Homeschooling: Resources We Love: History and Science
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History and science are some of the most fun parts of homeschooling. When it comes to these two subjects, here are some of the resources we love.
With so many resources out there, how do you know what to choose? Hopefully I can help sort it out a bit.
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For history and science, we use A Beka.
As I wrote of in my post about Switched on Schoolhouse, we do use Switched on Schoolhouse for these subjects beginning in 8th grade, but up until that point we use Abeka. It starts in first grade, but it is basic enough that younger kids can even use it.
What I love about it:
- it is very structured. If you want all your lesson plans for each day mapped out for you, you would love this program. It tells you exactly when to do assigenments, quizzes, and tests, and it provides you with all of those resources.
- it is Christian based. There are references to Bible verses and Christian concepts throughout.
- it is interesting and my kids enjoy it. During the younger ages it is quite basic and fun
- because it is more fun in nature, it is easy for older siblings to teach to younger ones
What I don’t like about it:
- because it is very structured and includes everything, there are a lot of components to purchase, which means it can be pricey. I am lucky to have access to used curriculum sales in my area, which means I rarely have to buy it new. There are online groups you can find, too, where you can buy and sell used curriculum. I will put it on my list to look these sitess up to share, it’s been awhile since I’ve used them
- there are also a lot of books to keep track of. Things have gotten “lost” a time or two
Because I love history and it is important to me that my kids know history well, we also use
This book technically starts in first grade, but it is kind of deep so I generally start it in second grade or late in the first grade year. There are four different books, presumably for first through fourth grades, but we have stretched some of the years to two years when they information was deeper.
What I love about it:
- it is a good education. Very thorough
- many of the activities in the activity books are very fun. At times these includes things like a meal for dinner that would have been eaten by a particular culture in history
- because there are fewer books to buy, it is more affordable
What I don’t love about it:
- some of the chapters, even at the younger ages, can get long. We do divide them up in that case, but sometimes the younger ages can get bored with a chapter that is too long, even if it is divided up
- because it is so thorough, it can also be quite deep, which can be a lot even for the older kids at times
- I only purchased the test booklet for the first year of the program, but the quizzes and tests were hard, very technical. I didn’t even use it for the whole year with only my first child.
You can get the first year here:
Second year here:
Third year here
The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, Volume 3: Early Modern Times
Fourth year here
This is an activity book for the first year:
This is a test book for the first year:
They have activity and test books for all of the years, I only provided the first year here to avoid making this post last forever 🙂
History and science can be really fun for both you and your student. These are some great resources that really take the guesswork out of what to do. Teaching history and science is one of the things I love most about homeschooling. These are just a few of the resources we love. Check them out!
