American History High School Level

American History High School Level (10th grade) by James P. Stobaugh  (Student and Teacher Manuals)
The covers on these books are fabulous!  Scenes from history are shown as a film clip on the right while the main picture is of a young boy selling newspapers with the headline "War Declared".  The images evoke emotional responses from the beginning.

Student manual:   The chapters are short and to the point, and contain useful and necessary information.  My high schoolers thought it was easy to work with and the material was relevant, and easy to understand. 
The images inside the book are very nice and relate well to the information presented.  It would be nice if they were in color, but even for black and white they are well done.
There are 34 chapters corresponding to 34 weeks of study.  Each chapter contains 5 lessons that take about 30 minutes to complete.  There is a short reading section followed by critical thinking questions.  The questions will either require a specific answer, or they may be open-ended allowing the student to form their own answers. Assignments are due daily or weekly depending on the desires of the parent/teacher.
Overall, the textbook seems very informative, but average.  Any student wanting more will need to have other source materials as this text appears to be very basic.  I like the format used and like the Biblical world view presented.  I would definitely use this in my home, but I would make other resources available as well.
I would amp this up with additional resources such as colorful maps, outside reading assignments, and colorful pictures.


Teachers manual:  There are 34 chapters included designed for 34 weeks of study.  Each chapter has 5 lessons and takes about 30 minutes to complete.  There is a weekly exam at the end, and students do this without using their book (unless otherwise noted).  Assignments can be graded daily or weekly depending on the desires of the parent.  This course is geared for independent learning and allows the parent to step back and let their student work alone.
The teachers copy includes these features:  Narrative Background, Critical Thinking Questions, Concepts/Generalizations, History Makers, Historical Debate, World View Formation, and History and World View Overview.
Chapter tests are in the back of the book or can be downloaded from the site given.  All review questions are included from the student copy and answers are included. 
This is a very brief teachers copy with basically just the answers included.  It would be nice to have the text included as well since it is very distracting and time consuming to have to refer to another book while grading.  I like the way the discussion answers are presented, and the other features are nice.  Overall, well done but needs the student text added.

I received these texts from New Leaf Publishing Group/ Masters Books as complimentary copies for review purposes.  I was not asked to give a positive review in exchange, and the review above is my honest opinion of the books presented.