History is one of my favorite subjects in our homeschool, and it’s one of my kids’ favorite subjects to learn. Why? Because we’ve found the best homeschool history resources to make the subject come alive.
Not only that, but they are accessible to all grade levels. I’m teaching a Kindergartener, 2nd grader, 5th grader, and 7th grader. That’s a huge spread! With these resources, though, it’s so easy to customize the material to fit every student’s level.
Don’t homeschool? The resources aren’t just for homeschoolers- they can really benefit anyone and are so interesting that they don’t really feel like ‘school’.
So if you’re in a homeschool rut and looking to revamp your history curriculum or are just looking for ways to supplement what you’re already learning, here is a rundown of the things we love to use.
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The Story of the World
The Story of the World, written by Susan Wise Bauer, is an absolute gem of a resource. Broken up into 4 volumes, the series covers Ancient Times, the Middle Ages, Early Modern Times, and the Modern Age.
The books are written in a narrative style that really makes the material come to life. Chapters are short but include a ton of information. This is not a dry history textbook! The kids regularly ask to keep reading once we’ve finished our section for the day.
What I really love about the series is that it truly is a story of the world- this is not a Eurocentric or western dominated book. It does a great job giving a well-rounded look into world history so that kids really get a glimpse into the history of many different regions- from Australia to Mongolia to the Mayans.
How We Use Them
Instead of reading through the books in one go, I like to read a section out loud over the span of a few days. After that, we will use supplemental materials to go deeper into the time period.
What kind of supplemental materials do we use? Like I’ve said before, the library is our best friend, and we’ll head over there to check out more books about the time period.
For example, after reading the Roman Empire section, we checked out books about the Colosseum, aquaducts, Roman daily life, and biographies of notable Roman figures.
The Story of the World section gave us a really good overview of the Roman Empire, and our book selections really fleshed out the topic and gave a deeper understanding.
To drive home the key concepts, I will also have the kids do dictation sentences with information learned in each section, and I’ll often have my oldest two write a brief paragraph about what they learned. Every so often, I’ll have the older two write an essay about a particular time period, event, or person they have learned about.
Can you use Story of the World as a stand alone history curriculum? I think you could. If you have older kids (middle school and up), I recommend supplementing to have a more detailed, richer understanding of the different time periods.
Other Story of the World Resources
While we use the physical books, other homeschoolers I know swear by the audiobooks.
I could see these being really great for long road trips or even as a daily quiet listening/snack time activity.
In addition to the book/audiobook, there are corresponding activity books that you can buy that I’ve heard great things about.
While we don’t use them, I’m confident that they’re worth checking out since everything Susan Wise Bauer puts out is great quality. Check out the reviews on Amazon to see how other homeschool parents like them (spoiler: there are hundreds of five star reviews!).
Although I haven’t used them yet, I’m considering adding them into our current mix.
Who Was? Book Series
In addition to the Story of the World Series, which is really the backbone to our homeschool history curriculum, The Who HQ Book series is an absolutely wonderful resource that we use all the time.
I mentioned that we check out biographies to supplement our time period reading. This is our ‘go to’ series that never disappoints.
These easy to read biographies are fun and engaging for all ages. At around than 100 pages each (with large font and pictures), my older two easily devour one book in a day, while my younger two happily listen to me reading these aloud.
For the Roman Empire, we read Who Was Julius Caesar? And Where is the Colosseum?
You can find a biography for any time period, and they also have non-biography books like Where is the Great Wall? And What Was the Underground Railroad?
For homeschoolers and non-homeschoolers alike, these books are great to bring history to life.
That’s a Wrap! Our Best Homeschool History Resources
That’s our best homeschool history resources in a nutshell. It’s great for group learning and is so customizable. If you’re looking to make history come alive for your kids, give any of these books a try!