Adding Story to Your Homeschool History Makes it Come Alive

This post is from contributor Heather Haupt.

*affiliate links used.

So what kind of homeschooler are you? Classical, unit study, Charlotte Mason, traditional textbook, eclectic, unschooler?

No matter how you might peg your approach, including narrative into your lessons packs a powerful punch. In general, homeschoolers are stereotyped as being the type that loves to read. And it’s no wonder: narrative draws us into history by giving us perspective, evoking our emotions, and utilizing our brain’s natural proclivity to recollect a good story.

As you look forward to your year ahead, take some time to research and select a few books to spice up your lessons.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

*Start with your PLAN. As you begin planning, outline topics you’ll be covering over the course of the year.

*Select read-aloud books. You’ll want to include some chapter books as well as picture books. Never, ever underestimate the power of a great picture book. It has the power to capture your children’s attention and pique their curiosity for the more complex, informational reading.

*Read some books again and again. As we learned about Japan this last year, there were several instances where my kids asked for a picture book to be read over and over again. I’m sure your kids have done this to you too, right? For me it helped to read about the INCREDIBLE BENEFITS of reading a book over and over again to give me that reminder to just do it.

*Utilize Amazon reviews and related book recommendations. Amazon should be every homeschool mama’s best friend. It has saved me time and time again from getting a book that would not have been appropriate for my children. I’ve also written a few reviews to warn other parents when I find objectionable material in a book.

Additionally, I’ve used Amazon’s related books section to source other good books on a given topic. That’s how we discovered A Single Shard, which we read during our unit on sculpture. It proved to be rich on the history of pottery, gave us a glimpse into ancient Korea, and provided an amazing exposure to some great new vocabulary words.

Our study of Japan came alive when we read the short book, The Big Wave. We were entranced by the glimpse of a farming and fishing village on the Japanese coast. We also explored the concepts of suffering, death, and recovery, important things to discuss as a family.

*Figure out whether to borrow or buy. Figuring out when you can borrow (from the library or within your homeschool community) and when to buy could be considered an art form.

*Go digital. I never thought I’d be saying this, but I’m bonafide hooked on using our Kindle in our home education. We have access to many older classics with a simple download and I’ve started using the collections from Heritage History to beef up our reading selections.

These older classics for children cover all facets of Western Civilization. I love how they’ve been professionally formatted, and still contain the original illustrations. They’ve color-coded the book selections so you can tell at a glance what will work for each reading stage. The history curriculum collections also come with maps, timelines and study guides which means that we rely less on having to do Google searches for these resources, saving both time and our children’s purity (It’s amazing what some seemingly innocent Google searches have unearthed…)

This frugal, but picky mama has been so pleased with this resource. I get the benefit of well-written older books that are rich in both history and vocabulary and the kids get an exciting narrative complete with the original illustrations! The only thing missing is the delightful smell of a musty old book. But considering I didn’t have to spring for a new bookshelf to house this treasure trove of books, it is a concession I’m willing to make. For the serious book-reading family, this resource is a must!

*Don’t limit this to just history. Naturally, reading a book comes to mind when we’re talking about history. But bringing in an interesting biography or novel that incorporates elements of what you will be exploring in other areas can make a difference too. My interest in things like mitochondria was piqued after reading A Wrinkle in Time and all kinds of interesting geography elements are discovered in books like Paddle to the Sea. We couldn’t help but pull out our globe and chart the Pacific island explorations of Captain Cook (part of our Young Readers Collection).

Have fun selecting and then diving into some beautiful stories together and watch history {and everything else} come alive!

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Heather H

As a homeschool graduate now in the trenches homeschooling her 4 children, she’s passionate about being intentional, about cultivating relationship with the Lord and preparing to launch her children into whatever kingdom work God has for them! Learning is a grand adventure and a rich experience when we stop trying to replicate ‘school at home’ and embrace a home where we learn. Because of that, she likes to bring in a dialogue rich, literature heavy, hands-on element to all their learning adventures. She delights in encouraging and equipping families towards intentional parenting, pursuing God and delighting in the adventure of learning as a family. She’s the author of The Ultimate Guide to Brain Breaks. You can connect with her at her blog, Cultivated Lives or on google+, facebook, pinterest or twitter!

Latest posts by Heather H (see all)

• 10 Unexpected Benefits of Homeschooling from a Homeschool Graduate’s Perspective - August 1, 2018
• 3 Keys to Remember When Planning Your Homeschool Year - April 3, 2018
• Adding Story to Your Homeschool History Makes it Come Alive - July 14, 2014
• The Secret Ingredient Every Homeschool Should Utilize - April 16, 2014
• A Frugal Approach to Building Biblical Literacy - March 12, 2014