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3 Fun History Sites for Homeschooled High School Teens

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

3 Free History Websites for Homeschooled High School Kids @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Earlier I shared 5 Free History Websites for Middle School Kids and today I am sharing 3 fun history sites to kick off the new year for your highschooler.

You know how easy it is to find activities for your kids in Kindergarten. And then it seems like when they hit the upper grades and especially highschool that learning is suppose to somehow get less — well– fun.

No way, if I have something to say about it. Look at these three websites below, which I rounded up for high school teens.

artifacts

I am excited about finding this site because I had shared a post earlier, 7 Things to Try When a Homeschool History Curriculum Isn’t Coming Together (Hint: Try a Primary Source or Two) because studying the way people lived and the objects they used everyday is intriguing and engaging.

Leave boring behind when you study primary sources.

The information from the site: This site presents a strategy for incorporating historical artifacts and documents into the teaching of U.S. history. Designed as a companion to the Advanced Placement Program U.S. History course, it is also effective in any instructional setting that emphasizes analytical thinking and writing.

crash

This next site is on YouTube and is called Crash Course. It is just what it says. Quick and fun crash course on many different topics.

Though it has all kinds of interesting topics, it has world history and American history that make learning history far from boring.

Tiny likes the fact that it is quick and I love the fact that it gives a sweeping overview and can introduce your teen to history topics he may not be aware of or just to be sure he has been introduced to major events.

civics

This next site is a complete fit for teens, which generally don’t mind arguing. Let them use all their prowess on this site.

From the site:

Our educational resources empower teachers and prepare the next generation of students to become knowledgeable and engaged citizens.

Founded and led by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, iCivics provides students with the tools they need for active participation and democratic action, and teachers with the materials and support to achieve this. Our free resources include print-and-go lesson plans, award-winning games, and digital interactives.

The iCivics games place students in different civic roles and give them agency to address real-world problems and issues. They are rooted in clear learning objectives and integrated with lesson plans and support materials.

Mark these and grab them. And you know as I find them, I share them with you too.

Also, you’ll love these other ideas:

Hugs and love ya,

Be sure to follow my Middle and High School Pinterest Board for more tips you don’t want to miss!

Follow Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s board Homeschool Middle & High School on Pinterest.

Snack Like They Did In Ancient Greece – Make Baklava (Delicious)

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Make delicious baklava when studying about Ancient Greece @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Moving on to our next hands-on activity for our newest unit study which is Ancient Greece, we decided to look for something “delicious” to do.

We also have the book, TOOLS OF THE ANCIENT GREEKS: A Kid’s Guide to the History & Science of Life in Ancient Greece (Build It Yourself), which is fantastic for hands-on ideas.

Tiny was reading about what the Greeks snacked on and some of the foods are still with us today.

Learning that the Ancient Greeks rolled out pastry real thin and made Spanakopita (spinach pie) or Baklava, we decided to try out a new recipe.

Deciding that Baklava sounded better to make because it would give us a sugar high, we opted to make it.

Baklava is a dessert made with phyllo, walnuts and honey.

I will warn you though that if you are a foodie blogger you might cringe at our substitutions and make do ingredients.

Living here in Ecuador some ingredients like phyllo dough are not even obtainable.

I read in one place on the internet when we were looking for a simple recipe that you shouldn’t even make it if you don’t have phyllo pasty dough. I am sure I am doing some awful foodie injustice.

Good thing I am not a foodie blogger because I would be fired from the hall of foodie fame deliciousness because we did substitute and make do with what we had.

Did I mention it came out super good and we had a ton of fun in the process?

Check out the ingredient list:

■phyllo pastry dough OR make it like we did. I used this easy recipe from Living in the Pie Life
■I had about 2 cups of walnuts at the house, but we could have easily used more.■About a teaspoon of cinnamon.
■We had some local honey – a small jar.
■Couple of sticks of butter melted.
■3/4 cup of sugar.
■vanilla extract to taste.

1 Baklava  2 Baklava

We made a well for our dough and added in all the ingredients.

We were so focused on getting this dough “right” that we forgot a few pictures.

But it came out perfect for us. We allowed the dough to “rest” and while it rested, we crushed the walnuts in a ziploc bag.

Then Tiny mixed the cinnamon in with the walnuts in a bowl and set it aside.

We also melted butter in a bowl and set it aside.

3 Baklava  4 Baklava

Our dough was less than perfect, but Tiny was pleased with it and so he started rolling it out.

We buttered every layer and that gave it tons of that light feeling and sweet layers. Butter fixes everything.

5 Baklava  6 Baklava

So he rolled out one piece of the dough and brushed with butter. Then he spread some of the walnut and cinnamon mixture on top.

He did that for a couple of layers. After that I cut through and made the diagonal slits.

7 Baklava  8 Baklava

While it was baking, we warmed some local organic honey and vanilla in a sauce pot.

After our baklava was baked, we let it cool down just a minute.

