The exploration of history opens a world of discovery for young minds, shedding light on different cultures, notable figures, and pivotal events that have shaped our world. For kindergarteners, fostering a love for history can be an exciting adventure, especially if we ensure the learning experience is enjoyable and engaging. So if you find you’re still on the hunt for a kindergarten history curriculum and you’re considering My Story K by Masterbooks, keep reading so you can get my honest review of this Christian curriculum first!
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About My Story K by Masterbooks
My Story K is a gentle, Christian-based American history curriculum that covers major topics that kindergarteners (or young kids in general) need to cover, such as gentle introductions to early American history, colonial America, westward expansion, the Roman Empire, and even modern history. It’s a great introduction to kindergarten history curriculum that is easy to follow for elementary age kids.
My Story K uses a Charlotte Mason approach, which means the lessons are kept very short – short enough for young readers and their narrow attention spans. This way, the lessons don’t drag on and your kindergartener can still grasp the lesson without getting bored.
The curriculum also includes hands-on activities like craft projects, coloring pages, activities, stories, games and literature suggestions to bring the history to life in a fun way.
I used the math and language arts MasterBooks curriculum with Daniel (now 13) and Zoey (now 12) back when they were in 2nd grade. And now I’m using this MasterBooks history curriculum for kindergarten with Scout (now 5) for kindergarten.
One of the best things about My Story K is that it is a sweet homeschool history for kindergarten with short, manageable lessons that teach about citizenship, community, and a love of God.
If you’re interested in trying My Story K for your homeschool, it’s available to check out through the Timberdoodle site. Timberdoodle is one of my fave places to get curriculum – and super unique hands-on learning materials – and this is also where My Story K came from. You can also find My Story K is included in Timberdoodle’s kindergarten classic curriculum kit!
How It’s Set Up
My Story K is set up in Quests, with each quest taking students on a journey through its kindergarten history curriculum. There are four quests in My Story K:
- Quest 1 — My Family & Culture
- Quest 2 —My Citizenship
- Quest 3 — My Geography
- Quest 4 — My Financial Things
Each Quest has lessons (36 total) about each topic. The child has to find the highlighted vocabulary words throughout the quest and whatever it is they’re talking about for the lessons.
My Story K Table of Contents:
Using This Teacher Guide
Charting Your Course
Schedule
Welcome to My Story K!
Quest 1 — My Family & Culture
- My Family and Me
- Where We Live
- Holidays and Special Times
- Good Food and Nutrition
- Games and Toys
- Clothing and Uniforms
- Music and Song
- Pictures and Words in Books
- Reading and Writing
Quest 2 —My Citizenship - Character Counts
- Keeping Us Safe
- God Protects Us
- Traditions Around the World
- My Friends and Me
- Resolving Conflict
- Community Leaders
- Heroes and Helpers
- Citizens of Heaven
- Quest 3 — My Geography
- Local Life
- Maps
- Community
- Rural and Urban Worlds
- Different People of the World
- Different Parts of the World
- What the World Eats
- Geography Terms
- Weather Words
Quest 4 — My Financial Things - What a Family Needs
- Needs Versus Wants
- Trade, Borrowing, or Purchase
- Choices
- God Provides for Us
- Environments and Our Needs
- Goods and Services
- Chores and Jobs
- Different Careers
Appendix
My Book Time
God’s Scripture Time Flashcards
Language Time Flashcards
My Story Name Tags
Word Collector Flashcards
Geography Flashcards
Continent Map Coloring Pages
Answers for Exercises
Our Personal Experience With My Story K: A History Curriculum for Kindergarten
If your child is still in preschool, your child likely will not be able to complete the lessons because it requires a bit of writing in each lesson. Plus, there were some concepts my child just was not in the position to learn. For example, he needed to learn a concept but in order to learn it, he needed to have learned something else, like a prerequisite.
Regarding writing, make sure your child is comfortable writing and spelling. My child was NOT at the position to start spelling off big words – like this book seemed to think. They just want you to jump right in and spell. Just like that.
So anyway – I did a lot of work on the writing while we were going through the book. And ultimately, I determined that he was too young to do this kindergarten American history curriculum and would be better suited for some simple historical fiction via family read aloud for living books instead.
Because I was doing this while Scout was at the tail-end of preschool, I’m thinking he could be a better fit for this kindergarten american history curriculum once he is well into kindergarten…or even first grade.
And it’s not really just about the writing and spelling. It’s also explaining the terms to him. He has no clue what citizenship is. And to explain that to him, the book doesn’t tell you that. They just assume your child will understand it when you say “citizenship is in our country.” Even if your child has NO CLUE what a country is, and the book doesn’t help you explain that either.
This is why I’ve determined that your child should have some prerequisites completed before jumping into this book. I like the curriculum’s cute organization and the colors inside. It’s a cute little curriculum.
But the way they are teaching history curriculum for kindergarten kids….It just makes me think the curriculum is not written by someone who has had kids before. Because if they did, if they’ve experienced 5 or 6 year olds before, then they would surely know how to start off talking about history terms to young kids entirely new to the concept of history in general, such as starting off with defining what certain things are before going into the technicalities of it.
Was this a good fit for us now? No way. Will it be in the future? Probably. I do like short lessons, and I like the Charlotte Mason style.
Actually, I’m lying. I probably won’t use this in the future either. Only because we love hands-on history curriculum for kindergarten, elementary, middle schoolers, and my teenagers! I’m a huge fan of Home School in the Woods homeschool history curriculum. Using this as like a history spine to direct the lessons. That, and reading living books of fictional history books (or picture books for younguns) and then making it one big history unit study – for me – is the way to go to teach history, especially when you have multiple students. Not in short 10-minute lessons.
History is about stories, it’s about learning from people in the past to understand the present to prepare for the future. That takes longer than 10 minutes, especially when you and the kids are enraptured in the story itself of what you’re learning.
Is this curriculum a good fit for your child and teaches American history for kindergarten easily? It depends on where your child is at academically – can they write and spell well for their age? Do they already know what a country is, and will it be fairly easy to explain what citizenship is?
If not, this probably isn’t the curriculum for them. This curriculum would be best suited for kids that have mastered their writing comfort level and can understand the very basic history terms. Because if you’re looking for a history curriculum that teaches the basics of history from a starting point, then this one isn’t it.
As I said, before using this history curriculum kindergarten kiddos will need prerequisites. I hope you now understand what I meant by that!
Is My Story K A Good Kindergarten History Curriculum?
I do believe that My Story K by Masterbooks is a good homeschool history for kindergarten. It’s a comprehensive program that covers major topics in American history and is designed to be fun and inviting. The short lessons and dictation/writing make it easy for parents to teach their children at home, especially when you have lots of kids to teach. It’s definitely a great introduction to a history curriculum for kindergarten, and I believe it is perfect for families who want to incorporate Christian values into their children’s education!
To learn more about My Story K by MasterBooks, go to Timberdoodle here!
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