Elementary Social Studies
Our elementary social studies program enables students to better understand and engage with God’s world by discovering how they fit into His design. God created humans as unique individuals— no two are exactly alike. When people live and work together, they can embrace their differences and similarities in ways that glorify God. By honoring the institutions God has established, they fulfill part of His will for their lives. Through social studies, students develop the skills to see the world through a biblical worldview and propose solutions to the challenges our modern society faces.
Vision
To equip students to understand, biblically evaluate, engage in, and make decisions about their world
Goals
- To develop social studies skills and a foundational understanding of geography, economics, history, government, civics, and culture
- To evaluate sources, cultures, and events from a biblical worldview
- To propose solutions to economic, political, and social problems
- To become lifelong learners who value freedom, equality, and individual responsibility
Program Approach for Elementary Social Studies
Developing Social Studies Skills
Our elementary heritage studies program is designed to give students a strong foundational background in geography, economics, history, government, civics, and culture. Activities and skills sections in the Student Edition prepare students for learning these skills while lessons are balanced between each of the social studies areas. Lessons have an academically rigorous coverage of the social studies, demonstrating a strong awareness of state and national standards and helping students appreciate the story of the United States and see the virtue of American core values.
Our textbooks have certain special features that use photorealistic items to make connections to the physical world. In grade 4, there is a state notebook lesson at the end of each chapter that is also found in the Teacher Edition. If implemented, by the end of the year, the student will have completed a notebook on one specific state. (This notebook can apply to whichever state the teacher or student chooses.)
Students develop an understanding and appreciation of both past and present through real-world activities, personal stories of individuals, and development of the tools needed to sustain lifelong learning. Teacher editions include discussion topics that help students develop critical thinking and collaboration skills. Student editions provide exercises where students examine and interact with historical information. They will learn to organize events chronologically and make key connections. Students also practice reading maps and interpreting charts, graphs, illustrations, and diagrams. Teacher-led discussions help connect the graphics with the text.
Most importantly, every lesson in each grade focuses on developing student’s ability to read for understanding. Literacy skills and familiarity with reading informational texts are important for studies in all disciplines, so our teacher and student editions focus on reading comprehension skills and include comprehension strategies.
Evaluating Problems from a Biblical Worldview
Our elementary heritage studies program develops students’ critical-thinking skills by encouraging them to evaluate sources, cultures, and events from a biblical worldview.
Students need to develop knowledge of the United States’ past and understand the values that have shaped the nation’s story so that they can make wise decisions about the values they will hold in the future.
Our student editions will help them understand the structure God has created that shapes our culture. God has designed marriage, family, government, industry, economics, and the church to serve specific purposes. Not only will our program help students understand these institutions, our planet, and our history, but it will also help them recognize and critique secular representations. By studying culture and society from a biblical worldview, students learn to evaluate the effects of the Fall on their culture and live a God-honoring life in today’s world.
Activities will highlight founding documents and other primary sources, giving students an opportunity to evaluate the principles that the United States was founded on. These resources help the teacher to dig deeper than the dates and facts of history and social studies. History chapters in the student editions help students to understand that history isn’t just a random and meaningless series of events but that there is order in everything that God does. As they evaluate historical events according to biblical standards, they will be able to clearly see how the Fall still impacts the course of human history.
Proposing Solutions from a Biblical Worldview
This program introduces students to social studies issues that they will encounter throughout their lives. As they develop a strong biblical worldview foundation of the social studies, they will be able to propose God-honoring solutions to those issues. Students will be encouraged to relate humanity’s use of the environment to the Creation Mandate, and to propose ways to wisely use the earth’s resources for the benefit of people. In economics, government, civics, and culture, they will be introduced to the biblical basis for hard work, the role of governments, our role as citizens, and the development of culture. These bases will help them come to effective solutions to social issues.
