Below is a list of frequently asked questions:
This curriculum covers the history of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.
Yes. Washington State requirements are that students take Washington State or Pacific Northwest History around 7th grade. It is a non-credit requirement for high school graduation for public and private schools. For this curriculum, I meticulously reviewed the Since Time Immemorial curriculum that is used in public schools, and this curriculum covers all topics in that curriculum plus about 90% more. Washington State also requires 90 (45-minute) classes for schools. Since this curriculum has 120 lessons, it more than adequately fulfills this requirement.
No. You do not have this requirement if you plan to homeschool through your child graduating. However, if your child plans to attend college, colleges will be looking for this subject on high school transcripts.
While there is not a state requirement for Idaho State History, this subject is typically taught around 4th grade in Idaho. You can either use our Elementary Pacific Northwest History curriculum or wait until at least 5th grade to begin the Standard curriculum. It will cover Idaho State History thoroughly and in an interesting manner. Oregon does not have a particular grade or requirement for Oregon State History.
No, this curriculum weaves the history of all three states together along with world events.
The Standard curriculum was written for children in grades 6-8. However, it works for all ages K-12. My pilot group consisted of 12 kids ages 6-15, and they all enjoyed it. It is recommended that you begin the Standard curriculum when your oldest child is in at least 5th grade, and then your younger children can listen in family-style as you read the lesson out loud together. We also have an Elementary curriculum that is for children in grades Kindergarten-5th. The Elementary curriculum covers 2-3 pages per day and should work for children who are able to sit and listen that long.
It depends on what you would like. The two-part Lesson Books are the core of the curriculum. They are bound as two books because they are over 500 pages (450 pages of chapter content), and that was too thick for one book. The Basic Kit is the two Lesson Books plus a Workbook. The Full Kit includes a Hands-on Activity Book that has at least 1 hands-on activity per chapter. The Deluxe Kit also includes a beautiful Lesson Tracker Wooden Wall Map with pins that can be inserted on the map at the completion of each chapter.
There are 24 chapters with a total of 120 lessons with a bonus 25th lesson about state governments that is required for Washington State residents and optional for Idaho and Oregon residents.
intentionally kept this curriculum at 24 chapters so that it would work well for groups and Co-ops. If you meet 12 weeks in the Fall and 12 weeks in the Winter/Spring, you will have 24 weeks total.
Families will read the Lesson Book and complete the Student Workbook at home, and then children get together once a week at co-op to do the hands-on activities. When I taught this for a co-op, I spent 45-60 minutes giving the kids an overview of the chapter and highlighting specific things. Then we did the hands-on activities for the chapter. I assigned the reading of the chapter and completing the worksheets at home.
Yes, there is a detailed lesson schedule at the beginning of the Student Workbook. This schedule tells you which pages to read each day, which questions to answer in the Workbook, and when to do the activities in the Hands-on Activities Book. The detailed lesson schedule was added after the 2024 Conventions, so if you purchased a kit at an earlier convention, you can find the detailed lesson schedule on the Extras tab of this website.
The Hands-on Activities Books is not required for this curriculum. However, if you are using the detailed schedule, the 5th lesson each week is set aside for a hands-on activity. There are two additional days (other than the 5th day) that only use the Activities Book. Several weeks, especially in the early chapters, have additional activities from the Activities Book sprinkled throughout the curriculum. If you do not own the Hands-on Activities Book, you can skip these lessons or activities.
The Lesson Books include history, geology/earth science, and art history. The Hands-on Activities Book also adds additional STEAM subjects. There are a lot of earth science activities, some technology and engineering, some geography, and a lot of art.
There are a variety of activities in the Hands-on Activities Book, including sketching, watercolor, acrylic painting, Popsicle engineering, weaving, and experiments.
Yes, you can find it at the beginning of the Hands-on Activities Book. The materials lists were added after the 2024 Conventions, so if you purchased a kit at an earlier convention, you can find the materials list on the Extras tab of this website.
Yes, there is enough content and it is in-depth enough to count for high school credit. There is an optional Essays and Tests book for high school. We recommend 9th graders and high schoolers who are not as academically advanced complete the Standard Workbook, add 3-4 essays, and complete the tests from the Essays and Tests Book. Advanced high schoolers may want to skip the Standard Workbook and just complete extra essays in addition to tests. There are three different levels of essay suggestions: Basic, Standard, and Advanced. The Basic is one paragraph, the Standard is a five-paragraph paper, and the Advanced is more specific essays suggestions, such as compare/contrast, literary analysis, etc. The Essays and Tests Book has examples of how to do each type of essay, a grading scale, and essay suggestions for each level for every 2-4 chapters.
It depends on your high schooler and the particular activities. There are a lot of art projects that older children will enjoy if they like art. Some older children might not prefer the popsicle engineering activities. Most of the experiments will likely appeal to children of all ages.
Yes! This curriculum works well for groups.
No. Each family needs to have their own copy of this curriculum. However, there are group discounts if you want to get together with 5 friends to purchase curriculum.
It depends on your printer. The Lesson Books are over 500 full-color pages with pictures on nearly every page. If you also want the Student Workbook and Hands-on Activities Books, the total number of pages is over 800 full color pages. You might find that it is more economical to purchase printed copies of the curriculum. The Lesson Books are printed on quality 28 lb paper with beautiful glossy pages. Workbooks are printed on premium 24 pound paper. Every printed copy of the curriculum also comes with the digital PDF.
We reserve the right to determine how to respond to these requests on a case-by-case basis, but it is likely that we can make this change for you if you contact us with your request within a month of your PDF purchase.
Yes. You click this link to see our refund policy.
The main difference between the original and Revised Version is the addition of a couple of alternate activities in the Revised Version that may be preferable for large groups. You can find these activities on the “Extras” page of this website.
It is very unlikely that our books will change significantly in the next couple of years other than some wording or branding changes.
If your oldest child is in about the 6th grade or older (or advanced), you will want the Standard version, and it will work for all of your younger children family-style.
If your oldest child is in the 5th grade or younger, we recommend the Elementary version because it goes at a slower pace, skips some of the more in-depth content, and often uses slightly simpler language. This curriculum only covers 2-3 pages per day, while the older curriculum covers 5-7 pages per day.