History Detectives:
Open-and-go curriculum for ages 4 to 8
Introduce your child to the world we live in with this age-appropriate, easy-to-use curriculum.
Learning you AND your child will love!
How Does it Work?
Each level has 35 weekly lessons for 30-60 minutes of learning per week.
You choose which elements of the lesson to use and how to include them in your homeschooling routine.
Click here to download our Pacing Guide for Level 1.
Level 1 (ages 4-6)
In this introductory level, children learn to look with curiosity at the world around them and begin to think historically about their everyday lives.
Click here to download the Scope & Sequence for Level 1.
Level 2 (ages 5-7)
In Level 2, children will learn to think about world history in terms of countries and cultures that change over time.
Level 2 is coming soon!
Level 3 (ages 6-8)
In Level 3, students will learn to see the whole span of history as a story that describes and explains the world we live in.
Level 3 is coming soon!
Try it out!
Click the button below to get three free preview lessons from Level 1.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Is the cost a yearly subscription?
There are two ways to pay for each level of Knowable World:
- a monthly subscription of $9
- a one-time payment of $89
The one-time payment gives you permanent access to that level. This means you can use it with all of your own children (within the same family), revisit the lessons in another year, and print the materials as many times as you need to for use with your own children.
If you choose the monthly subscription model, you can cancel at any time. Your access to the course materials will be removed at the end of the last month for which payment was received.
2. How much time will I need to prepare for lessons?
The lessons are designed to be open-and-go, requiring little to no preparation ahead of time. You will want to check the activity instructions to print any pages you will need and gather some simple supplies (markers, scissors, glue, etc.). All of the materials needed for each unit are listed in the Unit Overview to make it easy to plan a few lessons ahead. Extension ideas may require more preparation from the parent, but these are optional activities that do not need to be done at the same time as the lesson video and main activity.
Are four and five year old children really ready to study history?
In our experience, many four and five year olds are beginning to ask questions about the world and will be interested in the topics presented in the Knowable World levels. The lessons are intended to connect with familiar places, people, and objects, and to build upon this existing awareness to gain new knowledge in small steps that they can grasp, retain, and use. Children at this age find it very satisfying to use their intellectual abilities in this way!
The program is designed to be completed in three years, at one lesson per week, by a child who begins the program around age 4-6. If your child is older, you may want to go through the first levels at a faster pace and complete the program in one or two years.
As the parent, it is ultimately up to you to decide when and how to use this curriculum. The activity options and extension ideas included with each lesson allow you to use the program in the way that works best for your child and your schedule.
4. Do you have any resources for older students?
5. Is this a secular or religious curriculum?
Knowable World is a secular curriculum. This means it assumes that the events of world history have naturalistic, cause-and-effect explanations, with no room for appeals to supernatural intervention. Religious topics are introduced when appropriate as ideas that have impacted the behaviour of human beings, not as reliable sources of historical knowledge.
6. What is your approach to [x topic]?
Our YouTube channel is the best place to go to find out if our approach is a good fit for your homeschool. There you will find mini-lessons on a range of topics as well as podcast episodes and informational videos. These give a good representation of the type of material and the approach to various topics that you will find within the Knowable World curriculum.
If you have any other questions about the program, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Meet Our Team
History Detectives was created BY homeschoolers FOR homeschoolers!
Scott Powell
Scott Powell is a historian and teacher who has been teaching homeschooled students online for nearly 20 years. He is the author of three books including “The 4-Hour Historian”, “The History of Now”, and the upcoming “The History of Tomorrow”. His present-centric approach was developed from the conviction that history is an essential subject that is vital for anyone who wants to live a fully engaged life and make sense of the world they live in.
Heather Schwarz
Heather Schwarz is a homeschooling parent, homeschooling coach and Masters of Education student whose mission is to make it easy for parents to provide a high-quality academic education to their children at home. Her own children have been students of Mr. Powell’s History at Our House program for several years, and she is keenly aware of the need for a conceptual, easy-to-use, secular curriculum for the youngest students. Heather brings more than ten years of experience and study in the field of home education.
History for Homeschoolers