We use a hands-on approach to social studies that is based on the New Mexico state standards and benchmarks. Our belief that project-based learning is most successful for our students enables us to use a variety of primary sources (people writing about themselves) and secondary sources (people writing about others and events) rather than textbooks as we study who we are as a people, a society, and a world. We integrate Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences through the literature, writing, research, art, and collaborative working groups while concentrating on higher level thinking and making connections. The focus starts with the study of ourselves and our classroom. The curriculum then moves through the grades examining the neighborhood, the community, the city, the state, the United States, and ancient civilizations of the world.