Homeschool History Curriculum Comparison Guide

Beautiful Feet Books

Beautiful Feet Books is one of our family’s favorite homeschool curriculums and their history selection is absolutely amazing! The books are beautiful and fun, especially if you are a Charlotte Mason homeschooler. We reviewed one of their kits here – a geography kit for elementary students – and their Intermediate Early American History bundle here – but they have many different selections to choose from.

This curriculum brings a well-needed twist on modern education. Instead of spouting facts from textbooks, your children will learn history through stories.

Grade Level

Beautiful Feet Books cater to children from kindergarten to grade 12. As your kid grows, you will have to splash the cash on higher-level materials.

Price

To get the full pack, you’ll pay around $250. If you already have some of the titles, however, the customer service team will adjust the price. You might be able to find them on Amazon for a bit of a discount too.

Digital or Physical?

It’s a physical course that values learning through storytelling.

Secular or Christian?

While we wouldn’t call this curriculum completely secular, it isn’t overly religious either. Instead, it focuses on creating empathy and character building.

Preparation Time

You can jump straight in with zero preparation. The lesson plans are detailed enough and they give you everything you could possibly need to teach history.

Teacher Involvement

Learning history through reading aloud is the core principle here. So, you’ll need to be heavily involved.

Rabbit Trails Through History

Rabbit Trails has become another one of our favorite resources and their history curriculum is just wonderful. Perfect for the entire family to enjoy as a group and a good resource for those who don’t like too much structure but still need some guidance.

They currently have an Early American History curriculum but there are many other topics being released in 2021 and 2022.

Grade Level

While this resource is specifically designed for kids PreK-7, this curriculum is designed to be enjoyed as an entire family so feel free to include your teens as well.

Price

Rabbit Trails is very affordable, running between $30 and $50 for the entire pdf lesson plan. You’ll need to source your own books but many can be found at your local library or online.

Digital or Physical?

This is a physical curriculum. Print out the pdf lesson plan and use it with your books, notebooks, and physical activities.

Secular or Christian?

This curriculum takes a Christian worldview.

Preparation Time

Preparation time is very minimal. Just follow the done-for-you lesson plans!

Teacher Involvement

Teacher involvement is pretty heavy. You’ll need to be involved in every aspect of these lessons.

The Family School Online

We consider The Family School Online to be one of the best homeschool curriculums for Christian families, and we have been subscribing to this program for years. Their history section is very in-depth and I love that it teaches true historical facts in conjunction with the scriptures.

This year we are studying the American Revolution but there are so many programs for every aspect of history included in this subscription.

Grade Level

The Family School Online teaches history to homeschoolers in a whole-classroom setting so you can easily accommodate kids grades K-12.

Price

At $40 per month, this program is a little pricey, but keep in mind you are getting access to every program spanning multiple subjects. You’ll be getting more than just history with this curriculum.

Digital or Physical?

This is a fully digital program, although you can print out the accompanying handouts and worksheets if you so choose.

Secular or Christian?

There is no doubt about it, The Family School online is a Christian program. It takes the viewpoint of The Church of Jesus Christ.

Preparation Time

The prep time for this history curriculum is very low. Everything has the option of being open and go. However, there is enough information there to do more prep time, should you so choose.

Teacher Involvement

Again, this program is very flexible. You can choose to push play on the pre-recorded videos and let your kids learn on their own, or you can lead and guide the lessons yourself.

The Good and the Beautiful

The Good and the Beautiful is one of the most popular curriculums amongst Christian homeschoolers. They do not specialize in just history and in fact have several subjects and topics available for you to purchase.

With this history program, each year, your kids will learn the most important bits and pieces of ancient history. The bold texts and detailed illustrations ensure they’ll stay engaged for the long-haul.

Grade Level

It caters to grades 1 to 12 making it fabulous for larger families. The curriculum suggests ways to make it work for your oldest and your youngest kiddo.

Price

It will cost you approximately $80 per year. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to use the same materials each year as resources are consumable.

Digital or Physical?

It’s a physical course. You and your child will go through two lessons each week that sometimes include board games, worksheets, and literature.

Secular or Christian?

This history curriculum is very Christian focused. It emphasizes God and others throughout the years.

Preparation Time

The preparation time here is minimal even though it’s geared towards large families.

Teacher Involvement

It’s rather teacher-led. You’ll need to read aloud from the textbook for all your lessons.

Notgrass History

The Notgrass Company has added history to its curriculum packages and it is insanely popular. Many homeschooling parents love the middle and high school programs. However, the packages for little ones are great too.

Grade Level

This curriculum provides quality education for children in all stages of their learning (specifically, kindergarten to 12th grade).

Price

Their packages are around $60 but they regularly run sales incentives and provide discount codes.

Digital or Physical?

The course is physical. You’ll receive textbooks, storybooks, timelines, answer keys, and so much more.

Secular or Christian?

Notgrass adopts a Christian worldview. It upholds the Bible and praises Jesus as the world’s Savior.

