homeschool history

How to Organise a Homeschool History Trip the Charlotte Mason Way

10/06/2022

One of the bonus points of a homeschool life is being able to go on field trips during term time when it’s quiet! But what are you supposed to do on a homeschool history trip?

Do you have to take all your books with you?

Do your children have to complete a project?

Do you have to collect “evidence” to prove your visit?

This blog post offers advice for each age group when attending a homeschool history field trip.

Why are homeschool history trips important?

The first piece of advice is the most important – you don’t HAVE to do anything! If all you and your children do is attend a field trip, explore your surroundings, and have a great day, then class that as a successful field trip!

However, as homeschool mothers, we carry a heavy pressure to squeeze every learning opportunity as much as possible. So, how can you make the most of a homeschool history trip?

First, understand why a homeschool history trip is important. The Charlotte Mason philosophy encourages our children to build relationships with the topics they are studying. What better way to build a relationship with the knights of medieval times than exploring the ruins of their once-glorious castle? How better to understand the struggles of Victorian life than to trail through the London dungeons?

By exploring history through trips as well books, children benefit from seeing their studies come to life. It allows them to experience the information first hand!

What should you do before a homeschool history trip?

How do you prepare for a homeschool history trip? This part can create an overwhelming to-do list, if you’re not careful. So, it’s important to remember that we cannot possibly teach our children every single piece of information available. The aim of our homeschool is to create a lifelong love of learning and an appreciation of the journey. We need to spark our children’s interest.

So, before a homeschool history field trip, that is your only goal – spark their interest. Teach them just enough to create a buzz of excitement about your upcoming trip.

Read impressive battle stories from Arthurian legend before visiting a castle.
Discuss the struggles of Abdullah Quilliam before he established the UK’s first mosque.
Try a day living like Tudors before visiting the Tudor houses and museums.

By creating this sense of wonder in your children, you are prepping them to make way for any new experiences the field trip has to offer.

For your older children, encourage them to think about other things they would like to know. If they have their own set of questions they want answering during the trip, they are taking charge of their own learning and being responsible for the satisfaction of having their questions answered.

Maybe they can research the field trip destination beforehand, and they can be the tour guide. Allow them to research what is available, and they can oversee where you go and what you do on the day.

Homeschool History: Level 1 (Under 7s)

If following a Charlotte Mason philosophy, you’ll know the “requirements” for under 7s are minimal. The focus should be on being outside as much as possible, maybe a little arithmetic, and plenty of snuggles with living books!

But this is when a field trip comes in handy. A child under 7 can enjoy a homeschool history trip for exactly what it is – an adventure and a chance for more exploration!

Encourage your child to collect souvenirs, and I don’t mean the expensive ones from the gift shops! Maybe your child finds an interestingly shaped rock or a flower? Maybe they find it thrilling to follow a map of your location in a brochure!

Tip: Remember anything collected can either be sketched or stuck into their Book of Centuries to commemorate their historical trip through time!

Muslim homeschool curriculum book of centuries

To find out more about How to Use a Book of Centuries – CLICK HERE

The idea for this age group is to keep stoking the fire of curiosity and wonder. Children under 7 have a natural inclination to explore and ask questions. Your only job is to not get in the way!

When travelling home, or even the following day, ask your child to orally narrate what they did on their trip. Let them tell you what they understood and the connections they made.

Homeschool History: Level 2 (Ages 7-11)

Once your child hits this age bracket, the intensity of work steps up a little bit.

Please note: this is by no means a hard and fast rule for this age group. Judge your child’s ability based on their progress rather than their age. If your child is still at the freestyle-exploration stage, leave them there! Often, they’ll show YOU signs they are ready to upgrade their learning.

So, what can a child do on their history trip? If their trip includes a destination linked to a current area of study, your child probably already has some questions they need answering. Find out beforehand what they will have access to on your trip and help them come up with a list of questions they’d like answering.

Another hands-on idea for your child is for them to document their trip – whether a video or photo diary, keeping a written journal, or even just collecting memorabilia for a scrapbook!

Tip: Take your Book of Centuries with you! You will probably come across lots of new information and dates on your trip. Let your child check this information against things they have already recorded in their Book of Centuries! [Purchase yours here UK USA ]

Charlotte mason history book of centuries

Homeschool History: Level 3 (Ages 12+)

Now is when we must get serious… right? Well, not necessarily! Once your child hits this age range, a lot of his/her studies may start to take a “serious” turn. Whether you’re thinking about secondary school or GCSEs, children will notice the expectations for their work are increasing.

A history trip is not that time. See your history trip as a blessing and a chance for your pre/teen to get back to enjoying learning and seeing what they can soak up without an official plan. Children absorb a lot more information when they don’t think they HAVE to!

