History is where we uncover lessons that help us shape our future and inspiration so we can envision and work toward a better world. That’s why understanding this subject is so important for kiddos of all ages.
As a homeschooling parent, you may ask yourself, “How do I give my kid a meaningful and engaging history education at home?”
With so many homeschool history curriculum options available, making the right decision can be tricky. And even with the perfect curriculum, homeschooling presents its own unique set of challenges when trying to tackle a topic as huge as the history of the world.
So, let’s unpack some popular homeschool history curricula and helpful resources. We also explore another alternative that brings history to life at home with bina.
Different types of homeschool history curricula
Here are some of the wonderful ways history can be brought to life at home.
Story-based
A good story stays with you. So, learning history through stories can help your kiddo really connect with the past and make it feel fun for them to explore.
A story-based history curriculum shares the adventures of the past through stories and narratives. It emphasizes key figures and events and how they all fit together. You might find storybooks, activity books, timelines, and audio stories you can listen to together in a story-based homeschool curriculum package.
This learning method can help your child build a solid understanding of timelines and feel what it might have been like for the people who lived in the past. But because it focuses on the main thread of a story, sometimes the really complicated bits might be simplified, or learners might only be exposed to a one-sided view.
Literature-based
Literature-based history opens up a world of wonder for your kid through books. These could be literature, historical fiction, biographies, and primary source excerpts. It centers on the belief that kids learn best through engaging with well-written texts that spark their imagination and help them connect with the past.
This approach integrates history with language arts, reading comprehension, and critical thinking. It also fosters a love of reading and helps your kiddo develop strong comprehension skills.
While it offers rich historical context and shows multiple perspectives in history, it can mean more planning and sourcing of history books and texts.
Textbook-based
Sometimes, having a clear and structured path through history can be helpful for your young learner. With a textbook-based curriculum, history is presented in a chronological format using textbooks, workbooks, and assessment materials like built-in reviews and quizzes.
The approach is clear, organized, and structured, offering a systematic way to learn and track progress. Because it can feel more similar to the way many of us learned at school, some parents find this approach more familiar when guiding their kids through the past.
However, it can be less engaging, as there’s less focus on critical thinking and exploration and more on rote memorization.
Project-based
Wouldn't it be amazing if learning history were something your kiddo could touch and experience? A history curriculum that uses project-based learning (PBL) does just that. It’s based on PBL projects and hands-on activities that explore historical topics.
Students learn by doing and creating, making history feel more tangible and relevant to real life. Through these projects, kids learn how to problem solve and think creatively. It’s a great way for kinesthetic learners — kids who learn well through movement and hands-on activities — to understand the past.
These projects might combine diverse resources, such as art supplies, building materials, and research materials. This means it can be time-intensive for both parents and kids. And, having a well-planned structure for the projects is important to ensure comprehensive coverage of historical topics.
Digital
A digital history curriculum brings the stories of the past to today with the tools of the 21st century. Through online platforms, videos, interactive websites, and other digital resources, kids can experience history in a multimedia environment.
They can explore interactive exercises, take virtual tours of historical places, and join online discussions with other young learners, all on a computer or tablet. Learning can happen anywhere, as long as you have a device and a stable internet connection.
But just like with anything online, the depth and accuracy of what you learn can vary between different digital history programs.
Five homeschool history curriculum choices
To make the choice a little easier, take a look at five popular homeschool curricula that other homeschooling families have found helpful:
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1. Story of the World
Story of the World takes you and your kiddo on a chronological journey through major events, people, and cultures from ancient times to today.
There are four volumes written in a conversational tone by Susan Wise Bauer. Presenting history as a natural and engaging story helps children remember historical facts more easily.
There’s an activity book with hands-on activities like map work and coloring, plus an optional test book to measure progress. The Story of the World is mostly secular, but it does have some biblical stories.
Pros:
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• Engaging and easy-to-understand
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• Supports multi-sensory learning
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• Works well for many ages
Cons:
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• Complex issues may be simplified
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• Portrayal of tragic or violent events (younger learners may need to skip ahead)
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2. Beautiful Feet Books
Beautiful Feet Books uses living books to teach history and geography. Children get to experience the past through the eyes of people who were actually there or through written tales that make you feel like you’re there.
The programs are thoughtfully organized by different times in history or parts of the world, like exploring ancient history or regional histories.
You'll often find a themed pack, including the living books, a teacher's guide, and timelines. While some of the programs gently weave in a biblical worldview, some options take a more secular approach.
Pros:
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• More enjoyable and interesting than textbooks
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• Kiddos develop strong literacy skills
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• Fosters empathy and connection to historical figures
Cons:
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• More costly option
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• More parental involvement required
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3. Notgrass History
Notgrass History aims to bridge the gap between textbook learning and more immersive unit study. It does this by providing engaging narrative lessons alongside primary source documents, creative writing, and hands-on activities.
The curriculum takes your child through historical periods in chronological order. It's written from a Christian perspective, incorporating Bible study and discussions about faith.
There’s a narrative textbook, primary source documents, and activities to help your child understand the historical context and make connections with what they're learning.
