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Homeschool History & Geography Curriculum Top Picks

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Homeschool History and Geography Curriculum Top Picks

Searching for just the right social studies curriculum for your homeschool? This post covers the top picks for homeschool history curriculum and geography curriculum.

I have also shared a big list of Math, Language Arts and Science Favorites. I have been really enjoying this series of posts sharing your homeschool curriculum favorites. I hope they are helping you make your decisions for your family.

 

 

homeschool history curriculum and geography top picks

 

 

When teaching history or social studies, there are a few different routes you can go. You can study history by time period, by location, unit studies teaching different topics, broad overview, or literature based.

 

Feeling overwhelmed by all of the choices? Check out my book: The Quick Guide to Choosing a Homeschool Curriculum to lead you along!

choosing a homeschool curriculum

Also, check out my new podcast, Called to Homeschool.

 

Homeschool History Curriculum- Our Top Picks:

The Good and the Beautiful Homeschool History

The Good and the Beautiful History– This one is Christian focused with an emphasis on God and character through history. It has family-style lessons for grades 1-12 with ideas to make it work for older and younger kids.

Each year it covers ancient through modern touching briefly on important parts of each period. I LOVE this history. This is our current TOP pick!

The lesson plans for this history curriculum are so easy to use! It is a curriculum that you can open up and use with no planning. They also include history games to help reinforce the concepts taught. There are also recommended read aloud books to fit with the curriculum.

story of the world history curriculum

Story of the World– We have been using this one for a few years now. It is also a 4-volume history rotation starting with ancient history. This is a top favorite for LOTS of homeschoolers.

If you use it, the Activity Books are a great investment as well!  These books have 4 volumes covering different time periods. It is not religious, but does talk about different types of religion through history.

 

the well educated heart

 

The Well Educated Heart~ This is a wonderful set of books and style of learning heart-warming stories through great literature. They re-print old classic books that are hard to find or are out of print. They focus on topic rotations each month. We love their library.

 

beautiful feet books- history curriculum for homeschoolers

Beautiful Feet Books– (See My Review) This is one of my TOP favorites!  They focus on teaching the subjects through literature and have book lists for all areas of study. There are also study guides and timelines to guide you.

I am in love with their book lists and want everything. I like to browse here to get ideas on great books to read to my kids. I have used this a few times in our home.

The Tuttle Twins History is a great one that we have read and love.

 

mystery of history curriculum

 

The Mystery of History– I have heard many people share their love for this history curriculum. It is a Christian-based history curriculum with 4 volumes spanning through different periods of history.

 

 

knotgrass homeschool history

 

Notgrass – They have American and World history as well as many other homeschool subjects! They have all grades, but I have particularly heard great things about their high school and middle school programs.

 

 

trail guide to learning history curriculum for homeschool

Trail Guide to Learning – From Geography Matters. It is a series of history books starting with the first volume, Paths of Exploration which teaches about famous explorers and pioneers. This is a wonderful curriculum!

This set is for grades 3-5. Later volumes are for later grades. Read My Review.

 

 

Diana Waring Presents -History Revealed There are three titles in the series from Ancient to Modern history. This is for grades 5-12, but there is an accompanying elementary version so it can be used for the whole family. It also teaches geography, music, literature, architecture, & more.

 

TruthQuest This is a Christian literature-based history curriculum. There are varying levels and subjects covering all grades and periods of history.

heritage history curriculum- literature based

Heritage History is a literature-based curriculum using many of the Yesterday’s Classics books. There are study guides and books for varying levels and eras throughout history. It’s an incredible resource!

 

draw and write thru history

Draw and Write through History are a really fun addition to any history curriculum. It has different of eras of history teaching kids step-by-step drawings of different things through history. My kids have been using them and really enjoy them.

 

 

crash course history

A Crash Course in History is a series of fun history movies available on YouTube for free done by John Green! He does a quick overview of different periods in history with fun animations.

 

sonlight homeschool curriculum

Sonlight– they have complete curriculum packages for all subjects and grade levels. This is a favorite of lots of people. It is very literature-based.

 

 

 

homeschool curriculum- history and geography

History Scribe teaches history while also teaching drawing & writing. They have workbooks where kids draw and write about the things they learn. It covers all areas of history. This would be a great addition to any regular curriculum you are using!

 

 

christian homeschool curriculum

Heart of Dakota– I have heard a lot of talk about this program. It is a Christ-centered homeschool curriculum for ages 2-15 that covers a variety of subjects.

 

 

ambleside online homeschool curriculum

 

Ambleside Online is an amazing free resource that follows the Charlotte Mason approach of learning. It outlines a curriculum and reading list for grades K-12. While I don’t follow Charlotte Mason exclusively, I do LOVE the book recommendations given on this site & visit it regularly to get suggestions.

 

 

 

tapestry of grace homeschool history curriculum

Tapestry of Grace teaches history, government, literature, philosophy, Bible and more. It is for the whole family grades K-12 with 4 volumes coveinr different periods in history. Review from Thinking Kids.

 

 

 

horrible history books

 

Horrible Histories is another series of shows done by BBC. There is also a great website with tons of fun activities, books, and even historical toys. See My Review Here.

