Homeschool History

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Make History a Favorite Subject by Living It!

Do you wonder if teaching homeschool history going to be boring?

History was one of my least favorite subjects in school. I remember having to memorize the names and dates of Spanish explorers and Chinese Dynasties. How boring! My children on the other hand, say "living history" is their favorite subject.

Why the difference?

I think that people who enjoy history either enjoy memorizing OR are taught that it is a great adventure story. Needless to say, our family approaches the subject as a story. I have learned and retained more historical information as a homeschool history teaching mom than I did in high school and college combined. The light bulb in my head goes off every day….”so that’s why Ghengis Khan was important” or “I didn’t know Daniel lived around the same time as Buddha.”

I first got the idea to teach history this way after reading The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home by Susan Wise Bauer. She suggests starting a program “from the beginning of time” with young children. So that’s what we did, and we’re having a blast. I did some of my own research and made sure many familiar Bible stories were placed in the appropriate time frame with other aspects of history. (You probably already knew the Bible is not constructed chronologically, so just organizing Bible stories in order is an education.)

We created a timeline out of a science project board…

We shrunk down (with the copier) some pictures from our books to use as the figures. What a great visual of the events of civilization.

I’m not saying you should teach to impress others, but it’s amazing how many people are “blown away” when young children have any knowledge of ancient history. My husband’s boss visited our home one evening about 2 years ago. The next day at the company staff meeting, he spoke about the lesson he had from my kids on the Phoenicians and the Mediterranean Sea.

It is easy to build a homeschool history curriculum (without buying a text) with a little research, “living” library books, DVDs, the History Channel, websites and field trips to local (and far away) historic sites, museums, historical dramas, and re-enactments. Virtual field trips are a great way to travel for free. Search online for virtual field trips. We’ve had fun making feasts featuring foods from different countries and time periods. Making history “come to life” has been a real education for the whole family.

I am so excited to see that Liberty's Kids is now available for pre-orders at a reasonable price! I looked into it some time back and the 6 CD set was only available for $600! We loved the show, but not that much! I'm not sure why they don't broadcast it anymore, it is such an excellent resource.

If your daughter loves the Americal Girl series of books, check out this resource for a unit study or book club using the series.

A private chat with Martha Washington.

What better way to learn about the "stocks" than by hanging out in them for awhile...

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