Becoming Lifelong Learners
Through captivating text, illustrations, activities, and extras, we strive to cultivate a lifelong interest in history, geography, citizenship, government, economics, and culture. Students who are informed and aware about not only their current society, but also the history of their society are better able to recognize the struggles it has gone through to gain freedom and equality. They will also know the importance of individual responsibility in gaining these things.
Scope & Sequence
Focus
Developing a Christian worldview of the family, community, jobs, land, and the United States
Geography
Types of land and water, continents and oceans; Globes and maps (title, key, compass rose), cardinal directions; Saving and using resources
Weather
Seasons; Water cycle
History
Time (past, present, future); Primary and secondary sources
American History
Native Americans; Explorers; Settlements: Jamestown and Plymouth; Founding of the United States; Abraham Lincoln; Effects of immigration; United States today
Government
Rules and laws, justice; Community, state, and national leaders; elections; Description and symbols of the United States; Rights and responsibilities of American citizens
Economics
Needs and wants; Goods and services; Trading, barter, money; Jobs, volunteers; Budgeting; Technology and tools
Culture
Biblical worldview; Families and homes; Celebrations; Families in history; Churches and schools; Changes in travel and communication; Contributions of immigrants
Social Studies Skills
Addresses and landmarks; Sorting and sequencing; Bar graphs, diagrams, timelines, and calendars; Literacy skills: compare, main idea and details, fact and opinion, cause and effect
Focus
Developing a Christian worldview of communities, government, buying and selling, people and places, and American culture
Geography
Map skills: grid map, map scale; Geography of North America; Geography of United States: population density, land forms, bodies of water, climate zones
History
Communities: development of changes within; Memorials
Government
How a bill becomes a law; Purpose of government; Constitution, Bill of Rights; Levels of government (national, state, local); Choosing leaders; Citizens: process of citizenship, rights and responsibilities; Countries working together
Social Studies Skills
Comparing points of view; Problem solving; Comparing fact and fiction; Cause and effect; Primary and secondary sources
Economics
Work, specialization; Scarcity, opportunity cost, budgets; Goods and services; Producers and consumers, types of resources; Supply and demand; Trading between countries
American Culture
Core values; Influences: Native Americans, immigrants, technology; Sharing culture
Focus
Developing a biblical worldview of geography.
Geography
Maps; Earth’s physical features; Cultural and economic impacts of human interaction with the environment; Interconnections between world regions; Geographical knowledge-based evaluations and assessments
Government
Capitals; Government types; Leaders
Economics
Industries; Trade; Currencies
History
Exploration and migration; Conflicts; Origins of cultures
Culture
Religions and beliefs; Indigenous customs; Traditional arts; Ethnic food and clothing
Religion
Traditional beliefs; Christianity
Literacy Skills
Classify; Summarize
Social Studies Skill
Map projections
Focus
Developing a biblical worldview of the study of state and territorial history
Geography
Maps: political, regional, physical, environmental, and territorial; Geographical features: landforms, bodies of water; State capitals and major cities; Relationship between geography and early settlements; Impact of rapid industrial development on the environment; Natural disasters
World History
European exploration; World Wars I and II; Persian Gulf War; COVID-19 pandemic
American History
Native Americans; Explorers, traders, and missionaries; American land expansion; American wars: Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Civil War, etc.; Abolition and civil rights; Inventions: medicine, space technology, transportation; Pearl Harbor and 9/11 attacks
Government
Federal documents: US Constitution, Bill of Rights, Articles of Confederation; Branches of American government; Federal and state government; Citizen’s rights and responsibilities
Economics
Stock market; Industries and resources
Culture
