His Word, and fellow mankind. For an open-and-go reading/curriculum plan that overlaps much of the memory work studied during Cycle 3 – with an emphasis on America’s foundations of faith along with an integrated study of U.S. history, geography, and fine arts (along with science studies from a Christian worldview), check out our Mission: Lasting Liberty Curriculum Plan, the third volume in our Mission: Great Commission series.

The Mission Lasting Liberty Lesson Plans use some of the best resources that we recommend and use in our homeschool for geography, history, fine arts, and science. It’s the most robust and integrated one-year study of American history and geography that we offer.

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Our Mission: Lasting Liberty curriculum mentioned above provides a much more complete and integrated study with specific instructions for teaching each week’s assignments. But we also offer a reading plan that simply lists a reading schedule as it corresponds to certain history and science topics from CC Cycle 3. Included in the American History Reading Plans is:

• A suggested memory work review schedule for a four-day week.
• A 4-day weekly schedule for practicing U.S. geography and incorporating U.S. history and science readings and/or activities, and Fine Arts. (So it’s not just an American history reading plan; it incorporates geography, science, and fine arts!)
• A loop schedule for incorporating poetry, stories/tall tales/legends/folklore, drawing and artwork, and music appreciation. Loop schedule simply means you rotate through these components at a pace that works for your family. (This could be completed daily across a four-day week or just work it in whenever you get around to it.) Suggested resources are included at the bottom of this post. For an explanation of what a loop schedule is, visit our our American History Loop Schedules post.
• History and Science Readings/References for a variety of topics related to American history and anatomy, chemistry, and origins.
• A library list that includes a list of readers for each week along with our favorite picture books and other novels/books that our family has enjoyed reading related to that topic.
• And three separate options for family read aloud selections, generally increasing in difficulty. (Option 1 includes some shorter books with illustrations (for primary grades), Option 2 includes books that our family enjoyed last time through our American history cycle with an 11, 8 and 5 year old, and Option 3 is the plan we have for this fall with a 14, 11, and 8 year old (and a 3 year old, but he doesn’t actually sit and listen intently when we read aloud – ha!).) This gives a reading plan that can be used for three cycles through American history! These are books that we have enjoyed or will be enjoying this fall. I promise that A LOT of thought went into this reading plan!

There’s a detailed page included that explains what each section of the page includes.

And although the page may look a bit intimidating, I’ve structured it to be a reference page more than anything else. So… to emphasize that fact, below I’ve included an image that shows what we used the last time we were in our American history cycle. The items highlighted in yellow are what our family used that year. Everything else was just for reference or was a reading plan we used in past trips through our American history cycle.

So… for the year we’re referencing above, our family used: Draw the USA by Kristin Draeger, Can You Hear It? by William Lach, William Bennett’s Children’s Treasury of Virtues, Draw Write Now (Book 2, Book 3, and Book 5) or Draw and Write Through History (Pilgrims, Pirates, and Patriots and The 20th Century), Presidential Pets: The Weird, Wacky, Little, Big, Scary, Strange Animals That Have Lived In The White House or Don’t Know Much About the Presidents, Science in the Scientific Revolution, and the books listed under Option 3. For more details about the books we used, read our American History Read Alouds post.

The 101-page PDF includes reading plans for 24 weeks consisting of reading schedules, correlations, read aloud schedules, book suggestions, loop schedules (fine arts, tall tales/poetry, and Presidents), and a memory work review schedule. Additional planning pages are included, such as an attendance log, grade log, monthly and yearly calendars, subject planning pages, and blank daily and weekly planner pages.

The appendix includes single-page reference sheets for The Story of the World, Scholastic, and The Mystery of History reading correlations and a topical booklist for history, science, and fine arts.

This American history reading plan may be used with or without Classical Conversations. For CC families, this plan correlates with 5th Edition but will also work for 4th edition.

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American History Reading Plans PDF + XLS

Format: Microsoft Excel Download + 101-page PDF
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Digital PDF + .XLS Download Price: $19.99

For a more thorough study of CC Cycle 3-related content, we recommend using our Mission Lasting Liberty curriculum plan instead of these CC Cycle 3 American History Reading Plans.

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Books Referenced

Geography, History, and Science Schedule.

• Draw the USA by Kristin Draeger and/or Don’t Know Much About the 50 States.
• For U.S. State coloring pages, click here.
• Visit our U.S. History Activities page and our Science activities page.

