I started this blog when my oldest was 6 months old. I didn’t really have an inkling yet that my future would involve homeschooling. I hadn’t met Charlotte Mason yet. But I did have an idea that as a mother, I wanted to expose my children to the best the world had to offer.
The world is so amazing. We are surrounded by intricate, mesmerizing, beautiful, complex flora, fauna, forces, matter, minerals. We live in a complex human culture arisen from the thoughts of millions of people who have lived before us, and millions of others alive today. There is so much diversity in earth, it boggles my mind.
Yes, it’s heartbreaking that there is war, famine, genocide, slavery, racism, sexism, disease, endangered animals, acid rain, oil spills, a warming planet….but there is also so much good in the world to focus on. There are so many wonderful phenomena, people, places in this world to learn about it would take several lifetimes to learn of it all. There will be a time to learn of the evils of the world (if we do not, history is bound to repeat itself). But I don’t believe it needs to be learned in early childhood. Childhood is the time for learning of all the good, so that when we learn about the bad, we understand that it means that the good that we love will be gone if the bad triumphs. Without a love of the good things in the world, we won’t care to fight to keep it.
The first step in saving a habitat, is loving the land and feeling acquainted with it as an old friend.
The first step in combatting prejudice and discrimination is knowing and loving people from all races, religions, identities and backgrounds.
When I planned out our overall history scheme (assuming we homeschool all the way to high school graduation) I operated off a 4 year chronological history rotation, repeated almost 3 times in 12 years. With each rotation, the darkness of humanity is revealed and critically considered.
| History Rotations for Oldest Child | History Rotations for Youngest Child |
| Grade 1: Heroic Age | Pre-K (age 3): N/A |
| Grade 2: Year 1 of 4 year history rotation. Pre-contact peoples, explorers, early colonists, 1500s-1700s, Revolutionary War | TK (age 4): N/A |
| Grade 3: Year 2 of 4 year history rotation. Spanish colonial period in California, Mexican republic period in California, local indigenous peoples, local town history, industrial revolution. | Kindergarten: What is history? What is a family tree? Who are my ancestors? What is a timeline? What does my life timeline look like? |
| Grade 4: Year 3 of 4 year history rotation. Slavery and civil war. California gold rush, history of the railroad, western expansion and pioneers. 1850s-1910s (though we will cover some stuff on slavery in earlier dates – but focus more on the heroes of abolition rather than the horrors of slavery at this early age. | Grade 1: Heroic Age |
| Grade 5: Year 4 of 4-year history rotation. 20th century focus: World War I, World War II, Great Depression, Cold War, Civil Rights movement, space race and man on the moon, 1960s-present | Grade 2: Jump into chronological history where we are. So youngest child will begin with Year 4 of 4 year history rotation. History of 20th century. World War I, World War II, Great Depression, Cold War, Civil Rights movement, space race and man on the moon, 1960s-present |
| Grade 6: Year 1, second rotation. Adding in history of close neighbor – Canada): indigenous peoples pre-contact but getting into the darker parts of history (small pox epidemic, reservations, Residential schools). Early colonists in Canada versus USA. Slavery in 1500-1770s. Also touch on what was happening in Britain at this time. Revolutionary War. | Grade 3: Year 1, first rotation. Pre-contact peoples, explorers, early colonists, 1500s-1700s, Revolutionary War |
| Grade 7: Year 2, second rotation: Revolutionary War, War of 1812, California history, Donner party, Oregon trail, Industrial Revolution, working conditions and rise of unions, European immigration. Canadian history from same time period. | Grade 4: Year 2, first rotation. Spanish colonial period in California, Mexican republic period in California, local indigenous peoples, local town history, industrial revolution. |
| Grade 8: Year 3, second rotation: Slavery, Emancipation, Civil War, California goldrush and westward expansion. Expansion of the railroads. Impact on indigenous peoples. Canadian history from same time period. | Grade 5: Year 3, first rotation. Slavery and civil war. California gold rush, history of the railroad, western expansion and pioneers. 1850s-1910s |
