American history has the power to inspire awe, spark curiosity, and help your kiddo understand how ordinary people shaped extraordinary moments. When taught well, it connects children to the dreamers and rebels who built the country, shows them different perspectives on the same events, and helps them see themselves as part of an ongoing story.
But here's where it gets tricky for homeschooling parents: walk into the curriculum aisle (or scroll through options online) and you're hit with dozens of choices. Living books or textbooks? Faith-based or secular? How do you cover Indigenous peoples, the Civil Rights Movement, and everything in between honestly and age-appropriately?
Let's sort through popular American history homeschool curricula online and helpful resources, so you can learn how to give your kiddo an intro to American history while bringing it to life.
Not all American history curricula are for every kiddo. A literature-loving family struggles with dry textbooks, while a parent who wants clear structure might feel lost with open-ended units. The right approach makes history units feel engaging instead of like a chore. Here are some options to consider:
Literature-based programs use living books to teach history through story.
Instead of reading that colonists protested British taxes, your kiddo might read about a fictional shopkeeper’s daughter sneaking tea into Boston Harbor or a biography of Samuel Adams. This approach brings historical periods to life through characters and narrative. It also helps to build empathy by putting a child in someone else’s shoes.
Traditional textbooks organize American history chronologically with:
They provide comprehensive coverage of the studied period matter-of-factly.
For parents who want structure and confidence that they’re covering everything, textbooks offer that security. They work well for families who appreciate predictable lessons and measurable progress.
Story-based approaches sit somewhere between literature and textbooks. These curricula showcase history as a continuous narrative, not isolated facts.
This is done through an engaging writing style that reads more like a story than a reference book. These programs help kiddos see how events connect and build on each other. History becomes less about memorizing dates and more about understanding cause and effect.
A project-based curriculum organizes learning around themes or questions. Your kiddo could spend several weeks exploring westward expansion by:
Unit studies and project-based learning integrate multiple subjects around one central theme. Instead of learning by reading about historical themes, they experience the topics firsthand.
These five curricula represent different approaches to teaching US history at home, depending on your family’s needs, values, and learning preferences.
The Peaceful Press takes a literature-rich approach based on Charlotte Mason and Montessori philosophies.
Instead of textbooks, your kiddo explores American history through carefully curated books that span from picture books to middle school chapter books.
Each curriculum level provides a monthly overview with weekly grids that guide you through the readings. You’ll also get copywork sheets, art studies, and even historical recipes that connect children to daily life in different eras.
This program is designed for kiddos aged five to 12, which means it can work well for your 1st-grade kiddo all the way up to your preteen.
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Who it’s for: Families who want a literature-centered, relationship-focused approach with a flexible framework that adapts to their rhythm.
Notgrass History offers a faith-based, Christian curriculum that integrates a biblical worldview throughout American history. This one-year course for grades five through eight comes in two main text volumes that cover 1000 to 1877, as well as the late 1800s to the present.
In addition to these two volumes, parents receive:
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Who it’s for: Christian homeschooling families who want a thorough coverage of US history with integrated literature and biblical discussions that connect faith to historical understanding.
This two-book set takes a visual and hands-on approach to American history.
The first book covers pre-colonization through Reconstruction, while the second spans the 1870s to the present. Designed for grades four through eight, this is a secular program that puts students in the driver’s seat.
This curriculum relies on reproducible activity sheets that guide your kiddos through research topics. Then, kids add the sheets to a massive timeline that can stretch up to 100 feet. Six types of activities keep the research varied:
You’ll need additional resources, like textbooks or internet access, to allow students to complete their research. That’s because this curriculum doesn’t provide the content itself, but rather teaches children how to find, evaluate, and organize historical information.
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Who it’s for: Families who want active, discovery-based learning, but who also have time to guide hands-on research and appreciate watching their kiddos develop independence.
Beautiful Feet Books offers a literature-based program at three levels:
Published between 2020 and 2021, these modern teaching programs feature updated coverage that centers Native Americans and African Americans more prominently than older curricula.
The full-color guides outline detailed lesson plans that weave together historical fiction, biographies, and primary sources. While teacher guides include some Christian content, the overall approach is inclusive and respectful of different perspectives.