Loop Schedule. (art, music appreciation, storytelling, drawing, Presidents; For an explanation of why we chose these books, visit this post.)

The goal for this loop schedule was to easily incorporate art study, music appreciation, drawing, and poetry into our school days during our morning time, along with a daily science-wonder activity from Jay Wile’s Science in the Scientific Revolution (We have since opted to use the Answers in Genesis God’s Design series as can be found in our Mission: Lasting Liberty Curriculum.)

The books referenced in the loop schedule are:

• Can You Hear It? by William Lach. Great book with a CD for music appreciation and art study prompts. Great combo book that will help you easily incorporate music and art appreciation into your days!
• William Bennett’s Children’s Treasury of Virtues. I love, love, love this book! It includes poetry, tall tales, heroic biographical stories, and even a few hymns! The Children’s Treasury of Virtues is a three-part book that includes Bennett’s earlier individual works aimed at young children:  The Children’s Book of Virtues, The Children’s Book of Heroes, and The Children’s Book of America. Our reading plan calls mainly upon reading selections from The Children’s Book of America. So, if the price skyrockets, search for each of the individual works (or just search for the Book of America to have the majority of the readings which correlate with U.S. History). Read more about this book and see pictures of the inside here. You can also download the reading correlations for Book of Virtues.
• Draw Write Now (Book 2, Book 3, and Book 5) or Draw and Write Through History (Pilgrims, Pirates, and Patriots and The 20th Century). Developing drawing skills will greatly assist your student when they get to Challenge A. Also be sure to download FREE Draw Write Now Printables here!
• Presidential Pets: The Weird, Wacky, Little, Big, Scary, Strange Animals That Have Lived In The White House or Don’t Know Much About the Presidents. We love the funny little poems that go with Presidential Pets. Great way to enjoy the rhythm of poetry while also learning a bit about each U.S. President! Don’t Know Much about the Presidents is a fun book about the Presidents that would work well with intermediate grades, too.

Choose Option 1, 2, or 3 below for family read alouds.

Family Read Alouds Option 1. (For the younger crowd or those families just starting to read aloud together.)

Family Read Alouds Option 2. (A step up from the previous selections, but still good for children in grades K-6.)

Family Read Alouds Option 3. (A bit more advanced reading for families who are experienced with read alouds or have children in grades 3+ (although younger children should enjoy them as well). For more details about these selections, click here.)

• Witch of Blackbird Pond.
• Johnny Tremain.
• Once on this Island.
• Bound for Oregon.
• Shades of Gray. Carolyn Reeder.
• Caddie Woodlawn.
• In the Year of the Boar & Jackie Robinson. 
• Homer Price.
• House of Sixty Fathers.
• Children of the Storm
• Charlotte’s Web.
• Journey to Bottomless Pit.

History Reference (Choose One).

Science Reference (Choose One).

• Science in the Scientific Revolution
• My First Human Body Book (Dover Coloring Book)
• Lyrical Life Science Volume 3
• God’s Design for Life: The Human Body by Answers in Genesis (This is our preferred science curriculum due to its ease of use and hands-on activities.)
• Usborne Science Encyclopedia
• Scholastic’s Everything You Need to Know About Science Homework
• God’s Design for Chemistry and Ecology: Properties of Atoms & Molecules
• God’s Design for Chemistry and Ecology: Properties of Matter (This is our preferred science curriculum due to its ease of use and hands-on activities.)
• The Periodic Table of Elements Coloring Book by Teresa Bondora

Library List (Reference).

• American History Picture Book List
• American History Leveled Readers
• Magic Tree House & Imagination Station

Other related posts:

American History Family Read Aloud Selections
Cycle 3 Book of Virtues Correlation
Our American History (Cycle 3) Picture Book Selections
Our American History (Cycle 3) Booklist
Cycle 3 Resources Page (free resources and activities for every subject!)

American History Plans – PDF + Editable XLS

Format: Microsoft Excel Download + PDF Download
For individual family use only. File will be sent automatically from our e-junkie hosting service. Note that some formatting will change based upon the fonts installed on your computer and which version of Excel you use.
Digital .XLS + PDF Download Price:  $19.99

For a more thorough study of CC Cycle 3-related content, we recommend using our Mission Lasting Liberty curriculum plan instead of these CC Cycle 3 American History Reading Plans.