Homeschool History Ideas

Every pundit of home schooling would likely say that you ought
to be prepared.

Today let us discuss bringing history alive for your homeschool
students! First of all, 1 of the things for you to consider is
"how does my child learn best?"

(Visually, through the written word, listening/Audio, video or a
combination of a number of these).

Each child is different.  So you will have to keep a file on each
of your kids, and list down the optimum styles of learning for
each of your children.

Clearly, if one of your kids is a strong visual learner, then
you should plan some homeschooling history field trips, in order
for this child to benefit. 
 
Curriculum for Homeschoolng History

Select a style of homeschooling curriculum which lends itself
well to different learning styles, in order for your family 
to garner the most value.

For your younger students, there is a program called "Evan Moor
history pockets" which would benefit the student because it
brings History alive.

The child does an interactive project, and when completed stores
it in a pocket used as a "homeschooling portfolio".

The Evan Moor series is fairly popular.  Thus, you may want to
consider it, even going so far as to discuss it with your
elementary school-aged child.

Homeschooling History with Storytelling Approach

You may be a parent who wishes to bring history alive through
storytelling, and who wants to provide students with a Biblical
view on World History.

There is a CD course called "Mystery of History", and it actually
intertwines World History with Biblical History

You can listen to this in the car, or even close to bedtime. The
author Linda Hobar narrates the stories, and brings them to life 
with her voice inflections (music is also used).

Homeschooling History for High-School Aged Students

There is a more challenging, advanced course on history known as
Kronos History of the World.  It involves the student doing more
in-depth research on his own, and lots of reading & writing.

Also, it supports activities and using a lot of maps.

This method even encourages that the student should sit down and
explore what he should study; it obviously encourages the older
student to study independently (and learn), and this approach
will make your student more ready for college.

The Sonlight Curriculum: For Your Consideration

Whether you are a Christian or not, your kids can benefit from
this program.  It can be used for kids from K-12.  It includes a
number of Newberry award-winning books, as well as historic
fiction and classic literature. 

The normal textbooks are avoided. The years are split into "cores"
which are based roughly on age, yet can be adapted, or modified
depending on how advanced your children may be.

The core programs feature Read Alouds, Bible, Readers, and History.
However, Science & Math programs of your choosing will be included.

The Language Arts segment uses lessons which "tie in" with the
History core, once the child is at the Core 3 Level or above.

It does a truly nice job of this; you may really like this program,
and what it can do for your students.

Sonlight: From the Teacher's Viewpoint

One of the boons for you (as Instructor) is the Instructor's guide
which includes Day to Day lessons which are very structured, and
step by step. In this way, you don't have to be the most organized
teacher in the world to give your kids a 1st class education.

Advantages with this particular program are:

1. All of the scheduling & planning is handled for you
2. You can "tweak it" to your liking
3. Kids learn and retain history better with these books than from traditional textbooks
4. Kids in this program are exposed to some really great literature (think Newberry Awards)
5. Moms will prefer this curriculum to reading from a dry text (the kids likely will too! )

Possible Negatives of the Sonlight Curriculum:
 

1. Requires more study time than some other programs - 3.5 to 5 hours per day
2. If you & your kids are not that into Reading, it could be a challenge for you both
3. This time allocation does NOT include Math/Science - so mothers you should plan on teaching for 6 hrs
4. If you've a big family this may not be for you (if your kids span several Core Levels, could be too challenging)

For further ideas and to research home schooling, visit Healthy Kids Homeschooling today.