9 Baklava 10 Baklava

Then Tiny spooned the delicious honey sauce over the baklava and allowed the sauce to soak through.

Tiny shocked himself because  our make do baklava was absolutely delicious with crusty and sweet layers.

It was a fun way to read some about what the Ancient Greeks ate and try a dessert too.

12 Baklava

Hugs and love ya,

Tina Signature 2015c

 

Free Printable History Board Game American History Through the Life of Wyatt Earp

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have a free printable history board game. Also, look at Free American History Lapbook The Old West Through the Life of Wyatt Earp.

Instead of writing about so many events in American history, which can be boring if you are not focusing on some action packed event.

So, I created a free history board game when learning about events through the life of Wyatt Earp.

Free Printable History Board Game American History Through the Life of Wyatt Earp

Of course, when I can’t find exactly what I want, I make it for you and me.

Like I mentioned before in another post, Wyatt Earp has been the perfect American history character to focus on when I needed quite a few events to introduce to Tiny or at least make him aware of them.

Hands-on History

From The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper to The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe to music, from the American Civil War to the First World War, from art to the idea of Manifest Destiny, Earp’s life spanned so many key events in American History.

Game Cards - Pieces - American History through the life of Wyatt Earp @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus
Playing American History Board Game @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

We have literally been overwhelmed with so many rabbit trails we wanted to take.

So just to be sure Tiny has a good introduction to a lot of them, I created the board game along with playing cards.

And as your child plays the game, they are introduced to some events on the board game and others on the playing cards.

If your child lands on the star, then take one of the playing cards, follow the instructions and return it to the deck. If he lands on a yellow space, just follow the instructions.

This is a fun way to introduce a wide range of things that Wyatt Earp would have probably learned about during his lifetime.

Though he has already graduated, Mr. Awesome is still sweet enough to play with Tiny.

Learning American History Game through the Life of Wyatt Earp @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Just don’t do like us. Tiny got so excited that they printed the game off on regular paper instead of card stock paper.

Free Printable History Board Game

Too, like my French Revolution free printable history board game, I made the game really big, BUT you can print it out on regular size paper or print it poster size (4 separate pages under your print settings). We printed it on 4 pages this time.

Here are some of the resources we used too in this unit study.

MORE ACTIVITIES FOR LEARNING ABOUT WYATT EARP AND THE COWBOYS

HOW TO GET THE FREE WYATT EARP LAPBOOK, NOTEBOOKING PAGES & BOARD GAME

Update: The lapbook is now complete. Download all the freebies below.

  • Art cards by Frederic Remington about Wyatt Earp
  • Cover pages for the outside of notebooking pages 1800s and 1900s. Look here how to fold ordinary worksheets to interactive minibooks.
  • 8 Features of the SW United States
  • The 4 Southwestern states
  • American History during the Life of Wyatt Earp 1800s notebooking page
  • American History during the Life of Wyatt Earp 1900s notebooking pages
  • Who was Wyatt Earp
  • Who were the Cowboys
  • Who Was Doc Holliday
  • Gunfight at the O.K. Corral Tombstone, Arizona – About Tombstone – Ed Schieffelin
  • Printable Game with Game Pieces – The Most Famous Shoot Out – Gunfight at O.K. Corral

Now, how to grab the free lapbook. This is a subscriber freebie.

 1) Sign up on my list.

2) Grab the freebie now.

3) Last, look for all my emails in your inbox. Glad to have you following me!

American History Through the Life of Wyatt Earp – Free Notebooking Pages

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, our American History through the Life of Wyatt Earp that we started more than a month ago I continue with some free notebooking pages. Also, look at Free American History Lapbook The Old West Through the Life of Wyatt Earp.

I had my first son move back to the states, a graduation party for Mr. Awesome 2015 and a trip back to the states. And I still thought I was going to keep on homeschooling Tiny? Insane!

American History Notebooking pages - Life of Wyatt Earp @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

I tout all the time about not being super mom and to slow down for life changing moments in homeschooling, but I still tried to go on as normal. What is normal anyway?

I’m back to reality and am ready to kick off our school year soon.

Because our unit study is a focus on key events from modern American history, I prepared two notebooking pages that Tiny will be using this next week to go along with the minibooks he has already done.

ABOUT WYATT EARP

Though we had read about the life of Wyatt Earp in our history magazine, I guess it really wasn’t until we honed in on the year he was born, which was 1829 and when he died, which was 1929 that I realized what amazing events he must have witnessed.

The frontier was still wild and untamed while he was a boy.

Conflicts between the US Army and Native Americans were going on until the end of the 1800s.

He was a teenager when the American Civil War started and probably knew first hand the tragedy of all the lives lost.

Notebooking Pages - American History through the Life of Wyatt Earp @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus 1

Then the beginning of the 1900s ushered in the opening of the Panama Canal and the US going to war again, but now, it was a much more global war –  World War I.

Wonder what he thought as the US forged ahead into the modern world?