| Grade 9: Year 4, second rotation: WW1, roaring 20s, Great Depression, WW2, holocaust, Anti-semitism, Cold War, Communism, Socialism, Capitalism, fascism, Civil Rights movement, Vietnam war, 9/11, war in Afghanistan/Iraq, pandemic, up to present day. | Grade 6: Year 4, second rotation. WW1, roaring 20s, Great Depression, WW2, Cold War, Communism, Socialism, Capitalism, , fascism, Civil Rights movement, Vietnam war, 9/11, war in Afghanistan/Iraq, pandemic, up to present day. |
| Grade 10: Year 1, third rotation. indigenous peoples, early colonists, revolutionary war, British history in same period.1500-1776 | Grade 7: Year 1, second rotation. adding in history of close neighbor – Canada): indigenous peoples pre-contact but getting into the darker parts of history (small pox epidemic, reservations, Residential schools). Early colonists in Canada versus USA. Slavery in 1500-1770s. |
| Grade 11: Year 2, third rotation. 1800s. Civil war, westward expansion, industrial revolution, what was happening in Britain/Europe at the same time, what was happening in Mexico. | Grade 8: Year 2, second rotation. Revolutionary War, War of 1812, California history, Donner party, Oregon trail, Industrial Revolution, working conditions and rise of unions, European immigration. Canadian history from same time period. |
| Grade 12: Year 3, third rotation. 20th century focus. WW1, WW2(pacific war focus), read German account of war (Soldat), Great Depression (read Grapes of Wrath), Civil rights movement (read To Kill a Mockingbird), cold war history (space race, communism, nuclear age), McCarthyism, Reaganism, Economics, Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. | Grade 9: Year 3, second rotation. Slavery, Emancipation, Civil War, California goldrush and westward expansion. Expansion of the railroads. Impact on indigenous peoples. Canadian history from same time period. |
Note: the subtopics in each year are a brainstorm. As we dive into these historic periods we will no doubt uncover other subtopics not listed here. I only know what I know now. There is so much that I don’t yet know.
The first 5 years of school (grades 1-5) we learn of the heroes in history, the good things. Yes, we still talk about injustices as they come up in our reading (and in history there is so much injustice it really does come up all the time) but we aren’t doing a deep-dive into the horrors of slavery or residential schools or the holocaust just yet. We progress through the 1400s to the present day studying American history (because that’s where my kids live).
Then in sixth grade, the second chronological rotation through history begins. So from grades 6-9, we return back to the time periods we studied before, but this time we learn more about man’s inhumanity to man. We will learn about colonialism, slavery, the holocaust, workers rights, civil rights, human rights, etc. I plan to use Howard Zinn’s young reader’s edition of the People’s History of the United States as one of our texts as it is history written from the perspective of the workers who built the nation. And we will also learn of some of the heroes and the good in face of evil as well.
Additionally, in 6th grade is when we will start to learn the history of a neighboring country, as well as ancient and medieval history. Those are separate subjects.
Then, in high school (10th through 12th grades) we return through chronological history again, this time reading more critically and looking at different accounts of history. Asking ourselves what might have been left out. Whose voices we haven’t heard. We will also look at current events and how past events are still influencing what is happening in our world today. We also look more broadly at world history and see how what was happening in other countries affected American/Canadian history.
It is not possible to cover all of history in a mere 12 years of schooling.But as Charlotte Mason said, “we learn for life, not for the schools”. I am still learning history. I love studying history, and I hope to impart a love and respect for studying history on to my children.
I will update and add to this post (or collection of posts) on our history curriculum as we cover it year by year.
If you are interested in the history books we have read so far in Kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 2 – please subscribe to my mailing list and send me an email through my contact form. I would be happy to send you a PDF of our booklist and my reviews of each book.
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