5 Free History Curriculum Options

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Homeschool curricula can be expensive, so I like to utilize free resources whenever possible. These free history curriculum options can be a great addition to your homeschool plan.

Sometimes free curricula are worth exactly what you paid for them, but other times it can feel like winning the lottery. These are solid options. To make the most of free curriculum options, I suggest combining resources. These history curriculum options are free, so it is still affordable to utilize several options to teach a single topic. Sometimes using multiple curricula lets you see different viewpoints to get a fuller picture of what happened.

5 Free History Curriculum Options

5 Awesome Totally Free History Curriculum Options written above ancient columns

Core Knowledge

Grades: Kindergarten – 8th

Core Knowledge offers free history curriculum student textbooks and teacher manuals for kindergarten – 8th grade. The materials are available as free downloads. The material can seem fairly basic, especially in the early grades, but it can help build a strong historical foundation. I have used this curriculum as a curriculum spine and then supplemented additional books, activities, and worksheets to make the curriculum more robust.

As you look through the topics listed below, you will notice that the topics have a bit of a spiral approach. Students continue to add knowledge to topics they have previously studied.

Each topic is a separate free book, so it is easy to pick and choose topics to study if you don’t want to use the entire curriculum for a grade level. The topics do not always take the same amount of time to cover, which explains why some grade levels have only a few topics, and others have many topics to study.

Current free history curriculum offerings:

Kindergarten

  1. Explore Our World
  2. Native Americans
  3. Exploring and Moving to America
  4. The Mount Rushmore Presidents

1st Grade:

  1. Continents, Countries, and Maps
  2. Ancient Egypt
  3. Mesopotamia
  4. Three World Religions
  5. Early Civilizations of the Americas
  6. The Culture of Mexico
  7. Early Explorers and Settlers
  8. From Colonies to Independence
  9. Exploring the West
  10. Lessons in Civics

2nd Grade

  1. Ancient India
  2. Ancient China
  3. The Culture of Japan
  4. Ancient Greece
  5. Geography of the Americas
  6. Making the Constitution
  7. The War of 1812
  8. Americans Move West
  9. The Civil War
  10. Immigration and Citizenship
  11. Civil Rights Leaders
  12. Lessons in Economics

3rd Grade

  1. World Rivers
  2. Ancient Rome
  3. The Vikings
  4. The Earliest Americans
  5. Canada
  6. Exploration of North America
  7. The Thirteen Colonies

4th Grade

  1. Using Maps
  2. World Mountains
  3. Medieval Europe
  4. The American Revolution
  5. Medieval Islamic Empires
  6. Early and Medieval African Kingdoms
  7. Dynasties of China
  8. The United States Constitution
  9. Early Presidents
  10. American Reformers
  11. Understanding Civics

5th Grade

  1. World Lakes
  2. Maya, Aztec, and Inca Civilizations
  3. The Age of Exploration
  4. The Renaissance
  5. The Reformation
  6. England in the Golden Age
  7. Early Russia
  8. Feudal Japan
  9. The Geography of the United States
  10. Native American Cultures and Conflicts
  11. Understanding Economics

6th Grade

  1. World Deserts
  2. Ancient Greece and Rome
  3. The Enlightenment
  4. The French Revolution and Romanticism
  5. The Industrial Revolution: Changes and Challenges
  6. Independence for Latin America
  7. Immigration
  8. Industrialization and Urbanization in America
  9. Reform in Industrial America

7th Grade

  1. Civics and Economics in U.S. History
  2. A History of the United States
  3. World History

8th Grade

  1. A History of the United States
  2. World History
  3. Civics and Economics in World History

OER Project

Grades: 6 – 12

OER Project offers a few free history curriculum options. One advantage of OER Project is that it provides a level of teacher support that is unheard of in free curricula. Teachers can access free teaching guides, teaching tips, connect with other OER Project teachers, and attend webinars. There is even an option to request a 15-minute phone call with the company.

Free history curriculum options:

  • Big History Project
  • World History Project
  • World History Project AP (approved as an AP course by the College Board)
  • Climate Project
  • Origins to Present World History
  • 1200 to Present World History
  • 1750 to Present World History

Hillsdale College

Grades: K – 12

Hillsdale College offers a free history curriculum for elementary, middle, and high school students. This is primarily a classical approach to teaching history. The focus is primarily on American History, so I would recommend adding in World History topics as well in order to create a well-rounded history curriculum.

American History (K – 5th)

  • The British Colonies of North America
  • The American Founding
  • The Early Republic
  • The American Civil War

American History (6th – 12th)

  • The British Colonies of North America
  • The American Founding
  • The Early Republic
  • The American Civil War
  • The Turn of the Century
  • The Interwar Years and WWII
  • Post-War America
  • Recent American History

American Civics (6th – 8th)

  • The Declaration of Independence
  • The United States Constitution
  • Politics and Policy
  • Challenging and Defending America’s Principles

American Government and Politics (9th – 12th)

  • The Principles of America
  • A Constitution of Principles
  • Governing in the Constitution
  • Equality in America
  • Progressivism and the State
  • Institutions and Policy
  • Politics in Practice
  • Late 20th Century Government and Politics

Khan Academy

Grades: High School

Khan Academy is known for its free educational resources. They offer several history courses. They do not suggest a grade level, but everything appears to be at about a high school level. You may need to combine several courses to create a full free history curriculum. The AP courses are approved by the College Board.

Topics currently offered:

  • Big History Project
  • World History Project – Origins to the Present
  • World History Project – 1750 to the Present
  • US History
  • AP/College US History
  • US Government and Civics
  • AP/College US Government and Civics
  • AP/College Art History
  • World History
  • World History Project AP
  • Constitution 101

Related Post: 6 Ways to Use Khan Academy for Homeschooling

OpenStax

Grades: High School

OpenStax is a resource provided by Rice University. My family has used OpenStax textbooks a few times in our years of homeschooling. The textbooks provide a great spine for a curriculum. Everything is free if you use the digital version. Each course has a student textbook, instructor resources, and student resources.

Some of the instructor resources are available to everyone, and others are available only to verified instructors. In the past, my husband has been able to use our homeschool registration letter as proof of being an instructor to gain access to the resources, but I have heard of other people with differing results. I think their goal is to prevent students from accessing the answer keys.

The courses include:

  1. U.S. History
  2. World History 1
  3. World History 2
  4. American Government

I hope these free history curriculum options help you offer a rich and full history education for your students.

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Welcome! My name is Jennifer. I am a teacher at heart. Before my children were born I was a public school teacher. Now, I am a homeschooling mom of two.