After years of trial and error, I’ve finally come up with a simple homeschool history plan for my ADHD homeschool!
Can you relate?
Perhaps you’ve been searching for a way to add history to your homeschool day.
Maybe you’re looking for a homeschool history curriculum, but get overwhelmed by all the moving parts. For example,
- With one curriculum, you’re given a list of 50 books to read throughout the year.
- The other programs want your kids to write papers or answer multiple-choice questions in a boring workbook.
If you’ve got an ADHD homeschool, every day may be a battle to get your kid to do the basics. You know what I mean… math, reading, and writing.
Adding another subject to your homeschool schedule may feel like too much. On the other hand, you want history in your homeschool.
So, what should you do?
Sadly, I can’t answer that for you, but I can tell you what works for us.
In today’s post, I’m sharing a simple homeschool history plan that works in our ADHD homeschool.
Maybe it’ll inspire you!
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Simple is Better with ADHD
Friend, I’ve been homeschooling for more than 12 years. In the beginning, when it was just my two girls, I was able to do A LOT in a homeschool day.
- We hit every subject nearly every homeschool day. (Absolute insanity!)
- Field trips to shows, museums, and grocery stores (Yes. We even had a backstage pass to the bakery department!)
- And we did SCIENCE PROJECTS!!
- We read all the classic read-alouds. I avoided twaddle for years! (Charlotte Mason herself would have approved of me!)
However, things have changed. In this season, I’m homeschooling my son who has learning and behavioral challenges.
While I tried to fight it, I’ve finally realized that less is more in homeschooling.
How Much Energy Do You Have to Spend?
We’ve used multiple homeschool history programs for 13 years. However, there isn’t one that fits us perfectly right now. And that’s ok.
Kids (and moms) with ADHD struggle with focus, attention, and organization. Because of this, it’s important to choose a curriculum that’s engaging, appealing, and easy to maintain.
In the end, though, the most important thing to keep in mind is this:
How much energy do you want to spend to get your child to participate with the history curriculum?
If your child has ADHD, Autism, dyslexia, or other learning challenges, you have to be smart.
Do you have a magical homeschool genie granting you wishes? I thought so.
Friend, you only have a finite amount of cognitive and relational energy to use each day. Choose where you use that energy wisely.
So when it comes to content area subjects (i.e. science and history), choose simplicity.
In my case, I use a plan that works beautifully for the ADHD brain. (Mine and my kids’.)
RELATED: How to Homeschool ADHD: 27 Tips to Save Your Sanity
3-Step Homeschool History Plan
The following is a 3-step homeschool history plan that’s sure to help you easily incorporate history into your homeschool schedule.
1. Grab a History Spine
Let’s walk through my simple homeschool history plan to see if it inspires you.
First, I recommend that you find a good history spine.
A history spine is one main book that you use to guide your history studies. Examples of homeschool history spine books include:
In the end, we’ve chosen Story of the World.
In fact, we’ve been reading this series since we started homeschooling 13 years ago. No matter what curriculum we try, we keep going back.
What is the Story of the World?
Story of the World is a series of 4 books written by Susan Wise Bauer. This history series takes readers on a chronological journey of history.
- Ancient Times: From the Earliest Nomads to the Last Roman Emperor
- Middle Ages
- Early Modern Times
- The Modern World
Story of the World is great for ADHD or kids with “low schoolwork tolerance”. (Did I just make up an official term? Not sure, but I like how that sounds.)
Why I Recommend Story of the World
I use Story of the World as our history spine in our homeschool for the following 5 reasons.
- History is told in chronological narrative form. (Meaning, it’s written as an engaging story).
- Each book is broken up into small sections so that readings are short and easily manageable.
- As kids grow, they’re able to read the texts on their own if desired.
- On the other hand, the book can be read aloud to your entire family.
- Further, if you want “extras”, Story of the World has activity books filled with project ideas and geography.
In our home, we’ve read Story of the World as a family and individually depending on the season.
The next step in our simple homeschool history plan is the history timeline song.
2. A Timeline Song in the Homeschool History Plan
Thirteen years ago, we joined Classical Conversations. While we are no longer in a CC community, I learned much from the experience.
As the name implies, Classical Conversations uses a classical model of education. This opened my eyes to the effectiveness of simplicity in education.
One highlight of the classical model that particularly stood out to me is its emphasis on memory work.
It’s so simple it’s genius! Ready for this?!!
Memory work is (drumroll please…) memorizing information and concepts! Yep. That’s it.
