10 Fantastic Ways to Learn History

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History is a fascinating topic, one that is more than just dates, names and places.   My son studied WW1 last year and this year he’s doing WW2. He has been totally fascinated as he’s learning about spies, North African battles and the people involved.  Ergo I thought it would be fun to share 10 fantastic ways to learn history.   For it’s definitely more than reading and memorizing dates. 

Unit Studies

Unit Studies are a fantastic way to learn history.  They help to connect all the dots between dates, science, geography, fashion, wild life and more.  What you put into a history based unit study is what makes it complete.  

You might not be able to include everything, and definitely you can’t in all the detail you might like, but the details you add will bring depth to your study.   

For instance: As my lad studied World War 1 last year we learned about the animals that helped the war effort.  We learned about the cats, dogs, pigeons and more.   We touched on them lightly but we didn’t read the stories of men and their mascots. Nor did we delve in-depth into the care of the horses.  But we learned that animals were important to the war effort, which was our hope. 

Some resources you might like

• Home School in the Woods.
• Exploring Africa.
• Amanda Bennet Unit Studies.
• Homeschool on the Range, blogs small unit studies that sometimes ask interesting questions.  Yvie also sells unit studies. 

YouTube

My son, being the visual learner that he is, loves to go to YouTube.   In fact, if he struggles with learning any concept he turns to youtube for answers. 

When we studied WW1 a lot of our videos came from The Great War Channel. 

Next year we intend to study Canadian history and I expect we’ll use Canadiana a lot as a base of study.  And Historica Canada as well, who makes videos like the one below. 

Adventures

The Great Canadian Adventure is a monthly subscription plan with guides walking the reader through each provinces history.  Walk through the formation of our country.

The Canadian homeschooler has a monthly online subscription that bounces you all over Canadian history.   The Canadian Time Capsule has good options for various ages making it an excellent resource to study Canadian history as a family. 

Or you can take Audio history tour with Headphone History. Learn the stories and legends of Canada, stories written for children. 

Magazines

Canada’s History has a fantastic adult magazine and a really really good kids magazine.  Canada’s history and Kayak are premier magazine that will give an good overview of Canadian history over the course of a year.   

If you are looking for something beyond Canadian History these top 10 might intrigue.

On-Line Resources

Of course you can always find history resources on line.   I’ve a bunch in my pinterest board that might intrigue.  Beyond that I have some links to resources.

• History for Kids.  Seven sections filled with cool games, videos, worksheets on many historical events and quizzes to test what you’ve learned.
• Mission USA.  Five interactive missions from American History. 
• National Geographic Kids has a history section. 
• American history for kids focuses on USA history. 
• CBC kids helps younger ones explore Canadian culture. 
• Time for Kids helps elementary students see history in the making. 
• DocsTeach uses primary source documents as a way to teach history.  I had fun browsing and almost forgot I was writing this post.  🙂
• Social Studies for kids not only gives you history of the past, but current events as well. 
• Canadian History for Kids was another fun website to browse. 

Field Trips

Real life or virtual field trips help history come alive.  Some trips to museums just let you browse through the past.  Others, especially if you go as part of a group create experiences, helping you role play history.

Chapter Books, Living Books

Oh boy there are TONS of books that spell out history.  

1. Biographies.  Abraham Lincoln.
2. Diaries.  Dear Canada diaries.
3. Period books.  It rained warm bread. 
4. Chapter books that touch on history.  Magic Tree House.

Encyclopedias to Learn History

Encyclopedias that focus on history are a fantastic find and if you can find some that approach history from different perspectives… even better.   My son and I learned so much history reading two page spreads each night before bed.   

Some focus on art, others on weapons, others on the development of people groups.  Each encyclopedia has it own focus.  Read them, think it through, compare them to each other.  It’s amazing the links you’ll find. 

Hands-on Elements

Make dioramas, lap books, build with lego or play dough.  So many ways you can make history interactive.  Cook from from whatever time period you are studying.  

Personal Accounts

Listening to Gramma talk about her experiences during the war my son’s ears perk up.  It’s relevant to him.  Also serving in army cadets, especially over Remembrance Day dinners, gives him the opportunity to listen to the war stories of our local veterans.   Whose history are you willing to learn?  What opportunities can you find to listen?

History Surrounds Us

History surrounds us, in monuments and museums, in the people from other lands and times, in the books we read and the things we do.  How can you make history relevant to your students?   What other fantastic ways to study history can you come up?

This post is part of the ABC blogging tour.  Come on join us!

Others in this series:

A – Add in your life.
B – Edmund Burke.
C – Clarity in Writing.
D – Deep Runs the Well.
E – Ease of Consistent Schedules.
F – 10 fantastic ways to learn history.