Pros:
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• Easy to use for parents
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• Clear and solid framework
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• Integrated learning
Cons:
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• Limited material on world history
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• Can be text-heavy for young learners
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4. History Quest
History unfolds through captivating tales and immersive experiences with History Quest. Through its imaginative ‘History Hops’, kids can picture themselves in time-travel scenarios to connect with the past.
This curriculum covers periods chronologically across different volumes. There's a big emphasis on hands-on projects, crafts, and activities to make learning active and fun. The resources include a narrative chapter book, a study guide, and an audiobook to listen to.
It takes a strictly secular approach to history, providing a view of history that is inclusive for everyone.
Pros:
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• Nurtures imagination and interest
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• An inclusive perspective
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• Hands-on learning
Cons:
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• Chapters can be dense
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• A study guide is a necessary separate purchase
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5. The Nomadic Professor
For a history journey that's entirely online, look to The Nomadic Professor. Through engaging videos filmed on-site by Dr. William Jackson, this program encourages your kid to explore the past with a thoughtful and critical eye.
It focuses on helping kids think like a proper historian. They'll learn how to look closely at stories and information from the time (primary sources) and what other historians have said (secondary sources).
You'll find a mix of video lessons, text-based lessons, real historical documents, and little quizzes. The approach is secular and aims to be unbiased in how it presents the past.
Pros:
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• Focus on critical thinking skills
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• Unbiased approach
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• Comprehensive curriculum and activities
Cons:
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• Online only
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• A newer program that’s less established
Additional resources for homeschool history
A little extra something beyond the main curriculum can make homeschooling history a deeper and richer experience.
Online archives
Imagine stepping into real documents and images from the past. Websites like the Library of Congress, National Archives, Europeana, and The British Library offer amazing collections of original letters, photos, and recordings.
Your young historian can see history firsthand and pore over the papers that shaped events from long ago.
Literature and biographies
Stories and true tales of inspiring historical figures can make history feel so real. Reading about the lives and experiences of people from different times can help children understand their motivations and the world they lived in.
Series like Who Was...? and Little People, Big Dreams share the captivating lives of individuals who left their mark on the world. Magic Tree House is an option for young readers — this series whisks your kiddo away with stories that blend real historical events and settings.
Visual and auditory resources
Seeing and hearing history can make abstract concepts much clearer and more memorable. For a fun and fast-paced overview, check out animations from Crash Course History and Extra History.
Oversimplified provides a more lighthearted and often humorous approach to complex historical events. Podcasts like History of Rome and Dan Carlin's Hardcore History offer immersive audio-learning experiences.
Challenges of homeschool history lessons
Homeschooling history can be incredibly rewarding, but it's not without its share of challenges.
Choosing the right curriculum
There are so many homeschool curricula to choose from. Depending on where you live, curricula can vary significantly. It gets overwhelming trying to find an option that aligns with your kid’s learning style, your teaching style, and your family’s philosophy and values.
History is also a vast subject that spans across continents and eras. This means it can be difficult to decide which part of history you want your child to focus on, and whose perspectives you'd like them to explore.
There will be a lot of trial and error to find how your kiddo learns history best. What works well for one child may not work for another, even in the same family.
On top of that, the cost of different curricula can vary widely. It can be really helpful to look at reviews and forums and take advantage of any trial periods.
Managing time and scheduling
If you’re already a homeschool parent, you probably know how important it is to allocate and balance time for multiple subjects.
It’s one thing to choose the perfect history curriculum, and another to understand the time commitment required to bring it to life each week. You'll also need to consider lesson length and frequency, as every child learns at a different pace and has a different attention span.
Some parents may struggle with making time to review, prepare, and collect materials needed for a specific curriculum. Ultimately, finding a consistent rhythm that works for your family is what matters most.
Tracking progress and assessment
Traditional schooling has grade-level standards and standardized tests to measure the progress of students. But with homeschooling, there aren’t exactly external benchmarks. This can make it challenging for parents to know if their child is on track.
If your kiddo plans to return to traditional schooling or take standardized tests in the future, incorporating some familiar styles of assessments into your learning can be helpful for their transition.
Lacking teaching experience or expertise
As your kiddo dives deeper into historical periods, they’ll begin asking you more questions. Providing more in-depth historical context often requires more expertise and can leave parents feeling like they’re unqualified.
While there is a lot of available information and resources out there, it can also feel like a big task to discern what’s accurate and reliable.
It's important to remember that feeling this way is normal, and it's perfectly alright to learn alongside your child or seek outside support.
How bina teaches your kiddo history
Learning at bina is all about precision education. We provide your little historian with a more personalized learning experience. bina collects and analyzes data on student progress within our digital learning space to identify patterns in how and when students feel most engaged and learn best. This helps us choose learning content based on kiddos’ abilities and interests.
Students are divided into micro-learning groups where they explore the world through thematic biomes. This immersive approach allows history to unfold naturally within a broader context, making connections to how people lived, what they discovered, and the challenges they faced in different environments.
Our small class sizes, with two experienced educators looking after up to eight students, allow for plenty of individualized attention. This means your kiddo can thrive in a learning environment that sees and supports their unique learning style and needs.
Ready to see how bina can spark your child's love for history? Get in touch today!
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