Impact of Native American culture: food, art, vocabulary; Impact of immigrants: business, food, religion, speech; Religions in America; State attractions: parks, landmarks, sports, festivals, music, customs; Literature
Social Studies Skills
Internet safety; Route maps; Predicting consequences; Discerning bias
Focus
- American history from the Creation Mandate and the Tower of Babel to 2024
Biblical Worldview Shaping
- Freedom—Evaluating actions and making right choices within proper boundaries
- Individuality—Applying a biblical balance to personal rights and responsibilities to others
- Equality—Treating other image-bearers as equals before God
- Growth—Understanding the importance of personal and community growth without harming others
- Religion—Analyzing the way people relate to and respond to who or what they worship
Social Studies Skills
- Literacy skills: summarize, cause/effect, compare/contrast
- Digital literacy: using digital tools responsibly, using digital tools to enhance and demonstrate learning
- Timelines
- Maps: Political, Route
- Graphic Organizers
- Oral Presentations
- Primary/Secondary Sources
- Analyzing photos and political cartoons
- Predicting Consequences
- Writing a Persuasive Article
- Conducting an Interview
Culture
- Native American cultures, religious beliefs, customs, languages
- Colonial life, religion, education
- Rationalism, transcendentalism, social Darwinism, socialism, conservatism, communism, materialism
- Culture, religions
- Civil rights, challenges of black Americans
- The Gilded Age, entertainment, the arts
- Rise of counterculture and feminism
- Stem cell research
- Abortion, gay rights, racial issues
History
- Chronological presentation
- Events and personalities from pre-Columbus to the present
- Biblical evaluations of events, actions, and attitudes
- Origins of Native American tribes
- European explorers and exploration in America
- Impact of technological advances on exploration
- Early American settlements: similarities and differences
- Thirteen original colonies
- Biographies of significant figures in US history
- Great Awakening
- French and Indian War and the War for Independence
- War of 1812
- Lewis and Clark and the Louisiana Purchase
- Monroe Doctrine and the Missouri Compromise
- Trail of Tears and the Indian Removal Act
- Slavery
- Civil War: major battles and leaders
- Emancipation Proclamation and Reconstruction
- Westward expansion
- Civil rights bills and Black Codes
- Gilded Age
- Spanish-American War
- Progressive Era, conservationism
- WWI: battles, leadership, outcomes, Triple Entente, Triple Alliance, trench warfare, and American entry into the war
- Great Depression and the New Deal
- WWII: leaders, battles, Pearl Harbor, D-Day, atomic bomb, the Holocaust
- Korean War
- Space Race and the Cuban Missile Crisis
- Civil Rights Bill
- Kennedy assassination
- Fair Deal, the Cold War, and the Great Society
- Roe v. Wade
- War in Vietnam, Watergate
- Iran hostage crisis, Reaganomics, and Reagan Doctrine
- Operation Desert Storm, Tiananmen Square
- NAFTA
- Y2K and technology advancements
- 9/11, War in Iraq, and Hurricane Katrina
- Affordable Care Act
- Arab Spring
- 2008 Election, green energy
- 2016 Election, Mueller investigation
- USMCA, Space Force
- COVID-19
- America First Policy
- 2020 Election, January 6 events
- Roe v. Wade overturned
- Withdrawal from Afghanistan
- Russia-Ukraine War
- Israel-Hamas War
- 2024 Election
Geography
- Political maps
- Route maps
- Expansion maps
- Battle maps
- Native American cultural maps, relocation maps
- Urbanization and growth of cities
- Panama Canal
- National Parks and conservation
- Pollution, Clean Air Act
- Oil Spills
Government
- Native American governments
- Colonial governments
- Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, US Constitution, Bill of Rights
- Emancipation Proclamation, Gettysburg Address, Amendments to the US Constitution
- Political parties, branches of government, Electoral College, Congress, presidential elections
- Voting reform, Suffrage, Civil Rights
- Social Security, tax plans
Economics
- Inventions
- Stock market
- Supply and demand
- Colonial industry and farming
- Industrial Revolution, factory system, and inventions
- Slavery
- Civil War supply chains and Southern hardships
- Corporations, trusts, capitalism, tariffs, labor unions, and philanthropy
- Jobs of women in WWI and WWII
- Victory gardens
- Overproduction, stock, and tariffs
- Depressions, recessions
- Inflation, budgets, and deficits
- Reaganomics
- Effects of COVID-19