Homeschool Curriculum

Homeschooling allows parents to teach their children in a way that fits their unique learning styles. Students can also learn at their own pace. Many homeschoolers use a homeschool curriculum history that includes history courses. Whether you want to build your own course or buy one that is already laid out for you, there are many options to choose from.

Many homeschooling families teach history using a unit study approach. This is great for younger students who may struggle with memorizing facts or dates. It is also flexible and allows for many different activities to engage students. You can create a unit study around a time period, famous people, events, a theme or topic. You can use a variety of activities such as read alouds, crafts, online games and virtual field trips to create your unit study.

Some homeschooling families prefer to teach history using a Charlotte Mason / Living Books approach. This allows students to learn history from the perspective of those who lived it. A great resource for this is Eyewitness to History. It is a website that has stories written by real authors from the historical time periods being studied. Another good living book option is The Story of the World, which is a 4 volume history set that starts with ancient history. Many homeschoolers use these as a spine book for their history curriculum and then supplement it with reading lists of great literature for that time period.

CK-12 is a website that offers several history courses for high school students. Students can read digital textbooks, watch videos, visit virtual museums and build timelines. Students can even participate in live virtual field trips. It is a great way for teens to get a more in-depth education on history while learning at their own pace.

Homeschool Curriculum – History

Sonlight offers a complete homeschool curriculum for social studies for grades K through 12. The program uses a classical, hands-on approach and covers many different subjects and cultures throughout the course of a year. It is very interactive and incorporates activities such as reenactments, cooking, creating maps (old and new), building timelines, making family projects and learning through hands-on experiences. It also uses primary sources including journal entries, speeches and newspaper reports.

This article was written by Rebecca from The Homeschooling Mom. She is a wife, mother and Latin teacher who enjoys helping her students discover their passions in life through language. She is also the author of popular kids’ devotional Bible studies and practical homeschooling tools.

For high school-aged students, a good homeschool history curriculum will teach them to make connections between the peoples and cultures of the past as they prepare for a college or career. Choosing a program that encourages them to read original documents, such as the Articles of Confederation or the Declaration of Independence, will help them understand the impact of these historical decisions on our current society.

A good homeschool history curriculum will also help your student to develop a love of learning. Whether through hands-on projects, such as lapbooking through the ages by Schoolhouseteachers, or through the use of History Day kits that provide you with a wide range of enrichment activities, it is important for students to connect with the past and to learn how much our world has changed as a result of the decisions made in the past. It’s also important for students to understand that the past is a living document and that we are all part of history. By doing so, your student will be better prepared for the world of work and for the future of our country.