The story doesn’t focus so much on school these days. I was disappointed to learn that it’s not even included in the big, important ACT test. But knowledge of history is vital for Americans. The story is where you learn the average time the world’s civilizations have endured, and where we currently are on that clock. It’s where you learn from the past about what works and what doesn’t so you don’t make the same mistakes as a society. But it can also be one of the driest topics for children. The teacher must have a fire for herself for the subject and then be able to transmit that illusion to her students.

Take a page from my own childhood experience. I entered sixth grade excited to have my first encounter with world history, but it quickly became overwhelmingly boring, with dozens of end-of-chapter questions that needed to be answered in full sentences, hundreds of vocabulary words, memorizing words without sense. facts. The story didn’t really come to life for me at all, and I actually got a D, yes, a D in history, the only one I’ve ever had, and only because of so many incomplete assignments. That class killed my budding love of history for the next 10 years.

So we make history differently in our home school. Yes, there are still assignments, and I like my kids to be familiar with a few key dates (Columbus-1492, Civil War-1861-1865, etc.) But my goal has been to highlight the importance of history and its effects on all of our lives. lives, as well as inspire with the curious and innovative spirits of so many historical figures. Both of my children have indicated that they “get it,” and one has even said that he likes the story. A great moment!

So for our “backbone,” as it’s called (the main resource you use as an overview of history), we used some good textbooks, just your basic, “This happened, followed by this, etc.” Not always fascinating in and of itself, but I like my kids to get the big picture of world history to date. The supplemental resources that we’ve used are really where they are, where you get the words of people saying, “I was there and it was.” In that sense, we read a lot of books and watched a lot of documentaries and movies. There are many interesting biographies, written at a children’s level, that you can buy or check out at your local library. Many homeschooling websites provide resources and recommendations for story supplements that include hands-on activities, games, crafts, stories, and other things that bring the subject to life for children.

Timelines are very effective for seeing how events fit into history and for seeing what was happening in different parts of the world at the same time. We have a large, comprehensive one that covers one wall in our classroom, plus each child has their own sketchbook where they keep a timeline with little drawings of each entry. History can also become a favorite subject in your homeschool.