Thinking back on your days of packaged curriculum, you remember the groans — in stereo.  “Do we have to do history today?”  Moving toward student-directed learning sounded good, but your heart starts to a beat a little faster and your chest starts to tighten as you worry that, left to make their own choices, your kids might never learn any history or science.  Didn’t they hate these things when you studied them before?  Maybe you should buy a packaged curriculum just for these things…

Not So Fast!

When my kids and I talked previously about what they wanted to study (as we moved closer to unschooling) the oldest two recognized that science and history were gaps in their lists.  These just aren’t strong areas of interest for them and, beyond some basics, aren’t especially relevant for them, either.

With a little bit of effort, though, and outside-the-box thinking, you can find ways to explore history and science that appeals to just about anyone.

Changing Expectations (What You Think You Should Do is Probably Wrong)

In my own search for a good “survey” of world history, I was surprised to find that how to best get an overview of world history was a common question.  I was even more surprised by the advice provided by every actual historian I saw answer it:

Don’t try.

Unanimously (at least among the conversations I was able to find), historians said there’s no such thing as a book that hits all the important parts –  because “important parts” is subjective.  And they all had the same recommendation: find a particular era or aspect of history that you enjoy and explore it deeply.

Interestingly, I’ve heard something similar about science — that it’s more valuable in the long run to study one branch of science in-depth than to study moderately in all of them.  That’s because the skills used for “digging in” this way are easily transferred to other topics later (if you need/want to).  Gaining the experience in diving deep is more beneficial than a broader body of knowledge.

Of course, knowing a little about the various fields of science or eras of history is useful, because otherwise you don’t even know what you want to read about further!  But consider rethinking your expectations of what everyone “should” be reading, or what you “have to” cover.

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Introducing Science and History

Opportunities for touching on introductory science and history abound.

• They come up in connection with children’s interests.

For example, my children have learned about constellations from Barbie of Swan Lake, and been exposed to mineralogy, archaeology, botany, and more through Minecraft videos.

• They come up in our Bible reading. 

Who were the Ancient Egyptians?  What was a Roman centurion (Matt. 8)?  What are the Pleiades and Orion (Job 9:9)?  What does it mean to refer to animals “after their kinds” (Gen. 6:20)?

• They come up in stories. 

When you read The Snowy Day, you might wonder what snow really is and how it forms.  You’ll certainly hear about things like cold and the fact that snow melts when it gets warm.  When you read Little House on the Prairie you’ll learn some things about the westward movement (and might be curious to learn more).  Inside Out might inspire questions about how the brain really works, Up might make you wonder about the history and/or physics of hot air balloons, and Brave might spawn an interest in Scottish history.

• They come up in everyday life. 

I had a three-year-old ask me in the car one day, “how come when we turn this way [left], I fall this way [right], and when we turn this way [right], I fall this way [left]?”  That’s physics.  The kids find a caterpillar in the driveway and wonder what it eats, what it will turn into, and how long it will take.  That’s zoology.  They watch the leaves change on the trees and find out why.  That’s botany.

History is less common in everyday life because it’s history, but current events, geography, and government show up around us.

Learning Science and History on Purpose

At some point, though, there will likely be a desire to move beyond these “incidental” encounters, and focus on particular points of science and history more intentionally.  Perhaps you’re looking for things to strew in hopes of capturing your children’s interest.  Or perhaps they’re telling you they want to be better-rounded in these areas but don’t want to stick with the conventional categories.

With the understanding that these examples are just that — examples — let me point out some less-conventional ways to pursue science and history than typical textbook studies.

PLAY WITH TOYS

Science, especially, is well-suited to hands-on learning.  Toys and other hands-on materials are plentiful and allow for open-ended learning.  Consider products like CircuitScribe [see my reviews here and here], SnapCircuit, magnet kits, microscopes, chemistry sets, gear building sets, telescopes, and Learning Resources’ playground building set.  Subscription boxes like MEL Science and Club SciKidz Labs are another fun hands-on option.

Field guides/spotter’s guides and experiment books are similar aids to hands-on exploration.  (Nowadays, there are also apps.)

Junk Drawer Physics: 50 Awesome Experiments That Don’t Cost a ThingJanice VanCleave’s Earth Science for Every Kid: 101 Easy Experiments that Really WorkNight Sky: A Field Guide to the ConstellationsNorth American Wildlife: An Illustrated Guide to 2,000 Plants and Animals

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PLAY GAMES

Certain themed board games and computer games are useful for teaching parts of history and science.  Civilization teaches the general flow of history and scientific development, as well as introducing key historical figures, landmarks, and events.  (We personally like V better than VI, because of a change in game mechanics.)  Axis and Allies delves into the battles of World War II.  Herd Your Horses teaches about — obviously — horses.  (TaliCor/Aristoplay actually specializes in educational board games.)  Wildcraft discusses herbs and first aid.

There are others out there; you just have to think to look for them.

READ LIVING BOOKS

“Living books” is a tricky thing to actually define.  The basic gist of it is that “living books” are what we think of as “regular books” — as opposed to textbooks designed specifically to teach a subject in an academic setting.

Fiction is one example of living books.  Historical fiction, for instance, is a good way to learn about history.  But that isn’t the only option.  Biographies and narrative-style history books (like The Johnstown Flood) that are similar to biographies are also excellent ways to learn about history.

There are also non-fiction books that are about specific historical or scientific topics, but which are designed for casual reading rather than for a classroom, and are, consequently, far less “dry.”  Usborne, MasterBooks, Institute for Creation Research, and Dorling-Kindersley (DK) are all publishers that are well-known for rich living books in these areas.  (Usborne & DK are secular.  MasterBooks and ICR are Christian.  Be aware that not everything MasterBooks sells is living books; they have traditional curriculum, too.)

Along similar lines, there are also magazine subscriptions (like National Geographic — which also has kids’ magazines) and documentaries (like The Riot and the Dance, Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution, Inventions that Shook the World, and The Exodus Revealed).

MAKE IT SPECIFIC

Curriculum isn’t a bad thing.  And it isn’t contradictory to unschooling, either — if the student wants to use it.  One way to make science or history curriculum more enjoyable is to get more specific with it.  “Biology,” “chemistry,” or “physics,” for instance, are somewhat generic studies.  A textbook, especially, can make these things feel very disconnected from anything that matters to the student.

When I studied aromatherapy, I had to study the chemistry of essential oils, and that made chemistry much more interesting to me than “plain old chemistry.”

My daughter is working on the chemistry course assembled by Guesthollow, which is rooted in kitchen chemistry.  (It uses a number of books that you can also just read on your own, if you prefer.  Do a search for “kitchen chemistry” or “cooking chemistry,” and see what comes up.)

MasterBooks has a number of science programs that are built around living books.  We haven’t been a fan of their lesson plans and tests, but looking to see what books they’ve grouped together can give you some ideas.

A child interested in fashion or drama might study the history of fashion.  Or imagine a whole “course” built around the variety of codes and hidden messages throughout history — from cornrows and quilts to Navajo Code Talkers to conventional codes.  These are completely legitimate areas of study, and highlight the potential of individualized, rather than mass-produced, education.  (More specific courses like this are more common in college than in K-12 education, so if you’re trying to assemble something, you might check to see if you can find a syllabus to use as a guide.)

You can also make it quirky.  This is the kind of thing kits like “slime science” kits do.  It’s also what we see in books like Twisted History (all about historical villains) and The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody.  (I would not give either of these books to a pre-high schooler, by the way, because they get a little risque and/or dark.)