The publisher also provides content warnings for sensitive materials, which can help parents prepare their kiddos for difficult topics. But the best part is the historical recipes with photos that add a sensory dimension to the learning experience.
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Who it’s for: Book-loving families who want deep, literature-based learning with updated perspectives that honestly address difficult aspects of American history.
Beyond the Page takes a secular, interdisciplinary learning approach that was originally designed for gifted learners. This unit-study curriculum spans ages four through 14. The oldest level includes a full semester on American History and Government, but during most years, American history weaves together with:
This is done via a variety of activity pages and culminating projects. Instead of traditional tests, your kiddo will demonstrate their understanding of the material through creative projects that apply everything they’ve learned.
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Who it’s for: Families with gifted or advanced learners who want a secular, project-based approach that treats children as capable of complex thinking about American history.
Supplemental resources can help deepen understanding of American history beyond the core curriculum. Below is a collection of primary sources, multimedia content, and real-world connections that you can use to enrich your kiddo’s education.
Primary sources allow children to encounter history firsthand instead of through someone else’s interpretation.
For instance, the Library of Congress offers millions of digitized documents, photographs, maps, and recordings. You can also look into the National Archives, which provides teaching resources alongside historical documents.
Video brings history to life through imagery and storytelling. Ken Burns documentaries, such as The Civil War and The Roosevelts, offer thoughtful and comprehensive looks at major periods.
Also consider Liberty’s Kids, an animated series that follows characters through the American Revolution, or Crash Course U.S. History, which provides a more fast-paced overview of major topics for older kiddos.
There’s no better way for traveling families to bring American history to life than by visiting living history museums. But even families who live far away from such resources can try virtual field trips.
Colonial Williamsburg, which recreates 18th-century life with costumed interpreters, is one such example. Anyone can try out their virtual tour. The Smithsonian also offers extensive virtual tours of its museums, including the National Museum of American History and the National Museum of the American Indian.
The Past and The Curious podcast presents American history stories for elementary students with humor and engaging narration.
Another podcast option is Backstory, which is more appropriate for older students. It provides a valuable context to help them understand why history matters today.
Teaching American history can come with its own set of unique challenges. Here’s how to navigate the most common obstacles you’ll come across.
American history includes difficult topics such as genocide, slavery, war, and injustice. It’s important to find a balance between teaching the truth and creating trauma.
For younger kiddos, focus on individual stories instead of sharing overwhelming statistics. You can also use content warnings provided in curricula to prepare yourself before you present the material to your child.
As children get older, you can gradually start introducing more complexity as well as discussion guides. For example, a second grader doesn’t need graphic details about the Trail of Tears, but they can understand that Indigenous peoples were forced from their homes. Later on, however, they’ll be ready for a more complete depiction of what happened.
Traditionally, history curricula centered on European settlers. They simultaneously treated Indigenous peoples, enslaved and free Black Americans, immigrants, and women as side notes rather than central actors.
Look for recently updated curricula that weave these diverse perspectives throughout their core instead of adding them as an afterthought. If you’re using older materials, consider supplementing with books by and about people whose perspectives were historically excluded.
Some eras are naturally easier to make exciting for your kiddos than others, while others may feel distant or dry.
To keep your kiddo engaged across all periods, make sure to connect to their personal interests as much as possible. A child who loves animals might explore how the buffalo’s near-extinction affected Plains Indians during westward expansion.
In addition, you can vary your teaching methods. If you’ve been reading for days, switch to:
The key is to adapt to your kiddo’s learning preferences.
At bina, American history isn't taught in isolation. We weave it into a global context to help students understand how events in the United States connected with and influenced the wider world.
Through our biome-based learning themes, your kiddo might explore the American Great Plains while learning about westward expansion, connecting geography, ecology, Indigenous peoples' relationships with the land, and the impact of settlement all at once. History unfolds naturally within broader contexts while making connections to science, literature, and contemporary issues.
Students don't just memorize that the Constitution was ratified in 1788. They explore why it mattered, how it influenced other nations' governments, how it's been interpreted differently over time, and what it means for their lives today. If you’d like to know more about what learning is like at bina, we’d love to hear from you! We’re a fully live, internationally accredited online school for ages four through 12 with small class sizes and science-backed, child-centered learning.