Preparation Time

There is very little preparation time involved. They aim to make learning rewarding for both your child and yourself.

Teacher Involvement

Your older children will be able to do everything independently. However, you’ll need to be heavily involved with your younger sprogs.

Sonlight

Sonlight is popular with loads of homeschoolers. We’ve tried their new Kindergarten history program and we are definitely fans. But even though this program is absolutely gorgeous, it might not be right for you since it’s very textbook focused.

Grade Level

Sonlight offers history courses for all ages (from preschool to 12th grade).

Price

The packages are on the pricier side of things (around $470 per year). To be okay with the cost, you really have to envisage this as an investment.

Digital or Physical?

It’s a physical course. You receive a huge box of curriculum goodies. Trust us, it’s really exciting to get in the mail!

Secular or Christian?

Sonlight is heavily focused on Christianity. Your kids will study the history, bible, and literature all in one package.

Preparation Time

You will need to put some time into planning your lessons since there are so many bits and bobs to cover. We’d say this makes the prep time level medium to high.

Teacher Involvement

If you’re looking for something student-led, this isn’t the one for you.

Schoolhouse Teachers

Schoolhouse Teachers is a popular all-in-one curriculum that the entire family can use for one low price. They have a multitude of subjects, spanning from language arts to science to history to electives and more.

My favorite part about this curriculum is that it’s a work at your own pace resource so I can breeze through a course in a week or two, or I can spread it out over a few months. The choice is ours!

Grade

Schoolhouse Teachers caters to grades K-12 so the entire family can find exactly what they need!

Price

This is a very affordable course, especially when you consider the fact that you pay per family, not per child. You will not be nickel and dimed just because you have multiple children. Additionally, they often have sales so you can get their already affordable curriculum at an even better price!

For the most part, you can expect to pay between $100 and $300 per year for the entire family, depending on any current promotions. Check right now and see if they’ve got a good Schoolhouse Teachers promotion running!

Digital or Physical

This is a digital resource. All of your courses will be found on their website.

Secular or Christian

While many of the courses are follow a neutral worldview, Schoolhouse Teachers is a Christian resource so you’re likely to find plenty of Christian viewpoints.

Preparation Time

Prep work is specific to the course you are going through but most require pretty minimal prep work.

Teacher Involvement

You’ll need a small amount of teacher involvement for your kids depending on their ages. Older kids will be able to work more independently and younger kids will need more assistance.

Story of the World

Story of the World adopts a text-based, literature-heavy method of teaching history.

Grade Level

It’s aimed at children in grades 4 to 8. While it doesn’t tell stories as we understand the word, it still engages little minds.

Price

Each book is $15. Therefore, it’ll cost you $60 to buy them. It’s worth remembering that you’ll probably want to purchase the activity books too ($20 each).

Digital or Physical?

It’s a physical course.

Secular or Christian?

While the author suggests it’s secular, Story of the World is far more Christian focused than this.

Preparation Time

Until it comes to the hands-on activities, there is very little prep time involved.

Teacher Involvement

It’s designed for the whole family to get involved so you’ll need to be involved most of the time.

Time4Learning

Next up we have a very popular history curriculum. If you are looking for a self-paced, entirely digital course, Time4Learning is the way to go.

Grade Level

Every child from pre-kindergarten to high school can learn history with this one.

Price

Depending on the age of your child, you will pay anywhere between $19.95 to $30 per month. Helpfully, they give you discounts if you enroll more than one child.

Digital or Physical?

It’s a digital course. Your child will receive automatic feedback and results.

Secular or Christian?

This curriculum has adopted a secular perspective.

Preparation Time

Since everything is done online, you don’t need to put any effort into preparation.

Teacher Involvement

It’s student-led so you can leave your child to have the independence they crave.

Ambleside Online

You might value accessibility above anything else. If this is the case, Ambleside Online is a great option because it’s a free history curriculum!

Grade Level

Whether you have children in kindergarten or grade 12, you can use Ambleside Online.

Price

It’s 100% free!

Digital or Physical?

The resources are all online to increase accessibility.

Secular or Christian?

Ambleside Online has a strictly secular perspective.

Preparation Time

You might want to look for the specific resources on the site before you’re due to start teaching. We’d say that the prep time is medium.

Teacher Involvement

The Charlotte Mason homeschooling model is used here which means you need to be present to listen to your little one narrate everything they’ve learned.

All American History

While All American History is focused on literature, the curriculum is written comfortably so children of most ages and abilities can understand it.

Grade Level

It’s perfect for kids in grades 5 to 8.

Price

You’ll pay around $64 for this curriculum. You can find it cheaper if you don’t mind purchasing used materials.

Digital or Physical?

Everything is physical with this one.

Secular or Christian?

It’s written with a largely Christian viewpoint.

Preparation Time

Depending on how in-depth you want your child’s study to be, there will be medium prep time involved.

Teacher Involvement

It’s extremely high! The teacher’s guide is the core of the course. So, you need to be prepared to get stuck in.