Should Homeschool History Be Covered in Chronological Order?

I love your questions and answer them as I can. I have a couple of questions from Laura, but I am helping her out with one of them today and will save the other one for next time.

Hi there Tina!!
Laura here (a most grateful “follower” who thinks your site is awesome).  I have two questions……..

Regarding history, ancient world and American,  do you think history needs to be done in order?  Ie.  ancient and then leading up to American or is it possible to do a little Ancient and then American.  It seems like the latter may lend itself to confusing the kids.  Your perspective if you don’t mind and at your convenience.  I know you’re busy.

My simple answer to this question is: It depends. If you are relatively new to homeschooling (under 4 years or so) or have never covered history in a systematic way, it is extremely beneficial. You should do it at least one cycle through to form a history skeleton on which to place key events.

Having a flow to the story of history has helped my sons tremendously in being able to place key events and important people  close to the right time period. Too, I wanted them to be able to understand Bible chronology, i.e. history began with creation,etc.

I say it depends too because the whole purpose of covering a curriculum in a 3 or  4 year cycle is to get a bird’s eye view. That means leave off all unnecessary details and dates that bog us down. Therein lies the rub. Some curriculum providers in an effort to beef it up so speak, stress both child and parent alike because key points are lost in all the details and background information. The child may end up having a dislike for history and that is putting it nicely because instead us of moving on and reading the story, we may have taken many bunny trails.

That is the reason I was SO over the  top and still am about us using Brimwood Press History. It is the first of its kind  which covers history in great big HUGE chunks so we can get the full picture quickly.

However, if you have time and your children are younger, then you don’t have to go as fast. A program like the ones I list below in the chart will be of value to you. You have time to go through a cycle and will have more background information. Just remember to trim the fat if you feel like you are going too long or lagging. If you pulled your child out of high school and you only have a few years to cover history, your children already have a dislike for history or  if you feel you are even lagging behind in your understanding of it, then using a program like Brimwood Press first will help to minimize burnout and bring some fun back into your journey.

The chart below has some history providers that follow a chronological approach.  I just added a few, not all of them.  Some have more than one volume to choose from for a time period and others stick to 3 or 4 volumes, but this helps us to see some of our choices.

Curriculum Name	Provider	4 Year Cycle	3 Year Cycle	Multiple Ages of Children
Story of the World	Peace Hill Press	√		√
The Mystery of History	Bright Ideas Press		√ *Note Volume IV Coming.	√
History Revealed	Diana Waring		√	√
Tapestry of Grace	Lampstand Press	√		√
Truth Quest	Truth Quest History	√ Yes, but numerous grade level volumes to choose from instead of just 4.		√
TRISMS	TRISMS	√ Yes, but included 1 more volume to choose from for middleschoolers.		√
Sonlight	Sonlight	√ Yes, but numerous grade level volumes to choose from instead of just 4.		√

However, there are more things to consider too.

Understanding how children naturally learn at different stages, which is normally tied in to their ages, but not always, helps you to find a better fit for your family.

Learning in chronological order may not be of benefit to your children right now if they are all very young like pre-k or kindergarten age, if they don’t care for history  or they are suffering from burn out.

For example, most public schools teach “social studies” to pre-k and kindergarten age starting from the inside, or their immediate world and go to the outside world. Because very young children understand their immediate world like their family, their house and the street they live on, teachers first teach them things like learning about their community and community helpers. Then,  from there to their state, to their country and then to the larger world as they grow older. There is some logic to this because children are single minded at that age and it’s all about THEM. Too, though children that age are learning with every breath they take, their world is small because of their developmental age.

Would a pre-k or kindergarten child benefit from understanding the Minoans,  appreciate that Herodotus is referred to as the Father of History or grasp the conflict between Athens or Sparta?

Probably not.  However, they would appreciate good stories from Aesop’s fables, which has its start in Ancient Civilizations or cycle 1.

It is my experience and I agree with Susan Wise Bauer that it is better to start teaching history chronologically when your first child is older.  Susan Wise Bauer suggests first grade and I would recommend even later is okay too.  I started in first grade with Mr. Senior 2013, but see that I could have even waited until he was second or third grade and would have been fine too.  Of course I was worried about him “getting behind” but realize now that even with a year or two older we could have moved faster and covered more in depth.

In a nutshell: If you have older children or if your first one is at a second or third grade level, it is very practical, useful and absolutely a delight to cover history in chronological order.  It is like making an outline. An outline doesn’t have all the supporting details right now, but gives you a sweeping overview. Later, you can come back and add details.

I taught Mr. Senior 2013  following the public school method like learning about his community and  community helpers when he was in pre-k because I did not know of any other methods. But there are other methods of how to teach young kids history or children that have history burnout.

I have a second post I will share with you on this shortly or toward the end of the week, but first I have a post or two coming about a hands on history kit for South America that I am excited to tell you about.

Hugs and love ya,