Thank you to Melissa Muir, MAT, founder of Think Curio, for contributing this article to our blog! I hope you’ll get some great ideas for incorporating more hands-on history learning into your homeschool.
History is a story waiting to be uncovered. While traditional methods often rely on memorizing facts and names, a discovery-based approach turns history into a compelling and “living” story for learners of all abilities, especially gifted kids. By integrating discovery, choice, and freedom into your history lessons, you can foster curiosity and create a more engaging learning experience.
Let’s dive into some ways in which these principles can transform the way your children study history, using examples tailored for our littles and bigs!
1. Discovery: Uncovering History Through
Exploration
Instead of simply telling kids what happened, let them discover it themselves. Discovery-based learning encourages critical thinking, problem-solving, and deep engagement with the material.
For Younger Kids:
- Interactive Timelines: Provide pictures, dates, and short descriptions of events. Let kids arrange them in chronological order on a large poster or digital platform.
- Artifact Exploration: Use replicas or photos of historical artifacts. Ask questions like, “What do you think this was used for?” or “Who might have owned this?”
- Interactive Lessons: Pre-made lessons in a free Nearpod account can alleviate the pressure on parents to find a “just-right” lesson on a specific topic. Big bonuses include VR field trips, Flocabulary videos, and gamified quizzes like Time to Climb. Here’s how our family uses Nearpod in our homeschool.
For Older Kids:
- Primary Source Analysis: Share documents like letters, maps, or diaries from the time period being studied. Encourage kids to draw conclusions and discuss what the sources reveal.
- Role-Playing: Assign kids a historical figure and have them debate key events from that person’s perspective
- Age-appropriate Rabbit Holes: Depending on your family’s tech tolerance, consider allowing kids to research deep dives from YouTubers like Johnny Harris and Cleo Abram. Their engaging, investigative style reporting is sometimes the perfect spark to get kids excited about a topic.
Activity Idea:
Create a “history detective” challenge where kids solve a historical mystery using clues like artifacts, maps, and journal entries.
2. Choice: Let Kids Drive Their Historical Journey
When kids have a say in how they learn history, they develop a personal connection to the subject. Offer options that allow them to tailor their studies to their interests.
For Younger Kids:
- Choose the Path: Provide multiple books or videos about historical figures and let kids pick which ones they’d like to explore. Wishbone, The Magic Treehouse, and DK Readers are great choices.
- Themed Units: Focus on themes like “Famous Explorers” or “Inventions That Changed the World.” Let kids pick one to dive deeper into.
- Cross-curricular Connections: Thread the science, ELA, history, and math topics kids encounter whenever possible. Curio has dozens of wonderfully fun writing activities that provide choice, yet sparks imagination and allows them to bring in various areas of study.
For Older Kids:
- Research Projects: Allow kids to select a historical topic they’re passionate about, such as the American Revolution or ancient civilizations.
- Creative Outputs: Give options for presenting what they’ve learned—writing a short story, creating a video, designing a museum exhibit, or performing a skit.
- Get Quality Writing Support: Outsourcing subjects can feel like cheating when you’re first starting out, but research shows that early writing intervention supports long-term academic success. With a thoughtful writing class, like CurioWrite, learners get the writing support they need, while also being given the choices to flourish in their areas of interest.
Activity Idea:
Use a “choose your own adventure” format to explore a historical event. For instance, let kids decide whether to “join the revolution” or “stay loyal to the crown” during the Revolutionary War, and adapt lessons based on their choices.
3. Freedom: Expressing History in Creative Ways
Allowing kids the freedom to present their knowledge creatively not only reinforces learning but also makes it more enjoyable. We love bringing in other soft skills like public speaking and conversation skills by having our kids discuss a historical topic with a relative who’s not typically involved in our homeschool, or by giving a presentation to younger siblings. By setting up these varied environments, they need to adjust their vocabulary and depth based on the audience.
For Younger Kids:
- Dioramas: Have kids create a diorama of a historical event using clay, cardboard, or LEGOs.
- Story Time: Let them act out a historical event with costumes or puppets.
For Older Kids:
- Digital Presentations: Encourage kids to make a PowerPoint or video presentation about a historical topic.
- Cross-Disciplinary Projects: Combine history with STEAM by having kids design a model of a historical invention or build a historical map.
- Consider Leveling Up: CurioSpeak provides personalized public speaking instruction and practice by breaking down age-appropriate current events and examining the logic and context behind them in both written and spoken formats.
Activity Idea:
Host a “History Fair” at home or within your homeschool group. Each student can present their project to others, creating a museum-like experience.
History becomes a living, breathing subject when discovery, choice, and freedom are at the heart of learning. By implementing these strategies and leveraging creative resources like Knowable World’s curriculum, you can create an educational experience that captivates and inspires kids of all ages and abilities.
Melissa Muir, MAT is a homeschool mom of four and the creator of Think Curio, a platform dedicated to innovative, discovery-based learning.Their curriculum, resources, and classes support families looking to level up in writing, public speaking, language-learning, and more. Explore more homeschool ideas and resources at ThinkCurio.com.