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Thank you to Bright Light Academy for gifting us a one year subscription for this review. As always, all opinions are my own.

One of my most favorite subjects to teach my kids is history. There is so much that can be understood by looking at our past, so I feel a solid foundation in history is so important. There are a lot of adults walking around our country today without the basic knowledge of how the United States of America became what it is today.

I am a huge fan of using living books to teach history, but as my kids get older, I also feel it is important to listen to a few lectures and gain historical knowledge in a chronological manner. For my daughter’s seventh grade year, we have decided to add an early United States history course to her studies.

This early American history course covers U.S. history from the 1400s to 1877. Your child will learn about the New World (with a bit of perspective on world history), colonial America, the founding fathers, the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolution time period, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the first few presidents, the Age of Jackson, Westward Expansion, the Civil War era, and much more!

Bright Light Academy Homeschool History Course Review

If you’re looking for a great homeschool curriculum that helps flesh out America’s heritage, this is a great course to start with.

Bright Light Academy is U.S. History online, video based courses. Their first course is U.S. History – 1400s-1877,

This course is designed to work across multiple grade levels. It can be taken my middle school students, and can also be taken by high school students to earn history credit.

Ryan Brown is the historian and teacher of the US history curriculum. He is a veteran, patriot, and homeschool father of 3 who will teach your kids what this country was founded on in a Pro-God and Pro-America way.

Video Lessons

Included in the early U.S. history curriculum is 17 video based lessons, 2 optional exams, plus printable guided notes and additional activities.

I really appreciate the detailed lesson plans. You can preview the printables for your kids and print them off each week before they watch the video. The video lessons are engaging and include pictures and graphics to help bring more interest to the topic. I do like the printable Guided Notes. I think if your child has never taken notes before that they are very helpful and will teach them how to take notes if they are college bound.

Interactive Resources

There are hands-on activities throughout the lessons that help engage kids and have them work on their critical thinking skills. For example, I really like the Pilgrims and Puritans Venn Diagram activity to help kids recognize the difference in those two peoples. Other interactive resources you’ll find include lots of map work, which is awesome. a really cool Amendments flip book activity, a branches of American government tree, a Civil War battles sheet, and a lot more.

Let’s talk about parental involvement. You will need to preview the course each week or so, and print your child’s materials. You will also need to check your child’s guided notes and any activities they complete.

This course gives a pretty broad overview of what was happening in North America beginning in the 1400s to 1877. There’s not a ton of mention of Native Americans, so if you want your child to study that part of history you will need to add some material.

The only thing I would add to the course is some supplemental reading on historical events with living books. My daughter is an avid reader and historical books are some of her favorites. Down below I have some of our favorite early American history books.

Madeleine Takes Command

Almost Home

George Washington’s World

Across Five Aprils

Also, if you can throw in some primary source documents such as a copy of the Declaration of Independence, that’s always fun and a great way to help cement the information and give kids primary historical facts.

If you’re serious about teaching your kids about their American heritage, and you want someone who is excited the topic to share knowledge, I recommend Bright Light Academy. You’ll get online access for one full year for your entire family for $189.

Try a FREE LESSON from Bright Light Academy here!