A child’s memorization skills are a gift to be used to their academic advantage!!!
In our history plan, memory work consists of learning a history timeline through song. On a basic level, this is like teaching a toddler the ABC song.
Learning the ABCs of History
Critics of the classical model argue against rote memorization. Basically, they argue that children may not have a conceptual understanding of the terms they memorize.
However, that’s a moot point if you think about it this way.
A child’s first exposure to the alphabet, phonics, and reading is often that very ABC song. No one bats an eye when we sing this song to toddlers.
In the classical model, you use this line of thinking and apply it to academic content.
Foundation of History Education
A history timeline song has been a foundational component of my kids’ history education for years. These songs provide a chronological roadmap of events from creation to the current day.
Many companies offer history timelines:
- Classical Conversations Timeline Song
- Cross Seven Memory Work Timeline Song
- Veritas Press Timeline Song
Each contains images to go along with the lyrics.
Additionally, Classical Conversations and Veritas Press have history timeline cards. And Cross Seven uses video for their history timeline song.
Once you’ve chosen your history timeline song, move on to step 3. The history binder and notebooking pages!!!
Learn more about What is notebooking? from our friends at Homeschool Helper Online.
3. Create History Timeline Binders
Many neurodivergent kids (ADHD, Autism, dyslexia, and more) are creative-types. For this reason, drawing is a great way to help them learn academic content.
In our home, that means we create history timeline binders.
Creating a history timeline binder is a simple way for children to engage with historical content. In the end, these binders end up as impressive portfolios to share with others.
(Ahem. They’re great to share with the anti-homeschool Aunt Edna who’s always trying to “test” your kids.) Just an idea.
What do you need to make a history binder?
Making a history binder is easy. Each child will need:
- a 3-hole punch binder
- Timeline notebooking pages
- (We’ve used the Notebooking Fairy’s timeline pages, and now we use our own.)
- crayons, markers, pencils, or colored pencils (we prefer colored pencils)
That’s it.
RELATED: My ADHD Homeschool Supply List: 25 Must-Haves for Your Homeschool!
What do you put in a history timeline binder?
Using your timeline notebooking pages, have your child sketch something you’re currently learning about.
For example, if you read a section about Charlemagne from Story of the World, your child can draw Charlemagne.
Have your child draw the historical events you’re learning about.
A history timeline binder is perfect for neurodivergent learners who need agency over their learning.
Another idea is to include writing. If your child can write, have them write one or two sentences or words (depending upon capacity) about that topic.
Is it that simple? Yep.
Over time, your child’s history notebook will be filled with a chronological timeline that they’ll know inside and out.
Implementing a Homeschool History Plan
That’s it! Combine all three components over the course of a year, and you’ll be blown away at how much history your kids learn.
Now that you know what you need, you may wonder how exactly to implement these components into your homeschool routine.
While everyone will have a different rhythm, I’ll offer a few suggestions.
- Maybe read a chapter a week.
- (Read it one section at a time depending on your child’s capacity)
- Have your kids draw what they remember using the downloadable history notebooking pages.
- Using your child’s ability as a guide, have them write a sentence or two about that historical event .
- If your child is not a writer, have them write one word. Another option is to have them narrate a sentence as you scribe for them.
- Sing your timeline song a few times a week.
The goal is to make learning history simple. When things are simple, they’re more easily maintained over the long-term.
Remember, less and simple is more in learning.
RELATED: My Child Hates Writing: 25 Powerful Tips to Help Reluctant Writers
Homeschool History Timeline Binder Tutorial
Recap: Simple Homeschool History Plan with Timeline!
Well, Friend. This is the simple homeschool history plan that’s worked for us.
Do we implement the plan perfectly every week?
Absolutely not! We’re an ADHD homeschool led by an ADHD momma (yep, that’s me).
Of course we get off track at times. However, that’s what makes this history plan so simple and effective. We’re easily able to pick up where we left off if and when we take a break.
There’s 3 simple components to it and it works.
So, Friend, how does this history plan sound to you? Does this inspire you?
Let me know your thoughts below.
And don’t forget to download your FREE History Timeline notebooking pages. I’ve created multiple options for a variety of ages and developmental levels.
Story of the World is one of our favorite history resources as well. We have gone through it so many times over the past 12 years for my kiddos. We are literature-based learners (for the most part), and while we don’t subsribe to a ton of classical teaching in our home, Story of the World is one piece that really works well for us.