However, if you or your child are eager for more, set a history trip as part of a greater research project.

They don’t just have to visit Stonehenge; they are researching the impact of religion and spirituality in pre-historic Britain!
They’re not just visiting Gettysburg National Military Park; they are creating their own timeline and map of the civil war.
They’re not just visiting Titanic Belfast; they are putting together an engineering report of the safety requirements for a cruise ship.
They’re not just visiting Mesa Verde National Park; they are researching the Native American contribution to civilisation.

Helping your child build connections with what they are seeing on their trip with other areas of study is a guaranteed way to embrace the Charlotte Mason mentality during their older years. Education is a study of relationships, and a history trip is a fantastic way for older children to appreciate how their different areas of study are interconnected.

Once you get home

The days after a homeschool trip are a great time to soak in what you have all experienced and learnt. Whether you have an informal discussion or even go as far as to put on a presentation for family members! Find a way to recap or narrate your experiences and spend time with what you have learnt before moving on to the next topic. And that means you too! Join in with the children and show them that learning truly is a lifelong pursuit.

Keep focused

As you can see, there is no right or wrong way to go on a homeschool history trip. But what is important is that you remember your focus as a Charlotte Mason homeschool:

Discuss how topics are related.
Facilitate your child building their own relationship with their topic.
Remind them of the disciplines and habits required when out of the house.
Narrate back what they have learnt in a range of creative ways.

What do you do on your homeschool history trips? Leave a comment with your history trip recommendations!

[Don’t forget to order your Book of Centuries here UK USA .]

How to Start Homeschooling

Launch Your Homeschool is an online course that will hold your hand and walk you through the beginning stages of homeschooling, built upon the framework of the Charlotte Mason philosophy.

I teach you how to craft a curriculum for your homeschool, how to choose the right resources, and plan out your year to create a homeschool experience that aligns with the values and beliefs of your family. Whether you are homeschooling in the UK, or elsewhere in the world, this programme will help you give your children an incredible education at home.

I show you the essential teaching techniques that you’ll need to know to get started. There’s even an entire module on how to manage your time so you can still cook, keep the house tidy and take care of yourself, all whilst homeschooling your children!

Interested?

Launch Your Homeschool enrolment is currently closed.

Doors open July 2022, insha’Allah.

JOIN THE WAITING LIST HERE:

Peace and love,

10 Wonderful Art and Craft Ideas for Homeschool History

15/05/2022

As homeschooling mamas, we often have a love-hate relationship with art and crafts. But understanding the value of the activity can help motivate us to not only find more crafts for our children, but to even enjoy them ourselves. When teaching history the Charlotte Mason way, craft activities can be a wonderfully creative way to change up your homeschool history lessons.

(This Blog Post contains affiliate link. Please see Disclaimer for more information.)

Scroll down for 10 crafts for you to use with your children.

Homeschool history and Charlotte Mason

One of the main aims of the Charlotte Mason philosophy is to help children develop relationships – both with the topic they are studying and those around them. Craft activities are an incredible way to achieve this.

By enjoying a hands-on activity in your homeschool history lessons, your children will have something tangible to experiment with and explore. They have a chance to put their own slant on a history project and express their understanding in a fun and practical way. Additionally, children will build their own memories and visualise historical events and figures as they work their way through each project.

Another key aspect of Charlotte Mason philosophy is nurturing children’s ability to express their learning. Whether this is through an oral narration where they repeat back what they have learnt or through a written narration where they summarise the points they felt were important from their reading. But a history craft, and the discussion it inspires, is also a perfect way to have your child narrate what they understand in a natural, organic way.

10 Homeschool History Crafts

1. Timeline

Having a history timeline is an ideal way to visualise the order of historical events. Children can be their own historian as they record the dates and events of different periods.

A fun way to do this is to create a history timeline on the wall or large poster board, like this one. Children add their own items or images to each historical period. They can add whatever they like: paintings, collages, photos, or little facts.

For the time of the Prophet Muhammad, Peace Be Upon Him, you can use some free Seerah timeline images by signing up here.

If you are pushed for space or prefer to keep the timeline contained, your children can keep a timeline notebook in a Book of Centuries. Purchase Our Muslim Homeschool’s very own Book of Centuries HERE, complete with an Islamic calendar!

2. Build Al-Aqsa

Masjid al-Aqsa is a place so rich in history that people dedicate their lives to it without ever knowing everything. As Muslims we have a special connection to this place and it makes a valuable addition to any homeschool history curriculum.

Help your children bring the site of al-Aqsa alive by building their own 3D model. Using cereal boxes, plastic bottles and any other junk materials from around the house, children can get hands on with this activity. Use this diagram to get an accurate idea of the layout of the building and its surroundings.

This is a chance to talk about some fantastic moments in Islamic history such as Isra and Miraj, the Crusades and Salahuddin Ayoubi.