Notebooking Pages - American History through the Life of Wyatt Earp @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus 2

Tiny will be doing some research on his own since the events I have on the notebooking pages are significant key events and there is plenty of information both in our encyclopedia and online for him to read.

I am not looking for him to write a research paper with the pages, but I am looking for him to imagine, wonder and step back into time to see events possibly through the eyes of Wyatt Earp.

Both notebooking pages have 4 key historical events on them.

Have your child research the event, write in the date and then add a few facts about that key event.

On the right margin of each page is a box where they can write about life during the 1800s and life during the 1900s, which will help them to focus about something that draws them in about this time in history.

I am finding this unit study to be quite helpful to help Tiny learn about sweeping events in modern American history and still learn about a person in history that captures his attention. Win-win.

MORE ACTIVITIES FOR LEARNING ABOUT WYATT EARP AND THE COWBOYS

HOW TO GET THE FREE WYATT EARP LAPBOOK, NOTEBOOKING PAGES & BOARD GAME

Update: The lapbook is now complete. Download all the freebies below.

  • Art cards by Frederic Remington about Wyatt Earp
  • Cover pages for the outside of notebooking pages 1800s and 1900s. Look here how to fold ordinary worksheets to interactive minibooks.
  • 8 Features of the SW United States
  • The 4 Southwestern states
  • American History during the Life of Wyatt Earp 1800s notebooking page
  • American History during the Life of Wyatt Earp 1900s notebooking pages
  • Who was Wyatt Earp
  • Who were the Cowboys
  • Who Was Doc Holliday
  • Gunfight at the O.K. Corral Tombstone, Arizona – About Tombstone – Ed Schieffelin
  • Printable Game with Game Pieces – The Most Famous Shoot Out – Gunfight at O.K. Corral

Now, how to grab the free lapbook. This is a subscriber freebie.

 1) Sign up on my list.

2) Grab the freebie now.

3) Last, look for all my emails in your inbox. Glad to have you following me!

Free Homeschool History Cards – French and Indian War

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I created 6 free homeschool history cards about the French and Indian War. Also, look at my page French and Indian War 1754 -1763 for more ideas.

This way Tiny can decide if he wants to do a lapbook or not. 

Free Homeschool History Cards - French and Indian War

If he does not, then we will use the easy and interactive history cards to cut out, laminate and put on an “O” ring to memorize.

I created 6 easy cards.

Hands-on History

Again, remember there is no way to put all the details about the French and Indian War unit study that we did on these small cards.

The cards are to serve as a quick overview and your child can do this on his own or with a sibling.

Here are the five questions on the cards and the information on them so you can plan.

What was the French and Indian War?

  • The French and Indian War matched France and its American Indian allies against Britain and its colonists.
  • At stake was control of North America.
  • The French and Indian war took place between May 1756 to February 10, 1763.
  • The war took place in the Ohio Valley and it was also called the Seven Years War.

Free Homeschool History Cards

Who were some of the key players?

  • American Indians, Marquis Duquesne (dyoo-KAYN) was Governor of Canada, Robert Dinwiddie (DIN-wid-dee), the Governor of Virginia, a young George Washington, Major General Edward Braddock, Major General James Wolfe commander of the British fleet and Louis-Joseph de Montcalm commander of the forces in North America.

Name some key events leading to war.

  • The French found the American Indians trading with the British. Marquis Duquesne had orders to take control of the Ohio River Valley.
  • The French began building forts in the Ohio River Valley.
  • Washington was sent to deliver a message asking the French to leave. They refused.
  • The French captured the “Forks of the Ohio”.
  • Washington skirmished with the French.
  • The French attacked Washington at Fort Necessity.

More French and Indian War Activities for Kids

Give a few facts about young George Washington.

  • In spring 1753, a French officer led 2,000 soldiers into the Ohio Country to uphold France’s claim to the region.
  • They built forts.
  • In October 1753, Virginia officials sent George Washington to deliver a letter demanding that the French withdraw.
  • They declined to leave. Washington’s attempt, a year later, to force the French to depart sparked the first battle of the French and Indian War.

What were the consequences of war?

  • The 1763 Treaty of Paris formally ended the war.
  • France gave the British all of its land in North America east of the Mississippi River other than the city of New Orleans.
  • The French land west of the Mississippi, called Louisiana, was given to Spain.
  • The Spanish gave Florida to Britain and the British returned Havana.
  • The end result was that the French no longer had territory in North America.

Cut out the cards on the gray line, fold in half, glue and have fun learning few facts.

More History O Ring Free Cards

Free Homeschool History Cards. French and Indian War @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

How to Get the Free French and Indian War History Cards

Now, how to grab the free history o ring cards. It’s a subscriber freebie.

That means when you sign up to follow me, you get my emails in your inbox and you get this freebie.

1) Sign up on my email list.
2) Grab the freebie now.
3) Last, look for all my emails in your inbox. Glad to have you following me!