4 Things You Need to Know About Homeschool High School History Curriculum
I earn a commission from products purchased through links in this post.
Choosing a homeschool high school history curriculum can feel a little complicated. There are so many options covering every time period!
I recommend planning for high school history courses before your student is even at the high school level. We can leave room for electives and switch things up as needed, but having a plan for the core subjects insures that we don’t forget anything important. It can help relieve some of the anxiety about homeschooling high school.
Before choosing a high school history curriculum, there are a few things that are helpful to know.
4 Things You Need to Know About Homeschool High School History Curriculum
1. Types of High School History Courses
These are general knowledge types of history classes that will give high schoolers a good understanding of history. Standard history classes are even REQUIRED to be taken in high school if a student wants to attend college one day.
I live in North Carolina and most public colleges here follow the UNC admission requirements. Those schools require applicants to have, at minimum, one credit of United States history on their high school transcript.
Notice that there are four years of high school and only one required history credit. Does that mean high schoolers should only take history for one year?
Not if your student plans to get into a school that is in any way competitive.
The entrance requirements are the minimum. Some states also require homeschoolers to take study history or social studies annually. Note though that public school high school graduation requirements are not homeschool graduation requirements.
I encourage you to include some sort of history course every year of high school. Fit the required courses into the high school plan and then tailor some courses to your student’s interests.
Possible high school history curriculum topics include:
- United States History
- World History
- American Government
- World Geography
- African American History
- Women’s History
- Early American History
- Ancient History
- Art History
- Middle Ages
- American Revolution
- Civil War
- World War I
- World War II
- Religions in World Cultures
- International Relations
- Modern World
If your high schooler is really interested in history, they can even take more than 4 history courses throughout their high school years. History courses can make great electives!
Personally, I tend to stick with the basics for my high schoolers. Over their four years, they take world history, United States history (divided into two years), American government (1 semester), and economics (1 semester). Your plan doesn’t have to look like this though!
2. Courses Do NOT Have to Look Like Public School
Homeschooling comes with a few perks, one of which is the flexibility to create a plan to teach our kids in a way that works best for them.
If your high schooler loves reading, feel free to choose a literature-rich high school history curriculum.
If your high schooler hates reading, feel free to choose a high school history curriculum that doesn’t include books.
On the surface, textbooks seem like an easy way to teach history. However, if your student hates learning through a textbook, then it might not be worth the battle. There are other options.
Learning can happen through:
- Textbooks
- Literature (nonfiction and historical fiction)
- Videos (Crash Course videos are great!)
- Lectures
- Primary Source Documents
- Field Trips
- Educational Podcasts
- Hands-On Activities and Projects
- Online Courses
It is also possible to overlap subjects. For example, books that accentuate the history curriculum can be added to the language arts curriculum. U.S. geography can be studied while learning American history.
Related: Video-Based High School World History
3. It Is Possible to Earn College Credit for History
There are three ways to earn college credit for history classes while still in high school.
- AP Tests
- CLEP Tests
- Dual Enrollment
AP Tests
AP Tests are content area tests that are designed to be taken at the end of an AP course. If a student earns a high enough score, colleges may award college credit. Not all colleges will award college credit for AP tests.
These tests can be a bit logistically tricky for homeschoolers because they are generally only offered at public and private high schools. The high schools do not have to allow homeschoolers to sit for the tests.
If you plan to have your child take an AP test start planning at least a year early. Tests take place in May, but they are ordered in the fall. Start contacting schools and ask to test with them in the spring before you want to take the exam. Some schools are more homeschool friendly than others, so you might have to call a few options.
One last note about AP tests. AP courses are regulated by the College Board. No one is allowed to call a course ‘AP’ unless that coursework has been approved by them. Homeschoolers can have their curriculum audited by the College Board for approval, but it is a process.
CLEP Tests
CLEP tests are another way to earn college credit while still in high school. They are a little easier for homeschool families to navigate logistically than AP tests.
