History

Exploring countries and cultures has been one of my favorite ways to learn with my kids about the world we live in. While we take trips as often as we can to experience first-hand the wonders of the world, there are other places that are out of reach for an educational adventure—Africa, for example.This massive continent has a profound diversity of culture and depth of history that come to life when we combine our history and geography curriculum with online video resources.

One of the allures of BookShark is rather than teaching history to your children from a dry, boring history book, your children learn about history through literature. Instead of merely learning the facts about Ancient Greek culture and events, your children learn through characters (both fictional and historical) in an engaging narrative.

You can bring that knowledge to life even further by supplementing BookShark’s curriculum with hands-on learning experiences and culinary delights.

BookShark’s Reading with History Level 5 offers kids ages 10-13 a chance to study a part of the world that is often overlooked—the Eastern Hemisphere. While BookShark’s curriculum is meaty enough on its own, you can easily supplement the curriculum with plenty of great shows and documentaries to dig even deeper or to stretch the curriculum over a longer period of time. Pick and choose from among these resources. They’ll help you and your child learn even more about this fascinating part of the world.

Are you studying ancient civilizations for homeschool history, for example BookShark Level 1 or BookShark Level 6? If so, you will probably find that ancient Egypt is one of the most fascinating topics you’ll cover. In addition to your scheduled reading, your child will probably enjoy supplementing with interactive, hands-on activities.

Are these extra activities necessary? Not at all! But some families truly enjoy making crafts and engaging in creative projects, and when those activities can connect to homeschool history lessons, it's all the better. Here are five relatively simple hands-on activities for ancient Egypt that you can do in your kitchen with supplies you already have in your home.

As I was writing down my reasons for loving BookShark Reading with History, I kept thinking, “That’s my favorite” and then “No, this is my number one.” And while I wanted to rank them from top to bottom, I just couldn’t narrow down what was my tenth choice versus my number one choice.

I love BookShark for so many reasons!

On social media or while talking to other homeschool moms, new homeschoolers often ask how much time they should expect their school days to take, or what subjects they should cover. Inevitably, some more experienced parents advise them to simply make sure they cover the basics of language arts and math, or tell them they don’t need to do school more than a few hours a morning during the elementary years.

With history’s constant expansion, it’s easy to understand why homeschooling the subject may feel a bit daunting. How can children begin to grasp how it all fits together? There are so many people, cultures, continents, and events!

One answer is a history timeline.