Why Big Ideas through History?
I am not a historian, just a homeschool mom that loves history and greatly values the lessons we can learn from the past. A few years ago, when my older kids were mid-elementary aged, I decided it was time to start exploring the history of our world and people with them.
I started searching through all the available programs. I was looking for something affordable, thorough, secular, and un-biased.
And I came up empty-handed.
So, I decided to piece together my own curriculum for them. I created a rough outline of topics and the order I wanted to cover them, and grabbed everything I could find at the library. And bought used books to fill the holes (so many books!)
And so developed Big Ideas through History:
An affordable, thorough, secular, un-biased
approach to history education that will meet the
varying needs of any homeschooling family.
What is the Big Ideas through History Teaching Outline?
The Big Ideas through History teaching outline is just that: an outline.
It is not intended to be a stand-alone curriculum but rather as a guide for teaching world history which allows you to cover topics in whatever way best suits your individual family and learners.
And while secular resources are suggested for each individual section, some may be better suited for your situation than others. Or you might deem it more beneficial to find your own books and web-based sources that are most appropriate for your family.
Big Ideas through History is designed to be a 3 year program, covering the big bang through today, with 10 units per year.
The program’s 4-part units each include three sub-topics and one related civilization/culture per unit. Rather than cover topics of world history chronologically, Big Ideas through History is taught through the exploration of the big ideas and events that shaped our world through time.
And though there is a sequence to the Units, each Section of Big Ideas through History is designed to cover a complete, stand alone topic. Therefore, any Section can be taught individually or used to accompany other programs at any time, without the need to cover earlier topics first.
How to use the Big Ideas through History Teaching Outline
Big Ideas through History is arranged into 4-part units with three sub-topics and one related civilization/culture per unit.
Each individual section of Big Ideas through History includes:
•Main points of the topic
•A suggested activity (worksheet or project)
•A list of suggested secular resources including books, websites, web videos, and web games
•A quiz with answer key*
Each Unit of Big Ideas through History also includes a unit summary, blank unit outline, and quiz show style game covering all 4 parts of the unit which can be used as a pre-test, end of unit assessment, or both.
I recommend teaching each unit in either 4- or 6-week blocks, depending on how much time you want to dedicate per week and how in-depth you want to go with each topic.
For a 4-week schedule, cover one individual section and/or civilization per week.
For a 6-week schedule, cover each individual section over two weeks, and weave the civilization into the other topics throughout the entire 6 weeks.
*No quiz is included for the civilization sections of each unit.