Return to the home page

Recommended Social Studies Resources

10 Steps to Successful Homeschooling What's Free or Cheap in NYC? Ask Laurie / RAQ Travels with Laurie
 
Web www.homeschoolnyc.com






Laurie Block Spigel
Classes & Lectures
Testimonials
Consultations
Poems by Laurie
Contact Laurie
FAQ (testing etc.)
Articles           
Books & Resources
Favorite Kids' Books
Language Arts
Math & Economics
Critical Thinking
Science           
Social Studies
Foreign Languages
Music           
Art & Architecture
Standards, etc.     
Hobbies & Crafts
Physica Activities
Magazines
Art by Kids
Poems by Kids
Reviews by Kids
Other Sites           
Volunteering           
Contests           
Glossary           
Acknowledgements
Sitemap           
 
© Laurie Block Spigel 2005-2008
 Go to Page Index

Social studies includes history and geography and anthropology and political science. It is the study of our world and how people and countries relate to each other. Learning about your block, about your neighborhood, about your city, about your heritage, is all social studies. If history only comes from books, even from exciting historical fiction, then your child will never understand that history and social studies is something that is alive and happening every day. Let your interests guide you to the cultures and period of history for study (you can never learn everything about all of them, so pick and choose), and let your child’s curiosity provoke questions that will result in research and field trips.

NYC is filled with historical sites well worth visiting. Search the census on the Place Matters website for the hidden historical treasures in your own neighborhood, or create your own walking tour in any of the five boroughs. Check the website resources for historical reenactments that turn history into living theater.

Page Index

See also:


Laurie's class Create your own Board Game is a course in social studies and research.

General Social Studies Resources

Back to index

History Resources:

  • See also Archaeology under Science Resources. Paleontology is the science of bones, but archeology is more about history. For example, it's amazing what has been learned about our ancestors by studying their garbage dumps!
  • Search the census on the Place Matters website for the hidden historical treasures in your own neighborhood, or create your own walking tour in any of the five boroughs.

For kids:

  • Critical Thinking in United States History, published by Critical Thinking Press, comes in four volumes (Colonies to Constitution, New Republic to Civil War, Reconstruction to Progressivism, Spanish-American War to Vietnam). One Parent's review: These books are for 6th - 12th grade, designed to teach how to analyze primary and secondary sources. Each book starts out with lessons on how to assess information, and has exercises in identifying fallacies and generalizations. Then kids can then apply it to historical case studies. Most of the exercises take about 15-20 minutes to do; occasionally there is one that you have to spread over several days because of the amount of reading and analysis (the exercise in Volume One on the Salem Witch trials was like that!). Because there's a fair amount of discussion involved, the lessons would be well-suited to a small group setting.
  • New York State for Kids
  • Cobblestone Magazine, from Carus Publishing/Cricket Magazine Group.
  • KidsDiscover Magazine, includes topics in science and social studies
  • Usborne kits and publications
  • Kids On Strike, by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, about the history of child labor. (She also wrote Black Potatoes, about the Irish potato famine, and Growing Up in Coal Country, both for kids.)
  • Stan Mack's Real Life American Revolution
  • The Cartoon History of the Universe, volumes 1 & 2, by Larry Gonick
  • History of US, a series, by Joy Hakim. The PBS website has free lesson plans designed to go with the books.
  • historical fiction (for example, Johnny Tremain, by Esther Forbes, set in the Revolutionary War era in Boston )
  • Picture the Middle Ages: The Middle Ages Resource Book, by Linda Honan in conjunction with the Higgins Armory Museum
  • Picture the Renaissance: The Renaissance Resource Book, by Linda Honan in conjunction with the Higgins Armory Museum
  • Higgins Armory Museum- click on the Museum Store and then click on books to find a wonderful list of books on the middle ages (in Worcester, Mass, between Boston and Sturbridge Village, this museum makes an excellent field trip)
  • The catalog at Jas. Townsend and Son has colonial gifts and 18th-century reproductions. You can find girls' aprons for $5 each, caps for $10, a tin candle holder for under $5 (beeswax candle is extra) and a few other reasonably priced items.
  • History Resources from the US Government
Back to index

For parents and educators:

Field trips ideas:

Back to index

History Games

American History websites

Back to index

World history websites:

Websites on ancient history for kids:

Back to index

Geography Resources:

Tip: You can get a lot of free information, including maps, from State Tourism Agencies and from the departments of tourism for other countries.

See also Other Countries, Languages and Cultures and Armchair Travel.

Back to index / Back to top

Anthropology Resources

  • Anthropology for K-12 from the Smithsonian Institution.
  • FACES magazine fosters an appreciation of other cultures and traditions and encourages young readers to think from new perspectives.

Political Science Resources

Back to index / Back to top