Elementary Social Studies Curriculum

An excellent elementary social studies curriculum is important in every child’s education. Students need to learn the names of places, their cultures, their natural resources, their geographical features, their governments, and more to see the complexities of their world. There is a process to how and when they learn certain details, but they all have importance to the bigger picture. 

When choosing an elementary social studies curriculum, you should ensure that it has everything you need. This curriculum should cover: 

  • Social and interpersonal skills (particularly for younger children)
  • Map reading
  • Culture exploration
  • Practice with country, state, capital, and landmark names
  • Features of the natural environment
  • Exposure to the processes of different governments
  • Regional and global economics
  • United States and world history
  • Migration, colonization, and slavery

The goal of our social studies curriculum is to provide the knowledge and foundation your child needs to become a well-rounded citizen of the US and the greater world.

Literacy in Social Studies

One of the ways that parents can approach their homeschool lessons is to look for opportunities to integrate other content areas into the work their child is doing. For example, students need strong reading, comprehension, and analysis skills in social studies, just like they do in language arts. Parents can support challenging texts such as the Constitution by asking students to reflect on the context clues when guessing about new vocabulary, and parents who are introducing the Magna Carta can ask students to use their analytical skills to compare the similarities between these two documents.

Your elementary instruction can be enhanced by incorporating the skills from all areas of your child’s education. Be on the lookout for connections!

Early Elementary Social Studies

Early elementary social studies curriculum is designed to develop foundational knowledge in history, geography, and civics that students can integrate into in their future education. Lessons include the names and locations of places, the attributes of good citizenship, and the exploration of differences in other populations. Students need these building blocks so they can make their later, more complex lessons meaningful.

Students of this age need these skills for more than just preparing for school, however. When students learn social studies, they learn how to be productive citizens of their local, state, and national communities. The concepts they start in these early lessons will support them not only for the rest of their educational careers, but also for their entire adult lives.

Kindergarten Social Studies

Young children often learn best using games and songs that help them remember names and places. Additionally, dialogue and stories between fun and interesting characters teach feelings, manners, and empathy, which are valuable for social development and interpersonal skills. Miacademy offers a number of lessons to address these needs, such as:

  • Days of the Week
  • Months of the Year
  • Words about Our Feelings
  • Community Helpers
  • Neighborhoods and Parks

These types of skills teach children some of the basics about life, and they begin to learn and practice simple social skills that will be valuable in everyday interactions.

First Grade Social Studies

First graders typically continue to develop their vocabulary and connections between social studies topics through a multitude of activities and lessons. Games and songs work great here, too, as they gain confidence in their knowledge. Miacademy’s first grade social studies lessons for include:

  • Landforms
  • Continents and Oceans
  • Being a Good Citizen
  • Maps and Globes

Students in first grade usually start to see the world as a patchwork of many different countries, cultures, and natural features. Recognizing these differences is the first step children take to become aware of the diverse communities and experiences all around them.

Second Grade Social Studies

With some exposure to the basics, second graders are ready to be challenged with increasingly complex social studies concepts, including inquiry-based learning about natural resources, climates, traditions, and relationships among various regions and people. Our “Let’s Take a Journey” series at Miacademy gives your second grader opportunities to explore the world from home.

These lessons introduce:

  • geography
  • weather patterns
  • cultural works

By introducing these concepts, second graders are able to practice making connections between social studies and other subjects, such as science and language arts. These connections are important to their educational success, but also important to their growth as well-rounded adults.

Third Grade Social Studies

Third grade students can be developing quickly, and are typically more and more ready to tackle new material. Children at this age usually begin to learn basic history about their state and country, in addition to their continued education about the larger world. Miacademy’s social studies curriculum supports this by offering third grade lessons such as: 

  • States of the USA
  • States Shapes
  • Map Grids
  • Types of Government

Third graders often spend much of their social studies lessons learning about geography and civics. These topics continue to build on earlier lessons, and parents can encourage deeper interest by discussing local geography, history, and government. 

Upper Elementary Social Studies

Upper elementary students encounter curriculum that deepens their comfort with social studies concepts they’ve practiced over the past several years. Fourth and fifth grade students learn material that prepares them for middle school and beyond. These lessons should include introductions to government, economics, and world conflicts.

Children in upper elementary school are increasingly looking toward their futures – they are just a few years away from becoming teenagers, they are excited and anxious about middle school, and they are finding their place in the world. Students at this age are developing their independence, and they are learning important social studies topics that will make them critical thinkers of our world. Supporting their education with strong social studies lessons that will serve them in their academics and future lives is vital to their growth.

Fourth Grade Social Studies

Fourth grade lessons bridge the knowledge students have from their early elementary years to their upper elementary years. Students are expected to continue making connections between elements of social studies, such as how local governments can influence the federal government, and vice versa. Miacademy addresses your needs with our lessons on:

  • U.S. Abbreviations
  • World Quizzes
  • Latitude and Longitude
  • Local Government
  • Branches of US Government

Students in fourth grade are increasingly ready for more advanced material in social studies and other subjects. Parents can support their natural curiosity and understanding of different social studies topics by relating them to real-world events. For example, fourth grade students learning about the legislative process can benefit from watching Congressional debates online, and students who are learning about civics can attend a local city council meeting. Doing these types of extension activities encourages their curiosity and lifelong relationship with learning.

Fifth Grade Social Studies

They’ve made it! Fifth graders are at the top of the world, kings and queens of the castle, masters of elementary social studies. They’re ready to expand their understanding of the world to more specific and detailed areas. Our fifth grade social studies curriculum covers material such as:

  • Three Kinds of Resources
  • Producers, Consumers, Goods, & Services
  • How Laws are Made
  • Elections and Voting
  • Native Americans Before European Exploration
  • Spanish Colonization in the Americas
  • The Revolutionary War to the Civil War

Students of this age are often ready to understand how the subjects they’re learning in school relate to their lives. Parents can support this by turning lessons into experiences. For example, Miacademy allows students to build their own digital business, where they can “sell” their digital creations to other students in a safe, moderated environment. Students can also attend local election opportunities, so they can be prepared and confident to participate themselves when they are adults.

Miacademy’s Elementary Social Studies Curriculum

Our curriculum is designed with you in mind. We believe that homeschool students and parents learn best when their curriculum is flexible. It should be adaptable to a variety of learning styles and lifestyles. While our curriculum has everything you need, each of our lessons gives you the room to include your own experiences, connections, and resources.

We have dozens of social studies lessons that span Kindergarten through 5th grade, and we’re adding more all of the time. Our lessons include engaging videos, fun activities, quizzes, games, and helpful PDFs. Parents can support challenging lessons by doing a read-aloud with tricky texts. Students can also experience a bit of American history for themselves by doing simulations at home, such as trying to pass a new “law” for your house. Additionally, supplementing your current social studies with ours enables you to apply learning in fun ways. You can adjust pacing for your students and adapt lessons to help students grasp new concepts.

Furthermore, our curriculum is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Schools – Western Association for Schools and Colleges (ACS WASC). Our accredited K-5 courses are designated as a Supplementary Education Program, indicating that they meet the high standards for educational quality in a homeschool or distance-learning program. Our resources and lesson quality can also contribute to reaching local and federal standards, such as the C3 Framework for Social Studies. 

If you have questions about our elementary social studies curriculum, please join our parent Facebook group. Here, you will be able to interact with Miacademy parents and team members!