Welcome to day 4 of my Homeschool Curriculum Forum/Discussions! Today we’re talking all about the subject of history. Now I have to say that historically speaking history has been a large part of most homeschooling families.
I on the other hand haven’t been quite so enthusiastic regarding the topic! While I have done my own Road Trip USA which includes a basic history of the United States of America for younger learners, I haven’t been too out of the box for this subject yet. So I’m sure you all have some great ideas and opinions on this topic to share!
This current year I was really overwhelmed with so many things going on that we decided to simplify wherever we could. History and Science, which we’ll discuss later, were two areas that we tried to make my life a little easier and less stressful.
So this year, and most likely next year we’re going to be doing Abeka’s History curriculum. Since Turbo and Strawberry Shortcake are only one grade level apart, they do the same level. Tinker Bell listens in on the lessons, but I don’t require her to take any tests or complete worksheets at their level.
Instead we take our own time together to do history on her level which is mainly just reading right now.
Pros:
- Easy to use
- Thorough review of historical topics
- Minimal pre-planning required (if any)
- Lesson reading is appropriate for each grade level
- Lessons don’t take very long
- Children seem to remember what they’ve learned
- Includes quizzes, tests, and mapping skills worksheets
Cons:
- Not super “exciting”
- Not very hands-on
Another thing I like to add in to Abeka just to make it a little more hands-on are the Time Traveler’s Units and the Evan Moor History Pockets.
Both are fun hands-on activities that correlate with various events in history and make the more traditional style of the Abeka history a little more interesting and fun for our family. And since the Abeka is pretty easy to do, i.e. almost zero pre-planning on my part, it’s a little easier to have time to add in these other fun activities to supplement what we are learning.
Pros:
- Hands-on and fun addition!
Cons:
- A lot of pre-planning and priting required to get this curriculum ready, even as a supplement.
Another history curriculum that I’ve looked into and actually purchased, but haven’t used yet is the Mystery of History series. I purchased volume 1 last year and planned to use it before our decision to “simplify”. I do like this curriculum, and think that it looks like a lot of fun, we just haven’t used it yet, but I wanted to mention it as it does look like fun.
So, now comes the fun part!
What are your favorite History curriculum, resources, websites, etc? Leave a comment below discussing your choices for this year and why.
Feel free to ask questions or reply to each other too!
It’s my way of doing a forum without actually doing a forum haha!
And hopefully this will help us all as we start the process of researching curriculum, and trying to decide what will be the best fit for our homeschool.
Note: Please keep today’s conversations geared towards History, I will be posting one for each subject separately so we can keep our comments organized.
–> Click here to see all of the Homeschool Curriculum Forum posts!
Disclosure: This was not a sponsored post, I may however be affiliated with one or more products mentioned. The opinions expressed in this post were not influenced by the company. They are products I have used and felt like sharing, cuz’ it’s my blog and I can if I want to.
I have been looking for a history coloring page that has a historical image at the top and lines on the bottom for writing. Does anyone know where I could find something along those lines.
I have used Story of the World, Volume 1 and began Volume 2. We loved Volume 1 but our home school group was doing a unit on the Middle Ages last year, and the Renaissance this year, so I felt it was overkill to do it twice, so we didn’t finish Volume 2. For a timeline, I took the review cards and some 12×12 card stock and made my own timeline. I put the dates up along the top edge, and then put the cards underneath, sometimes overlapping them if need be. It seemed to make sense to my girls, then 12 and 8. The pictures were the ones they had colored, etc.
I am considering Mystery of History for next year, just for a change with my now 6th grader, as my oldest is doing a high school history course in our home school group.
My son is homeschooled…boring history he says…so I say I can fix that..maybe, maybe not..
here’s what I wrote
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLITpeuiZ98…. (An overview of American History)
it is a completely interactive 240 video series on Youtube about American History based on the Voice of America radio series “Making of a nation” except it includes both audio and text together interactively…starting with Columbus and going to present day..
currently on 182 of 240…
No sales pitch..just lettin’ fellow homeschoolers know an alternative…channel been viewed in every country in the world for over 3,000,000 minutes..
I read through most of the posts and was surprised no one mentioned Sonlight history. I have been using their cores for years and we love them. There are lots of great literature books and Bible along with some textbooks, but it’s mostly good literature – living history books. We love the books so much, I ended up buying every core and my kids go back to the books to re-read them all the time.
I do like that there were other suggestions here, though. I had never heard of TruthQuest but I might give that a try this year as it fits better with my co-op’s study of modern history this year (SOTW Book 4) for my 5th grader.
We are wanting to do American History this next year with a 1st and 2nd grader. Any thoughts? We really haven’t done much History this year. I find it hard to fit everything in with a toddler around too. He will be in preschool two mornings a week this year so hoping to fit in some of these other things.
We use My Father’s World and LOVE it! It teaches history in the order it happened from the beginning to the present time period. It uses pieces of several books- one of which is the Story of the World. All the books come in your packet with easy to follow daily lesson plans. I like how it teaches art and music according to what time period in history we are studying. It also shows the connection in the Bible to history, too! We are starting the last of the 5 year cycle next year! It has definitely brought history to life for my boys!
Hi Erica,
I have a question I’m hoping you or someone may be able to help me with. I am not new to homeschool, however, I began homeschooling my oldest two for 4th and 6th grades. I have a 6 year old boy, I say he’s in first grade since we did My Father’s World Kindergarten last school year. We are using something else this year, but it seems too advanced for him and he hates school. So.. I’m wondering do you have any history suggestions for an active 6 year old boy (and a 4 yr old little tag along sister 🙂 ) He does not love to color at all. I like History pockets and am thinking about them.. have never used Mystery of History. Thanks 🙂
Hi Jennifer,
I normally start history around 1st grade which sounds like it’s about where you are. You might consider going through my Expedition Earth program. It includes world history, but it’s so much fun and has a lot of great activities, crafts, recipes, etc in it. My Road Trip USA has more historical information, but also includes more writing so I’d save that for 2nd grade.
History Pockets are also really fun, and hands on projects. We have enjoyed them, but we added them into our Abeka history lesson as a supplement.
Hi Erica,
Did you use the History visuals from Abeka (maps, country flashcards, Uncle Bob CD)? Are they necessary? Or just the textbooks and the teacher manual? I’m going to use Old World History and Geography (grade 5) next summer and I’m not sure what materials are needed. I love your ideas to make it more hands-on.
Hi Elizabeth,
I did use the visual maps, but honestly you could just use your own map and probably be fine. I didn’t get any of the other visuals, just the text book, the test/quizzes workbook, the worksheets, and the answer keys.
Erica,
Doing Abeka with 7th grader and getting pretty intense. Done Abeka since kindergarten. We do all tests and quizzes. Looking at making a switch its a lot of information. Needing something that gives student more confidence and independence. Have you heard anything about Notgrass? How do you use Abeka for older ages up to High School and record grades? Maybe I could revamp what I’m doing with it. Otherwise looking into Notgrass or Mystery of History wanting biblical based history. Would appreciate you impute. Thanks Tiffany
Hi Tiffany, I haven’t used Notgrass, but I have heard from other people that they enjoy it. I stuck with Abeka because it was easiest for us. We don’t always do all of the extra quizzes and busy work though as it is a lot and I think it’s more meant for busy work for class rooms rather than homeschooling. For our high school we use BJU Press distance online classes so they’re doing video lessons and the grading is included in it, but I still keep track of their grades in my own software as well.