Uncle Sam and You is a one-year curriculum that combines civics, government, and literature for students ages 10-14. We recommend it for 5th grade, 6th grade, 7th grade, or 8th grade. You can use it with multiple children in that age range at the same time.
Watch this video walkthrough with authors Ray and Charlene Notgrass to see how it works.
Uncle Sam and You is divided into 30 units with four regular lessons plus a holiday lesson. You can complete the curriculum in one year by doing one lesson per day for 150 days during your school year. While this course is designed for middle school students, younger children can listen to the lessons and participate in suggested family activities.
Part 1 covers America's founding documents, patriotic symbols, political campaigns and elections, U.S. presidents, Congress, international relations, and fifteen holidays from Independence Day to Inauguration Day. Part 2 explores the military, state and local governments, Native American governments, first responders, the court system, economics, communication, other topics about how Americans work together, and fifteen holidays from Martin Luther King Jr. Day to Father’s Day.
Your child can read the daily lessons independently, or you can read them aloud. The lessons are filled with color and black-and-white historical photographs, illustrations, and artwork.
At the end of each regular (non-holiday) lesson is a list of about four to six activities. Students do not have to complete all of these. You know your child best, so you can choose which activities work well for the age and ability of your student. For example, you might expect an 8th grader to do all of the suggested assignments while a 5th grader might only complete a few. The choice is yours.
Depending on how many activities you assign, most students will need 45-90 minutes to complete one lesson. The exact activities vary from day to day, but they include:
- Thinking Biblically assignments
- Creative writing assignments
- Vocabulary assignments
- Short research assignments to look something up or ask a family member
- Assignments to draw a picture or take a photograph
- Reading assignments from The Citizen's Handbook or a literature title
- Assignments in the Student Workbook or Lesson Review
An important part of civics is celebrating holidays with family, friends, and communities. Since families who homeschool can schedule their school year in many different ways, we designed Uncle Sam and You so that you can choose when to study the various holidays.
Each holiday lesson has a corresponding family activity. These activities include craft and art projects, themed meals, and other multi-age activities. Your student may need extra time for Uncle Sam and You on the day you do the family activity. You might enjoy using these lessons and the corresponding activities on a family night so that everyone can join in.
We assign eight books--biographies and historical novels--in Uncle Sam and You. Your child does not have to read the literature to understand the lessons, but each book gives your student a richer perspective on topics in the lessons. The student is usually given two weeks to read each book, with 1-3 chapters assigned each day.
Middle-school students can read the books on their own, or you can use them as family read alouds. The first three books go along with Part 1 and the other five with Part 2.
- Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman (Units 5-6)
- A Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt by C. Coco De Young (Units 10-11)
- Brighty of the Grand Canyon by Marguerite Henry (Units 12-14)
- Basher Five-Two by Scott O'Grady (Units 16-17)
- Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry (Units 18-19)
- The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Units 22-24)
- The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane by Russell Freedman (Units 25-26)
- Lost on a Mountain in Maine by Donn Fendler (Units 29-30)
If you already have the curriculum, our Quick Start Guide will launch you to success in using the literature, suggested supplements, and bonus downloads.