One of the greatest things I have learned while on our homeschool journey is History is best experienced through real books, not boring textbooks, but real books – historical fiction, biographies, original sources {Declaration of Independence, US Constitution, etc.}, oh and documentaries are good too.
History is a subject that can be taught to almost all age groups at one time. It’s no secret I LOVE using Sonlight! I can adjust a core to cover four of my kids at once. This is so helpful when there are so many to teach every day. It is a history based curriculum with loads of great books to read for all eras of history. I enjoy having these books fill my shelves, available to my family to read any time to glean lessons from the past.
To aid in our study of history I also incorporate visual timelines. We make connections of what happened at the same time in various parts of the world. It is so enlightening! My favorite timeline figures to use are drawn and created by Amy Pak at Homeschool in the Woods. I bought the whole collection on CD. You can download and view free samples here. Aren’t they gorgeous line drawings?
We also bring in family history whenever we can. Learning about their ancestor who came across on the Mayflower or those who fought in the Revolutionary War with General George Washington or their great grandfather fighting in the Spanish Civil War makes history personal and relevant to them.
The scriptures, of course, are a big part of our history study as well.
Geography seems to naturally accompany history. Maps, maps, and more maps are great to post everywhere in your house and not just on the walls. Other great spots are on top of the kitchen table {under some plastic}, behind the bathroom door, and as blinds or window coverings.
We didn’t always use Sonlight. Other curriculum guides we have used and liked are:
Beautiful Feet
Ambleside Online
These two provide wonderful book lists and we enjoyed using them. Beautiful Feet has lesson plans and guides as well as packaged literature packs {all the books you need}.
For me, with all my kids to think about, I like the way Sonlight plans every thing out. I don’t have to try and pace our readings or create new lessons. While I enjoyed doing those when my oldest were younger it just began to be too much for me when I had more children to plan and prepare for.
Sonlight can be expensive. Ways in which I have saved when money was tight:
- Buying just the Instructor Guides from Sonlight while getting all the books to read from PaperbackSwap.com.
- Purchasing whole cores on Ebay {they have a high resale value!}
- Sharing with another homeschooling family. You each buy different cores, then switch the next school year.
- Take advantage of their 9 month or 6 month payment plans. $1000 all at once may not be doable but $111 dollars a month can be.
What have you used for history in your homeschool?
We’ve really taken advantage of living in the “Historic Triangle” of Jamestown, Yorktown and Williamsburg. So much of the early American history (and much of that same period Spanish, English and French) is alive, vibrant and interactive. They participate in mock trials or House meetings, etc. It’s wonderful! We are also within driving distance of many battlefields. That’s always good driving conversation.
Ooh, I’ll have to check out the timeline link. I really need one of those. I’m enjoying the Beautiful Feet book so far, but the CDs that came with them that have radio drama type stories are awful. At least the Columbus one. Watch out! It got the history all wrong in so many places my husband was just laughing and laughing.
We have just started our homeschool journey and love all the information on your blog! I have been looking into Sonlight and would love to know how you have a core span 4 children! What is the age range over 4 children? Do certain cores work better to cover 4 children? Thanks!