 

 

american history curriculum for homeschool

All American History Jr. from Bright Ideas Press for Elementary aged kids has literature guides, timelines, notebooking pages, coloring pages & hands-on activities.

 

 

Homeschool Geography Curriculum:

 

Check out my US geography printables! I am working through all of the states this year.

geography homeschool

 

We love the Seterra Website at our house to teach maps. It’s simple to use and free. They have an app, too.

 

wonder maps geography curriculum

Wonder Maps from Bright Ideas Press is a fabulous resources for maps and geography. You can print maps from different eras and it goes along with Mystery of History curriculum! It’s a really cool tool.

 

mapping the world with art

Mapping the World With Art  This looks like such an amazing resource. It teaches history, art, geography, & cartography all in one.

 

north star geography curriculum

 

North Star Geography is also from Bright Ideas Press. It is a Christian geography curriculum for middle and high schoolers.

 

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Around the World in 180 Days, from Apologia covers history, culture, and geography for all ages.

geography through art

 

 

Geography Through Art, also from Geography Matters.

The title of this curriculum catches my attention. This sounds like something we would love in our home.

 

 

knowledge quest geography

 

Knowledge Quest –  My review

 

 

galloping the globe

 

Galloping the Globe & Cantering the Country These are fun activity books with mazes, word puzzles, maps and more teaching about geography for grades K-4. I just recently got the first one and am really impressed with it.

 

 

top secret adventures

Which Way USA, Top Secret Adventures are adventure club puzzle kits by Highlights that teach kids about geography in a fun way. They have monthly subscriptions and you get a new one in the mail. We have done the Top Secret Adventures with our kids and they really enjoyed it.

 

expedition earth geography curriculum

 

Expedition Earth from Confessions of a Homeschooler We used this last year and it is a lot of fun & such a reasonable price. My kids & I really enjoyed this curriculum. She has one for U.S. geography now as well.

 

 

child's geography

A Child’s Geography for grades 1-6 is produced by Knowledge Quest has three volumes teaching about the earth it’s cultures from a Christian perspective. We have gotten part-way through the first and are really enjoying the lessons! See My Review.

 

 

More Homeschool Curriculum TOP Picks:

Homeschool Math Curriculum Favorites

Homeschool Science Curriculum Favorites

Homeschool Language Arts Curriculum Favorites

art-music-curriculum

Homeschool Art & Music Curriculum Favorites

 

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23 Comments

  1. Awesoe post.Thanks so much for sharing these great curr companies!

    Ilve been HSing for ( yikes!)…well this will be my 9th year! But I am always searching for “better” “different” etc….
    I pinned this and will refer back to it.
    Saw your post share in the Kids Blog Share FB page.
    Thanks and God bless

  2. Wow! What a wonderful and comprehensive list! I am always looking at curriculum and trying to decide what to use. I love history and always want to make it come alive and be a good experience for my kids.

  3. Great list. We love Knowledge Quest and used it last year. I have Confessions of a Homeschooler items and have considered using her history/geography. Am very interested in Around the World in 180 days. Still hoping to fit that in sometime. Thanks for compiling this great list.

  4. Thanks for putting together this great list of favorites (and for including a couple of mine!) – I’ll be sharing this post in a couple places.

    As an FYI for others reading – in the link to my Homeschool Coffee Break post listed with Notgrass, that same entry gives more info about Around the World in 180 Days and Geography Through Art, which are also favorites of ours. 😎

  5. So glad to see Story of The World on your list! My favorite curriculum in ANY subject so far. We are studying Ancient Egypt right now, and getting ready to mummify a chicken!

    Barefoot Books’ World Atlas is really cool for Geography for primary grades. Vibrant illustrations and “lift the flap” features. Check it out!

  6. How did the A Beka curriculum not make the list? Each grade level has it’s own title, but they start with “My America, My World”, and includes ancient world history, and Ametican History. Fabulous history and geography. Much better than I was taught.

  7. Did not see any women in history or history of cowboys and cowgirls. Or history of the Northwest in USA or Mexican history and Canadian history. These are good history boys and girls should know also.
    Will be looking to see what books you use for these types of history.

  8. The crash history series on youtube IS free, meaning there is no charge for it. However it is leftist or politically correct history. It deliberately omits details in historty to hide what happened and why.

  9. Thank you so much for the lists. I really appreciate knowing which ones are secular as we like to teach the religious portion separately because we include all religions in our teachings. How they are so similar and how they vary. To us this is so important as our world shrinks and it’s the key to better understanding of one another. We came across a nice DVD at the local library which tied Geography, History, Cultures and Religions. It was great for our children to see other children of the world explain their customs and beliefs in a sweet and peaceful way.

  10. Take a look at Let’s Go Geography! It’s a hands-on geography curriculum that includes video, crafts, coloring, etc. Lots of fun things to do as you look at countries around the world!

  11. What grades have you used the good and the beautiful history curriculum with? I am doing that for the first year this year, and while I love the curriculum, I hate the high school assignments. (I am teaching 5th & 10th, and I am modifying most assignments for units 1, 2, & 4.)
    I’m curious to know if any one else has high school experience with this curriculum?

    1. Hi Beth,
      I was thinking about using the Good and the Beautiful for high school history this year. Would you please tell me what you hate about the assignments?
      Thank you,
      Michelle

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