3. Who’s Who Game

In history, there are numerous people for children to remember. Turn this challenge into a fun game by making “Who’s Who?” cards.

How to Play:

Firstly, create individual cards for each important person you are studying.
Secondly, include physical descriptions, achievements and general clues explaining who they are.
Then, one person picks a card at random and keeps it hidden.
The other players have to ask questions to guess who is on the card.

The beauty of this game is it can be replicated for any time period, whether the Wars of the Roses during the time of the Tudors, or the Civil Rights Movement in the US.

As an example, take a look at this Who’s Who game of the Battle of Hastings from the English Heritage website.

4. Family History Journal

As mentioned, Charlotte Mason stresses the importance of children building relationships with the information they are learning. What better topic to relate to than that of your own family history. Life has changed so significantly over the past few decades that you wouldn’t have to research that far back to find interesting things for your children.

Use the instructions here to make your very own family history journal. It’s important to allow children the freedom to express what they have learnt in their own way. Over time, let them draw, write, paint, or stick in photos and collages.

5. Shoebox Time Periods

This craft is extremely versatile and can be applied to whichever time period you’re studying. Use materials and items from around your house and grab a shoebox. Inside the shoebox, build a scene that represents a scene or location from your history lesson.

Here are some examples:

If studying Ancient Egypt, you can build a pyramid, add the river Nile, and draw hieroglyphs around the side.
For the Victorians, you could fashion a traditional Victorian street in London, complete with small toy models that children used to play with.
If studying the American Civil War, you can build a depiction of the Battle of Gettysburg from 1863.

Use this link for further instructions and shoebox diorama ideas.

6. Famous Buildings

Using model clay or playdough, you and your children can help each other to recreate famous historical buildings. Look at photos or documentaries, and discuss the history of the buildings as you work. You could build:

The Great Wall of China
The Colosseum in Rome
Pyramids
The Ka’ba
The Lincoln Memorial, etc.

7. Time Travelling Homeschool History Passport

As you go through your various history projects, help children feel connected to and excited by the many different cultures and ways of life you are discovering. A great way to do this is to encourage children to keep their own record.

Using the notebook tutorial for the Family History Journal, create a Time Travelling Passport. Children can draw things they discover about different time periods, stick in images they find during research, or note down their narrations. This craft can go alongside your Book of Centuries [insert purchase link here] and together they will make a wonderful record of your child’s historical discoveries and learning journey.

Another great addition to this activity would be the Magic Treehouse books [insert Amazon link here]. This series features two children who travel back to different time periods in a magical treehouse. Your children can use their passport to document their own time-travelling adventures!

Related: Get FREE Seerah Timeline Images HERE

8. Get Cooking

If there is one thing the internet has an abundance of, it’s recipes! What’s more, some recipes are child-friendly and will make a lovely addition to your homeschool history curriculum. Using different time periods and cultures, you can have themed cooking sessions. Try some of these to start off with:

Viking Bread
Ancient Egyptian Date Balls (I had no idea this tasty snack was so ancient!)
Tudor feast recipes
Pasteli from Ancient Greece

9. Historical DIY

The next time you venture to the park or a local nature walk set your children a DIY tools challenge. During the Stone Age prehistoric people utilised stone, trees and leaves to craft basic tools. See what your children can create and bring home as a prehistoric souvenir. They could even draw their creations in their Time Travelling Passport!

If you need some ideas, check out these engineering challenge ideas!

10. Learn Through Art

Artistic expression has changed significantly. From cave paintings of mammoths to Michelangelo’s depictions of the Book of Genesis on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. A great way for children to connect and relate to these works of art is to try and replicate them for themselves.

Because of the wide range of art projects to choose from, this project is perfect for children of different ages. They can pick any image they feel comfortable with, whether it’s a cave sketching, Egyptian drawings from tombs or complete Tudor paintings.

Don’t forget to add the dates of the original works of art in your Book of Centuries!

UK 🇬🇧 | USA 🇺🇸 | CANADA 🇨🇦 | AUSTRALIA 🇦🇺

Creative homeschool history for everyone

As you can see, homeschool history lessons don’t have to mean reading long biographies and composing written narrations. Craft activities are a creative form of narration and an opportunity for your child to spend time with the information they have encountered. Therein lies the beauty of the Charlotte Mason philosophy – you can mould the lessons to suit you and your children!

Muslim Homeschool Curriculum: How to Use a Book of Centuries

30/11/2021

What do we need to teach our children? Which books should we buy? What topics must we cover? Teaching history in a Muslim Homeschool can be tricky. How do we teach the whole history of mankind in a way that makes sense to children of different ages? This blog post will show you how a Book of Centuries will completely transform your Muslim Homeschool curriculum.