The purpose of CLEP tests is to show that your student has a college-level amount of knowledge about a particular topic. High schoolers can study using any curriculum, but there are also CLEP study guides. Modern States offers high-quality study materials and test vouchers to reduce the financial burden of testing.
After preparing for the test, students go to a testing center and take the exam. You will likely need to register for the test in advance, but not nearly as early as the AP tests. Depending on the availability of the testing center, registering a month in advance is likely fine.
If a student scores high enough on the CLEP, then a college can award college credit. Not every college accepts CLEP tests in place of college coursework, but it is accepted at roughly 2,900 colleges around the country.
History CLEP exams include:
- American Government
- History of the United States I: Early Colonization to 1877
- History of the United States II: 1865 to the Present
- Social Sciences and History
- Western Civilization I: Ancient Near East to 1648
- Western Civilization II: 1648 to the Present
Dual Enrollment
Dual enrollment is when high school students take college classes. These classes are typically taken through community colleges and can be a great way to get a little college experience while still at home.
These classes are 100% college classes so they are given college credit almost all of the time. There are a few 4-year colleges that do not accept community college credits (MIT, I’m looking at you), but those colleges tend to be very competitive. Usually, dual enrollment is available to students beginning in 11th grade.
This can be a great option if your high schooler can keep up with the pace of a college course. Keep in mind that college classes usually only last one semester, so they move fast.
This is the route my oldest chose. She attended our local community college and earned college credit for U.S. History I and II during her last two years of high school.
Related: 5 Things to Know About Dual Enrollment
4. You Can Create Your Own High School History Curriculum
I might be picky, but I think it is really hard to find a great high school history curriculum. My kids generally like history, but most high school options are either boring, not really high school grade level (in my opinion), or take a Christian worldview when I prefer secular.
They might be great for other families, but they won’t work for mine.
At first, I found this really frustrating. I tried to make a random high school world history textbook purchased from Amazon work. It was just okay, and it checked the world history box, but I didn’t want to use it again.
When my youngest was preparing for 9th grade I knew that I needed to create a high school history curriculum for him. He likes history but would be bored out of his mind if he had to read a history textbook.
I ended up creating a video-based world history course for him and it is working really well. He is enjoying the material and we frequently have great dinnertime discussions about what he is learning.
There are a few steps to creating your own high school history curriculum, but it isn’t as difficult as you might think.
Choose the Topics
On the surface, it seems like choosing the topics for the history curriculum would be easy. In reality, this is often the hardest step because there is so much that could be covered.
When I was creating the world history curriculum for my son I made a list of all of the topics I wanted to cover. I used the chapter list from the textbook and the topics from the Stanford History Education Group to make sure I had everything.
Then I added up the hours it would take to learn everything I had noted and realized I had at least two years’ worth of topics. That was way too much!
I had to come to grips with the reality that I wouldn’t be able to teach all of world history. I mean, there have been a lot of important historical events around the globe in the history of the world.
Select the topics that are most representative of the content area and put the others to the side.
As long as our teens enjoy learning, they will be able to learn anything we didn’t cover at a later date.
Gather Materials
Once you have a list of your topics it is time to start gathering material. This might be books, videos, field trip opportunities, project ideas, or websites.
I like to make a Google doc to keep track of all of the resources so I can keep them organized.
This step can be fun but usually takes the longest.
Create the Plan
After you have the topics and the materials, it is time to put it all together to make a plan for your history lessons.
I like to make a Google doc with every week of the school year listed. Our school year is 36 weeks, but yours might be slightly different. Then I start putting topics in chronological order. Some topics have more materials and resources so you might need to move things around a bit to fit your calendar. I don’t make extremely detailed lesson plans. It is just a list of what we will do each week.
Related: How to Create a Homeschool Curriculum Your Kids Will Love
I hope this post has helped you feel more informed about high school history curriculum options. Remember, the best homeschool history curriculum is the one that works best for your family.
Keep reading . . .
- How to Create a Homeschool High School Plan
- Fantastic High School World History Resources
- Video-Based High School World History
- Useful American History Resources for High School
- Homeschooling High School Resources, Curriculum, and Tips
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.