Social Studies Curriculum for Elementary Schools

Social Studies Curriculum for Elementary Schools

By Terry Mulligan, eHow Contributor updated: February 16, 2011

One of the main focuses of a social studies curriculum in elementary school is preparing young students to become good citizens and understanding human values through a historical American perspective. Learning about the history of voting in the United States, world continents, famous women in United States history and Civil War heroes, among other things, provides information for the students to ground themselves with American ideals.

Voting Rights

Students will learn the history of voting rights in the United States.

Jupiterimages/Goodshoot/Getty Images This portion of elementary social studies focuses on the historical events of voting in the United States. Students learn about the evolution of voting in America -- including giving the right to vote given to American women and black Americans or assisting disadvantaged Americans with voting privileges. To complete the curriculum, students will be asked to compare and contrast historical voting conditions to current day voting conditions.

Famous Women

Each student will research famous women in United States history, select one of these women and detail the major contributions made by that woman for classroom discussion. The coursework includes discussions of the perils famous historical women encountered in pursuit of their ideals. Students will also comment on how these historical women might have felt if they had lived in current day circumstances -- including a specific current issue that might have concerned them.

World Continents

Students will learn about the seven continents.

Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images Learning about the seven continents of the world allows elementary school children the opportunity to compare different places and cultures to the way we live in America. The curriculum includes research and discussions of each continent in terms of area, population, economic conditions, annual growth and geographic elements for each region. To better understand other cultures, students compare the economic conditions in their own community to conditions of a city on another continent.

Civil War Heroes

A study of Civil War heroes gives students a better understanding of an era when the United States was in turmoil and fighting against each other. This course of study explores the ideals and contributions of men like Robert E. Lee, William Tecumseh Sherman, Abraham Lincoln and George A. Custer -- with an explanation of which side of the war they were on and why they were important to the history of our country.

Homeschooling Curriculumwww.K12.com

Individualized Learning, Personal Attention, Monthly Start Dates

Summer Reading Helpwww.LindamoodBell.com

Official site of Lindamood-Bell for summer reading help

Federal Grants For SchoolCollegeAdviser.com

You Deserve Free Money For College! Search & Apply For Grants Today.

Curriculum & InstructionACUOnline.ACU.Edu

Earn Your M.Ed. from ACU. Ranked in the Top 20 Best Colleges.