There are many ways to teach history for free. Growing up, I learned about history through TV documentaries, library books, current events on the news, music, questions and stories my parents told me. There are a myriad of ways to learn history.
Spending a lot of money isn’t necessary to give your homeschooler a good education in history. Choosing to homeschool without breaking the bank is wise. The first step is to figure out what kind of history they want to learn. Art, music, ancient, modern, American, documents, speeches and the list goes on and on. Try a little of each in the beginning to see which era or what topic they are interested in learning about.
Teach History With Library Resources
Selecting a list of history books or a topic such as the American President’s is a good place to start. For me knowing I need to base to begin building my unit study or lessons around. Building on that is finding books related to the topic. Timelines, maps or zeroing in on a president and their administration. Each topic holds many topics to be learned.
Brainstorm how many topics you can derive from the first one, then select the one you want to read about. Another way to enjoy reading is to do it as a family. We have family read aloud each morning before we start. But, first I write out the book list and topic I want to focus on for the year and order it through my library website.
Free Online Websites for Around the World
There are many online websites for free. Check them out. Google “free online history websites” and the list is endless. Along with this are printable. Explore “free printable” for whatever topic and age. Several pop up and you print them out.
Creating a history curriculum on your own is not hard, but it does take preparation. Some good websites to explore are: Library of Congress, The Smithsonian Learning Lab, National Archives, and Students of History.com. These websites offer information, printables and many other avenues to learning history.
Teach Living History in Different Ways
A fun way to learn history and get some exercise is to take city walking tours. We did one of these when we were in DC and they even did a skit. This part was not free, but we could have done the walking tour without the skit. We love to look at old Historical buildings.
Looking up free museum days or community re-enactments is also fun. My goal is to make it to at least one Civil War reenactment. That is my favorite time period. Most of the reenactments are free except for the food vendors and craft booths.
Work Through History with Hands On Projects
Try some hands on history projects to teach history. Cooking through the pioneer days with the food they ate and outdoor stoves is one idea. We did try that, and in the summer months definitely got a feel for what they went through. It was hot, and not easy to cook our food in the fire. I made hamburgers and they almost burned up!
Role play or acting out historical scenes is another way to introduce history. Paul Revere’s ride, signing of the Declaration of Independence, or reenacting Lincolns’ Gettysburg address are all fun ways to portray the history behind the event.
Research Your Family Genealogy
One way I intend to teach history for our homeschool is through our family genealogy. I am going to take my children down to the library to research the archives. Next, visit online sites that help like Ancestry.com. Learning about one’s heritage is important. What better way to learn history, where they lived, how they lived, and create a timeline than to research your own family history.
Make a Timeline Binder
Finally, as you go through history, whether music, art or ancient, write it down. Enabling your homeschooler to see the timeline and event will create a rabbit trail to other interests. Each year we empty out the old timeline binder and start a new one. Most of the fun is realizing who was alive when other famous people were alive. Connecting the dots of history are a wonderful part of discovering the past.
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