Muslim homeschool curriculum - Islamic history timeline book of centuries

What should be in a Muslim Homeschool Curriculum for History?

When following a Charlotte Mason philosophy, history allows children to build connections between historical events. Our kids must understand how events relate to each other and be able to discuss the lessons which can be learnt.

To do this, it is essential children learn the order of historical events. Understanding when things happened is just as important as what happened. In a history lesson, your children are probably reading a variety of books covering history from different periods and cultures. But how can we gather this information in a logical way for our kids?

Charlotte Mason recommended children get to know a few particular time periods very well, rather than skimming over a brief outline of everything. Children interested in a certain time period will often find themselves absorbed in a single period of history for longer. However, they need to gather information in a coherent way, while understanding how events relate to each other.

This is where the Book of Centuries comes in.

What is a Book of Centuries?

A Book of Centuries sounds incredibly important, doesn’t it?

And it is.

It is an organised way for your children to process the historical facts learnt during their readings, read alouds, and history lessons. A Book of Centuries is an essential part of any Muslim homeschool curriculum.

The Book of Centuries is set up like a diary and contains blank pages waiting for your child to fill them in. To guide them, dates are written across the top of each page. These dates usually span from around 4000BC (the time of first recorded history) and the present day.

A Book of Centuries becomes a household treasure. You can have one shared between your children or they can have one each for their own personal collection. Over their years of homeschooling, children will continue to add to their Book of Centuries, their book growing and evolving alongside their historical knowledge.

Their Book of Centuries will become a cherished possession which they return to years later and recall the incredible stories. Having a place to record their historical findings encourages children to engage with what they are learning. They practice how to critically decide which pieces of information are important enough to include. Their creativity is sparked as they choose how to display the information in their books. They can choose to either write, draw, or even glue pictures and diagrams!

WATCH THIS VIDEO

How to use a Book of Centuries in a Muslim Homeschool Curriculum

Now for the interesting part.

You know how to approach history, you know how important a Book Centuries is for your child’s Muslim homeschool curriculum, but how do you use a Book of Centuries alongside your history readings?

Charlotte Mason, recommends your children spend at least one lesson per week working on their Book of Centuries and timeline. This means they spend about 20 minutes gathering what they have learnt throughout the week and adding to their book.

To add an entry into their Book of Centuries, children locate the page with the correct year. Then, they add content to those pages to represent what they are learning. This could be done in different ways:

Writing the date of birth and death of famous people throughout history
Small sketches of important relics, events, or locations, such as pyramids or castles
Pictures printed from the internet of famous people or events
Parts of leaflets cut out from history field trips

Is a Book of Centuries just for History?

The Book of Centuries is a versatile resource that can be used in more than just History lessons.

For example, if your child reads about Salahuddin, they will come across dates of important battles and crusades. These dates would be added to their Book of Centuries, along will a small description of what happened. Your child might sketch the armour and weapons used at the time. Some children might include a map of Jerusalem and the grounds of Masjid al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock.

This little project may spark an interest in the crusades and the ongoing fight for authority in the Holy Lands. Your child will see how long this fight has been going on. Your child will understand how many time periods have influenced a fight that is still raging today.

As we’re taught by Charlotte Mason herself:

“…it is necessary to know something of what has gone before in order to think justly of what is occurring today.” (A Philosophy of Education, Charlotte Mason)

Charlotte Mason quote - history and book of centuries

In these ways, children are building their own unique record of history in a way that not only makes sense to them but also demonstrates how events and time periods relate to each other. Children develop an intelligent sense of time and the evolution of mankind.

Where to buy your own Book of Centuries

Now, I’ve been where you are before. I completely adored the idea of using a Book of Centuries in my homeschool. I grabbed a blank notebook and started adding dates to the top of each page, each double spread representing 100 years.

However, this is time-consuming, and it was incredibly confusing trying to manage the time span of 6000 years! Plus, as a Muslim homeschool, it was important to me to make acknowledge the Islamic calendar and its place in the history of our world.

Because I know how tricky designing your own Book of Centuries can be, I have developed a book for you with the dates and setup already done.

When you purchase the Our Muslim Homeschool Book of Centuries, you have a blank notebook all ready for your child with:

Islamic dates alongside Gregorian dates at the top of each page
Lists of key Islamic dates
Further reading suggestions
A page of profile cut-outs for you to get started
A page for your chid to record their own family history

Muslim homesschool curriculum Islamic history book of centuries

This Book of Centuries will help your child engage with their Muslim Homeschool curriculum and enjoy History lessons in an exciting way. No matter the age of your children, having a book they can add to themselves, without the work being done for them, will provide a satisfying sense of achievement, inshaAllah.

Purchase your copy straight from Amazon here: Amazon UK | Amazon USA