CKHG Early American History Part 1: Earliest Americans to the First President
Early American History: Part 1
How We Organize Free Core Knowledge Curriculum for Family-Style History
Core Knowledge Foundation’s sequence for history and geography cycles through different historical periods over the course of each grade level. In this way, the knowledge they gain builds over time. This is explained as their Core Knowledge Approach or knowledge-based schooling.
While I think this approach is well-researched and evidence-based, and is a great option for traditional classroom use, it just didn’t work for our homeschool for a few, what I consider valid, reasons.
We want a family-style history. Separate, multiple streams of history at one time wasn’t possible.
We don’t operate like a traditional classroom — some units take longer or shorter than recommended, so we may get through more (or less) in one year
We didn’t begin homeschooling from preschool so we lacked previous units that were necessary in order for the knowledge-based learning to work as intended.
Coming from a private school, our kids had some previous study of early American history, so it made the most sense for us to lean into that initial knowledge.
A chronological approach to history felt right for our eclectic, classical approach to homeschooling, and after early American history, we intend to widen the lens and start over chronologically in Ancient times, before cycling back to American history again in middle school.
With those reasons in mind, this is how I organize the units from grades 3-5 in Core Knowledge to create a cohesive early American history curriculum that can span a full school year. Feel free to use this approach if it works for you, too!
Please note: I may share additional resources that we used along with the free Core Knowledge curriculum. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no cost to you.
Yearly Schedule at a glance
To get a sense of how these may fit in a year, this was approximately how long each unit took. But the main takeaway is — be flexible and make it work for you!
The Earliest Americans - 4 weeks
The Vikings - 3 weeks
Age of Exploration - 5 weeks
The 13 Colonies - 6 weeks
The American Revolution - 6 weeks
The Constitution - 3 weeks
Early Presidents (chapters 1-2 only) - 1 week
Total - approximately 28 weeks
The Earliest Americans: Grade 3 Unit 4
View CKHG The Earliest Americans Grade 3 Unit 4 on Core Knowledge
This goes back as early as Beringia, the land bridge, and how different native peoples migrated from there across Canada and North America, eventually settling into different cultures. From the website, the unit covers “the Inuit, the Ancestral Pueblo and Mound Builders, and specific Native American peoples of the American Southwest, Southeast, and Eastern Woodlands.” We found it didn’t cover the Native American cultures local to our area or region, so we pulled in additional resources to make it be more meaningful to our experiences.
We also added in Native American stories along with the unit unique to the different culture. It was fairly easy to pair each chapter from The Earlier Americans reader with stories from the same culture in the following books.
Additional resources:
Native American Stories for Kids: 12 Traditional Stories from Indigenous Tribes across North America - View on Amazon
Native American Animal Stories - View on Amazon
Side note: We have not and do not plan to use much from Core Knowledge Language Arts, but it is worthwhile to point out that there is a CKLA grade 3 unit 8 on Native American Stories (Skills focus) and Native American Regions and Cultures (Listening and Learning focus). For more information on how K-3 language arts is structured and taught, you can read more on the Core Knowledge K-3 Language Arts webpage.
The Vikings: Grade 3 Unit 3
View CKHG The Vikings Grade 3 Unit 3 on Core Knowledge
This unit covers early Viking culture and exploration, even the first exploration of North America by Europeans like Eric the Red and Leif Erikson. Studying the Vikings in their time was a perfect opportunity to pull in Norse mythology to add a more complete picture of the culture.
Additional resources
A Child's Introduction to Norse Mythology: Odin, Thor, Loki, and Other Viking Gods, Goddesses, Giants, and Monsters - View on Amazon
D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths - View on Amazon
Exploration of North America: Grade 3 Unit 6 (younger kids) OR The Age of Exploration: Grade 5 Unit 3 (older kids)
There are two good options for this unit in the Core Knowledge curriculum. You could use either depending on whether your kids skew an younger or older age range. The biggest difference is depth. Grade 3 Unit 6: Exploration of North America provides a broad introduction to explorers and the impact of exploration on North America, through storytelling and building foundation knowledge. Grade 5 Unit 3: The Age of Exploration goes deeper, exploring the motivations behind exploration like the spice trade, technological advances in navigation and shipbuilding, competing European powers, and the wider global impacts of exploration.
Additional resources and literature
Pedro’s Journal: A Voyage with Christopher Columbus (read aloud or independent read written as journal entries) - View on Amazon
Exploring the New World: An Interactive History Adventure (a “You Choose” book for independent reading!") - View on Amazon
The 13 Colonies: Grade 3 Unit 7
View CKHG The 13 Colonies Grade 3 Unit 7 on Core Knowledge
This book covers the first settlements to life in the colonies. There is an accompanying literature unit that is also at a 3rd grade level and could be used an independent reading selections with stories of colonial children living in different regions and colonies.
Additional resources
A Lion to Guard Us: An Acclaimed Historical Novel of Courage and Survival for Children (an engaging family read aloud!) - View on Amazon
Evan Moor History Pockets: Colonial America (grades 4-6) - View on Amazon
Colonial America: An Interactive History Adventure (a “You Choose” book for independent reading!) - View on Amazon
The American Revolution: Grade 4 Unit 7
View CKHG The American Revolution Grade 4 Unit 7 on Core Knowledge
It picks up with an overview of the colonies which could be done quickly if just ending the 13 Colonies unit. From the complicated relationship between the British empire and the colonies, the growing tensions leading to war, and the various battles and influential figures, this unit does a great job delving into the American Revolution as is appropriate for upper elementary. I will share that the Core Knowledge unit did not include very much about the Treaty of Paris and the final compromises that ended the war, but I included a section on that from Evan Moor History Pocket: The American Revolution that was very helpful.
There are many great supplements — literature and otherwise — that can be integrated into the unit.
Additional resources
Evan Moor History Pockets: The American Revolution (grades 4-6) - View on Amazon
Liberty’s Kids TV show (40 episodes - free) - Available on Youtube *My kids loved this!
The Revolutionary War: An Interactive History Adventure (a “You Choose” book for independent reading!) - View on Amazon
The Constitution: Grade 4 Unit 8
As expected this was a helpful introduction to the creation and structure of early government, from the Articles of Confederation to checks and balances, and the Constitution as it is today. At times this is a bit dry and not as story-driven, so I think it helps to bring in other hands-on activities, books, or videos to add to the understanding of the Constitution and government.
Additional resources
A More Perfect Union: The Story of Our Constitution by Betsy Maestro and Giulio Maestro - View on Amazon
Shh! We're Writing the Constitution by Jean Fritz - View on Amazon
We the Kids: The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States by David Catrow - View on Amazon
Mark Twain Understanding the US Constitution Workbook - View on Amazon *great for older students who need a more in-depth study of the Constitution with reading passages, comprehension questions, and worksheets
The Early Presidents: Grade 4 Unit 9
View CKHG The Early Presidents Grade 4 Unit 9 on Core Knowledge
We didn’t cover the entire unit this year. To end our studies, we read about Washington and his first year as President from the first two chapters of the unit. It felt like a fitting end to our early American history study this year!
What’s next?
For the 2026-2027 school year, we plan to continue our early American history sequence using more chronological Core Knowledge units — stay tuned for info on how we organize that soon!