A Homeschool History Curriculum That Brings History To Life
I’m really excited to share a fun new way to teach history with to your kids!
Homeschooling history can be challenging. Sometimes it feels like you’re memorizing lots of dates that can feel disconnected from the events. Other times the important events are difficult to translate into something kids can understand.
A Homeschool History Curriculum That Brings History To Life
The Who Was? book series from Penguin Randomhouse is a fun way to bring important historical figures to life and help your kids to really explore history in an engaging way.
How can you use these books in your homeschool history lessons? Keep reading to find out more about the unit studies I’ve created to help teach history with the popular Who Was/Is book series.
Learn More About Who Was/Is? Books
This book series is one of our favorites, because these non-fiction books are an engaging way to learn more about important historical figures. As homeschoolers, we’re always looking for ways to bring history to life for our kids. The Who Was/Is? book series helps kids relate to important characters in our history. Plus, they’re perfect for reading aloud to younger kids or read independently by older children.
The books cover scientists, social rights activists, presidents, artists, and athletes. There are Who Was? books on everyone from George Washington to Temple Grandin to Dwayne Johnson. You can use these books independently, as part of a related history unit, or check out one of our special Who Was Units Studies filled with videos, games, and even more book suggestions. Keep reading to learn more about how you can use these fun biographical books in your history lessons.
Homeschool History Comes To Life
Sometimes history lessons can feel like a list of dates that seem to blur together. Understanding the timeline is pertinent, but when we are homeschooling kids it’s important to use stories that bring history to life. For example, knowing when George Washington was born, when he became presidents and when he died doesn’t really tell the whole story.
These Who Was? books for kids tell the story in a way that helps kids understand what’s so great about the historical figures in the books. In fact, because they’re so well written, your kids will have no problem remembering these important characters for years to come.
How We Use Who Was In Our Homeschool History Curriculum
Here at The Waldock Way, we have a unique and fun take on these books. I’ve build unit studies you can use to bring history to life in your homeschool with many of the Who Was? books and I can’t wait to share them with you. After reading the book, you can use my unit study to extend the lessons and really deep dive into the stories of these important historical figures. As always, I’ve included games, videos, printables, and even more book suggestions to create a complete homeschool history unit that’s educational and a lot of fun.
We begin by reading the Who Was? Book aloud. If your children are age 8 or older, they can probably do this part independently. After we have finished reading the book we dive into the unit study.
Included in Each Who Was Unit Study
1. Book Suggestions
You’ll find 3 to 7 books you can share with your homeschoolers to get to know these important historical figures and their time period better. It’s a great way to flesh out parts of history that might not have been covered as well in the Who Was? Book. You can read these books together or independently. Many may be available at your local library, or you can purchase them to keep in your own homeschool library by clicking on the links I’ve provided in this printable homeschool history unit study.
2. Youtube Playlist
I’ve included a curated Youtube playlist to match the subject too. All the videos in the playlist have been picked and pre-watched. In our homeschool history lessons, we like to include videos to engage our daughter in the lesson. If your child is more of a visual learner, using educational videos can be a helpful way to ensure they’re really taking in the lesson. It’s the perfect way to bring the history lesson to life for kids who love watching Youtube videos.
3. Pinterest Board
Pinterest is a fun way to get lots of great homeschooling ideas for history lessons. However, it can be a bit overwhelming and time consuming to wade through all the suggestions and find resources you can actually use. With these Who Was? Unit studies, I’ve done all the hard work for you. I’ve put together a Pinterest board on the subject where you’ll find resources to use including lots of great crafts related to the subject. For example, in our Who Was? Unit study on the Wright Brothers, there’s a great craft that will teach your kids how to build their own model airplane. If your kids love crafts, you’re definitely going to want to incorporate these into your homeschool history lessons.
4. Shows & Videos
Remember movie days in school? Sometimes it’s great to take a break from the books and worksheets and supplement your lessons with a film. You can even turn it into an educational family movie night! In each Who Was? Unit study from The Waldock Way, you’ll get a list of TV shows and videos you can use to really deep dive into the history behind the book with your kids. Some of these films are perfect for family movie night, so get your popcorn ready and homeschooling history will be anything but boring.
5. Games
Games are a fun way to help kids generalize the information they’ve been learning and really internalize the important parts of these history lessons. In every Waldock Way Who Was? Unit study you’ll find games to extend the learning. From board and card game suggestions to printable trivia style games based on the books, there’s plenty of fun to be had.
We love trivia games! Trivia is a great way to help kids remember important facts and check for reading comprehension. All the questions in these printable trivia games come directly from the information in the Who Was? Books. The cards are printable so you can use them at home or take them on the go for extra learning fun in the car too. The cards can be printed on cardstock or even laminated for durability.
6. Additional Resource Suggestions
In every Who Was? Book unit study, you’ll also find an additional resources section. This section is filled with suggestions for more ways to extend the lessons and explore history with your homeschoolers. You’ll find activity books your kids can enjoy with clickable links to take you directly to the site where they can be purchased. Plus, lots of great links to web resources for further research you can use for projects, reports, and independent learning with older students.
I can’t wait to read about how you’re having fun with history in your homeschool using these unique Who Was? Books to learn more about important historical figures. Don’t forget to share your experiences in the comments, so we can all have more fun teaching homeschool history together.