My homeschool passion is to teach history so that homeschoolers learn truth, facts from the past and events so that they can use that information in the future. An old saying goes “history always repeats itself”. That is very true. Trends circle around and era’s rebound. Styles evolve and return. Event though it has been more than twenty years’ since the punk rock era of the 80s, I am still convinced it will make a comeback.
Homeschool moms have to make the most of their money, because homeschooling is a commitment where mom stays at home and teaches their children. Surviving on one income is possible, here’s how:
Identify Your Goals and Objectives for Teaching History
One of the most important things to do is set up a goal. Then list out the steps to achieve that goal. Each subject in homeschool needs to be taught in this manner. As homeschool moms teach history they need to have a focused goal they are working toward. When you bake a cake you don’t hope that it turns out right, you read the directions and look at the picture. Ideally, the end goal is a beautiful and tasty cake. The directions to bake the cake are the steps needed for it to be tasty and beautiful.
Teach history with the end in mind. What do you want your homeschoolers to learn? How will you get them to the end goal?
Form the Framework of Each Lesson
Next, form the framework of the lessons. If you are teaching American History then start at the beginning. Make sure the book aligns with Christian values and are biblically based. It is important to teach truth.
Books have chapters, and to teach history homeschool moms need a framework of topics. For me, I use a timeline that pertains to the subject. For instance, if I am teaching the Revolutionary War, I will write down the topic of each chapter, research important events, and write down two or three historical figures to dive into a deeper study. also, my framework operates on a time period. I don’t do more than eight weeks. Most curriculum is planned for a year. I feel like we cover more ground in 8 week time increments.
Create a Book List
As I mentioned before I create a book list for the study. Most of the time it is two or three books, but sometimes I have done as many as five. Who Was books are perfect because they cover alot of information in an easy to read and understand format.
I post on facebook Who Was books that are great to be used in unit studies.
Stay Organized and Focused
Keep a list. Lists are great for maintaining focus. If history is a subject you love to teach using a list will be important to keep you from rabbit trailing into other topics.
Creating a master list of books is helpful when you order library books. Who was books can be ordered from the library also, but my problem with that is they don’t always pertain to my topic.
Teach Multiple Ages Together
Curriculum doesn’t work well for multiple students in my opinion. I like to teach my kids ages 17, 15, and 12 all together. This way we have great discussions and are all on the same topic.
To teach history to multiple ages keep in mind that read aloud time is helpful.
Invest if it Adds Value, Save if it Doesn’t
Investing in curriculum is great if you feel it will add value to your homeschoolers education. On the other hand it can be considered busywork. I chose many years’ ago to replace worksheets with high value activities like narration, drawing, note booking and read aloud.
It has proven to be full of enrichment opportunities that have come full circle in our homeschool.
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Until next time!
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