I love history!
I even pick up history textbooks and read them for fun. There! I admitted it!
However, not every child is born loving history. So, I have looked for ways to bring history alive, to make it fun. We read historical fiction, make timelines, look at maps, watch movies, make crafts, time travel in the kitchen, create radio dramas, and write poetry.
We also throw parties to study history! We love to have fun when we homeschool.
Yes, we do!
We have had medieval banquets, archaeology digs, luaus, 1950s sock hops, Victorian teas, and Ancient Greek Olympics.
How Hard Is This?
Doesn’t that sound like a lot of work just to homeschool history? you ask.
Well, yes and no. We love parties, so I am motivated if it means people I like, good food, and lots of wholesome fun! My kids love parties, too.
Here is why we learn history when we plan an event like a sock hop or a medieval banquet. We have to research history to create an authentic experience. We dig deeper than normal to find out what they wore, what they ate, exactly what they did, where they did it, and why they did it.
When we planned our Ancient Greek Olympics, we learned that the games were a form of worship to their idol/gods. They opened each day by committing everything to one or more of the idol/gods or idol/goddesses. We decided to open our ceremonies in prayer and commit the whole event to Jesus. Then we learned about all the events and how they competed. In the process, we learned about Greek city-states and their relationships with one another. We discovered some funny stories along the way.
