Our Land of Liberty Review

One of the most exciting parts of my job as a reviewer for TOS Review Crew is the opportunity to learn about curriculum that is new to me.  Recently, I was delighted to review Our Land of Liberty which is a one year American History curriculum targeted for 5th - 8th grade students.  Our Land of Liberty is published by Our Land Publications.    In addition to Our Land of Liberty, Our Land Publications also publishes state history curriculum for Illinois, Texas, California, and Indiana.

Our Land of Liberty is designed to be a one-year American history curriculum covering the years 1497-2001.  This curriculum is quite unique in that, instead of a textbook, the student reads a 4 page newspaper each week of this 32 week course.  Each week focuses on different dates so the chronological flow of history is clear. 

As stated in the Our Land of Liberty Teacher's Manual, there are several key benefits to a newspaper structure:

• Children are used to seeing newspapers and they are easy to use.
• The curriculum supports newspapers as a good place to go to for current event information.
• The "headlines" are a great way to make the most important points stand out to children.
• The information is broken into articles which are easier chunks of reading materials to manage for children.  
• The newspaper format is more relaxed and informal therefore leading to a friendly presentation of the material.    

Our Land of Liberty is written at a 5th grade level and is targeted for 5th - 8th graders.  After carefully reading through the Teacher's Manual and several of the student newspapers, I think the program could be adapted for younger (perhaps 4th grade) or older (perhaps 9th grade) children.

Of particular concern to me as a homeschooling mother is the possibility of bias in the history curriculum that I use with my children.  According to Our Land Publications, their history curriculum is not revisionist and politically correct.

• "History is history.  It is the record of events past.  Interpretation is subjective.  Our Land Publications do not interpret history for the homeschool teacher or student.  Like revisionism, political correctness is inappropriate to a solid study of history.  We study the past not to judge it, but to learn from it.  Our Land Publications do not attempt to make history fit contemporary needs, but do provide a solid base on which to understand the past and build a better future for our students and nation." 

Our Land Publications are not specifically Christian curriculum but they do "recognize our Judeo-Christian heritage and include a strong and consistent emphasis on the traditional values vital to spiritual understanding."  In reviewing Our Land of Liberty curriculum, I encountered nothing that I would feel uncomfortable having my children read or that conflicted with our Christian values.

To best utilize the many resources included in the Teacher's Manual, Our Land of Liberty is not a curriculum designed for a child to complete independently, though much of the work could be completed independently, depending on the age of the child.  The Teacher's Manual is a treasure trove of additional information, activity ideas, and teaching resources.  Included in the Teacher's Manual are:

• Answers to the discussion questions found at the back of each issue of the student newspapers.
• 2 tests and answer keys.
• Chronological Lesson Summary including topics, key players, and a summary of main points for each newspaper.
• Suggested daily lesson plans for each week.
• A full set of "headline cards" are included in the appendix.  These "headline cards" would be great for review, making educational history games, or as a basis for notebook pages.
• Priority numbers are given to the different parts of the lesson, therefore if one was pressed for time, only the most important articles in the newspaper could be covered.
• Vocabulary words are given for each newspaper.

Looking more specifically at an individual lesson, I chose to look in-depth at Issue #29 - America Goes Crash! (1929-1941).  Overall, I had a very favorable impression of the newspaper format and the helpfulness of the Teacher's Manual. 

• In reading through the newspaper, I did think that the headlines really helped to key in to the most important points of the reading.     
• Reaction Time! questions at the end of the newspaper require thought and a bit of outside research to complete.
• A copy master is included for this newspaper in the Teacher's Manual, "Climate Zones of the U.S." which ties in directly with the discussion of the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. 
• The Teacher's Manual included the suggestion of pretending to buy stocks and then follow them for 2 weeks to better understand the stock market. 
• I particularly liked the section of the newspaper titled "Other News Bulletins of 1929-1941."  Since each newspaper is structured in the same way, this section allows for independent research or ideas for additional topics to study or read-alouds.

In our homeschool, I enjoy studying history with my children using a wide variety of read-alouds, hands-on activities, lapbooks, and educational videos.  I think Our Land of Liberty would make an excellent core resource for a year-long study of American history.  Using the Teacher's Manual, newspapers, and "Other News Bulletins" included in each newspaper, other resources from the library could easily be added to the curriculum to make it even more hands-on. 

Of course, the curriculum could also be used just as is, though I would recommend adding some library books for pictures.  While there are small pictures included in the newspapers, given the format, the pictures are minimal.

Our Land of Liberty is available online for $65.00 for one complete set of newspapers with tests and a teacher's manual.  An additional set of newspapers is $19.90.

I received the Our Land of Liberty combination set in exchange for my review and personal opinions on the product.  No other compensation, monetary or otherwise, was given in exchange for this review.