Pages

▼

History at Highhill Education

Teaching history with historical fiction and chronological story books written for children has been a consistent part of our history curriculum for at least seven years. Two years ago we added in hands-on activities and last year we added documentaries. The kids know a lot about history and thanks to studying along with them, I do too.


Our hands-on history activities all began with a phone call from a local mommy. She was putting together a history co-op and invited us to be part of the group. Since we were all Americans living in Europe, the initial focus would be European History. Despite the fact I had all the books and materials ready to go for a year of American History, I said yes. Our history studies haven't been the same since.

Studying the Celts, Vikings, Scythians, Chinese, Greeks, Romans, and Mesopotamians while having the opportunity to see many ruins connected with the different cultures has been incredible. Many times we did a hands-on activity such as constructing a Celtic shoulder pin, only to later view similar pins displayed in a museum. Since my son thrives on the documentaries, my oldest likes the books and my youngest prefers the activities I will take the same approach with future history studies.


To see the history activities we have done in the past please visit our history page.


Here are some ways others teach history.

A Barefoot Hippie plan for history 1600-1800 - Barefoot Hippie Girl
Teaching History Revisited - Every Bed of Roses
A Glance at How We Do History - One Magnificent Obsession
Finding Your Way - Hammock Tracks
Unschooling History - Navigating by Joy 

This post is linked to:
Virtual Curriculum Fair

4 comments:

  1. LucindaSeptember 17, 2013 at 8:28 AM

    I like your flexible approach, Julie. That way we can enjoy opportunties we might miss if we were too attached to our plans.
    I empathise with what you say about being excited to share what you've learned with your children - that's exactly how I feel!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Savannah McQueenSeptember 17, 2013 at 9:20 AM

    That celtic pin sounds so cool. Thanks for your concise post...always enjoy them, Julie.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The AdventurerSeptember 17, 2013 at 1:34 PM

    That is exactly how we did it when we lived overseas:) Now that we are back to the states we are going thru US History. My kids can still recall many of the activities we did with our local friends:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. TiciaSeptember 20, 2013 at 7:04 PM

    That's what happened to me 2 years ago. I was all set to start studying Rome to Reformation, and my friend called me and said "How do you feel about studying US history?" The rest is history.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.