American Heritage Education Foundation (TOS Review)

American Heritage Education Foundation Website
Download lesson plans (free)
Order same lessons on free CD or printed in binders (US$19.50)

"AHEF is a non-profit, non-partisan educational foundation (501.c.3) dedicated to the understanding and teaching of America's factual and philosophical heritage to promote constructive citizenship and Freedom, Unity, Progress, and Responsibility among our students and citizens.

"AHEF accomplishes this patriotic mission by writing, producing, and distributing FREE K-12 lesson plans to teachers, students, and families in all 50 states and through additional initiatives, programs, and partnerships."

What's America about? The founders of AHEF wanted to know if there was a formula that created their country and/or kept it going.

"The three were quite surprised at the simplicity of the formula at which they arrived: FREEDOM, UNITY, PROGRESS, and RESPONSIBILITY."

Do you want to encourage these themes through study of the Declaration of Independence, patriotic songs and other American heritage documents? There are three levels available, all on the same CD (or you can download each one separately):

"The elementary school lesson plans include lessons about the colonists' experience under monarchy; the context for the writing of the Declaration of Independence; the creation of important American symbols, songs, and holidays; and the character traits modeled by great national leaders and presidents.

"The middle school lesson plans include lessons focusing on concepts within the Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address, and other important texts and American symbols as well as the ideals for which many fought and sacrificed their lives.

"The high school lesson plans include lessons for in-depth analysis and understanding of the ideas, intentions, arguments, rights, and meanings addressed in significant texts from the Mayflower Compact and the Declaration of Independence to Federalist 47, the First Amendment, and a government letter on religious expression in public schools. A brief summary of each lesson plan can be found at the appropriate grade-level links."

That's it: free American social studies.

Final take: Well, being as we're in Canada and don't do a lot of social studies, this product wasn't something we would get a lot of use out of, even for free. (We did print out the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner.") But the concept is interesting--using your country's own documents to trace particular themes in its history. Check it out, especially if you have a high schooler studying American history.

For more reviews of this product, see the Old Schoolhouse Review website.

Dewey's Disclaimer: This product was received free for purposes of review. No other payment was made. The opinions expressed in this review are our own.