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Homeschool History

Home >> Homeschool Resources >> History Resources

Homeschool History can be a wonderful experience! There are so many ways of bringing history to life, and I have some fantastic resources to share with you. I hope you get inspired with my history resources list.

Books/Coloring books/Magazines
Unit Studies/Lapbooking
Board Games/Card Games
Hands-on Materials
Movies/Film Clips
Online Resources
Homeschool Ideas

Homeschool history

Homeschool Books

I love books, and find children's historical fiction is a wonderful way of bringing history alive.

Fiction
There are some great children's books available that cover history and can be used as the basis for a great history project. Here are some ideas

World War II book list

By the Great Horn Spoon covers the Gold Rush.

Egyptology and Mythology books.

Anne of Green Gables series by LM Montgomery. Rilla of Ingleside in particular is an interesting introduction to World War I.

The Little House on the Prairie series

Non-Fiction

I am not sure this should be added to non-fiction(!) but An Island Story by Marshall, is a great introduction to British History.

We found that the Robert Opie Scrapbooks gave a real feel for an era.

Coloring Books
Whenever we begin to study a new period in history, I always try to find a Dover Coloring Book to go with it. They sometimes have some good special offers on their website, or you can also buy the books at Amazon.

Magazines

Cricket have two good history magazines for children aged 9-14 years. Calliope covers World history and Cobblestone explores American history.

Discover magazine has also published several issues. The magazines can be bought separately, or as a themed set.

Homeschool Unit Studies

Homeschooling-ideas.com provides the following free unit studies.

World War II based on 'When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit' by Judith Kerr.

The Gold Rush based on 'By the Great Horn Spoon' by Sid Fleischman.

Prehistoric Studies based on 'Stig of the Dump' by Clive King.

There are a large selection of homeschool history lapbook and unit study materals available for immediate download at Curr-click. If you haven't come across Curr-click before, then do sign up for their newsletter as they make a free offer every week.

Homeschool Games

Board games can add an extra dimension to your history studies! Here are some games we have enjoyed.

Chronology

is a card game in which players have to put their cards in timeline order. I believe there is a USA and UK version of this game, depending where you buy it.

Made for Trade is a board game about Colonial life. Players travel around town trying to acquire items on their inventory lists. I haven't been able to get this in the UK yet, so if you have a review, I would love to hear it.

Homeschool Materials

Sometimes, handling a historic article can speak volumes. If we are studying a historic period, then I try to get hold of an artefact or reproduction that we can examine. For example, when studying the gold rush, I bought the children a tiny (very, very tiny!) nugget of gold. This made a huge impact and is something they both treasure (more from a memory viewpoint than a value one!).

Places to check for materials to go with your project are ;

The Memorabilia Pack Company. They are based in Edinburgh in Scotland, but will ship worldwide.

UK based Resources for Teaching have a few reasonably priced packs. Ship worldwide.

The Apothecary. If you are doing a project about Medieval or Tudor history, then this would be a great site to start at. As well as lots of information and lesson plans, Sally provides a Pomander bead kit, and a Fleece to Fabric kit to really help you get 'hands on' with this time period. Ships worldwide.

I have struggled to find any American companies supplying this type of homeschool history material. I am sure there are some!! If you know of one PLEASE let me know so I can add them to this page.

Films and Movies

I often try to find a film or video clip to reinforce any homeschool history study we are doing.

I have a page specifically looking at teaching with movies and have several history movies listed.

History.com covers a wide range of history in it's videos.

Documentary Heaven have collected together a list of historical Youtube videos (and other subjects). Do view before letting your child watch them.

The most comprehensive list of historical movies in chronological order is available at Vernon John's site. Unfortunately there is no discussion of the suitability of each movie for children, so you will still have to do some investigation yourself.

Online Resources

There is a wealth of history resources on the internet. Here are some I have found useful.

BBC History for Kids is a good place to start if you are looking for online history resources.

Homeschool Curriculum and Support has a good list of history resources aimed at homeschoolers.

HyperHistory Online is a comprehensive online timeline.

Homeschool Ideas

And finally! Here are some homeschooling-ideas to help you bring homeschool history alive!

Make your own Animation to show a period in history.

Cook up a Meal from the past.

Make a Top Trumps Game about historic people.

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