-History-
Excellent resources for Ancient Civilizations (Egyptian, Roman, Greek and Viking) along with British history. Explore archeology, daily life and major events with categories like historic figures, hands on history and, our favorite, history for kids. Games, challenges and activities relative to the time period make learning so much fun!
This site is ad supported, but it's so full of educational goodness- we use it anyway. (See my article
on how to block ads for FREE). Another good one for ancient history, it covers timelines, famous figures, architecture, culture, daily life and inventions. It also has many links for the Colonial period.
I'm a huge fan of the materials offered here. Aside from that, it chocked full of creative, hands on activities that let you and your child dive into history! Trivia, multi-media and Powerpoints for American, World, Modern and Ancient history periods.
Thousands of hours of archival footage from all eras of world history. Stock footage and photos are copywriter free and some are even available for download! (I haven't used this feature yet, But HOW COOL IS THAT)? Some of the footage can be graphic (WWII, Holocaust, Viet Nam) so please use discretion in previewing.
Explore by subject, exhibit or the extensive archives. From the Gettysburg address and Thomas Jefferson's Bible to Julia Child's kitchen, The Smithsonian holds a plethora of information. Not all view points will match your own, so dive in judiciously.
Ok, first off, all materials here are from a Christian world-view (which I absolutely LOVE)! Secondly, when it says "all in one".... they mean it! First grade through High School- and not just history! Lessons are broken down into daily assignments and activities with links to supply lists, readable materials AND printables!
The World History series offers dozens of books, carefully chosen, from the public domain to learn history from a more classical perspective. Most of these can be downloaded to your computer. Many are even available in Kindle form so you can read them on a mobile device. (For more info, please see my article on The Wonderful World of Kindle).
An archival STOCKPILE of famous (and some not-so-famous) speeches, this one is a gem! There are some ads, so you may want to enable the pop-up blocker or use some ad blocking. Another note, not all political points of view included here will be agreeable, but the "Top 100 Speeches" alone are worth a visit. Some speeches are written, while others may be video or re-enactments.
Biographies of 111 of The Founding Fathers, 34 of their wives, 18 of their homes and a line by line history of The Declaration of Independence.... WOOHOO! Need I say more?
Run entirely on private funds and organized by a group of FANTASTICALLY dedicated women who saved it from ruin, this one is beautiful and thorough. Enjoy the stories of George, Martha and their life together, the impact of Washington's life on our country's history and take a delightful virtual tour of the estate he called home. Lesson plans and a digital encyclopedia make adding depth oh so doable!
All aboard for all things unit study! Follow THIS link for a chronological list (there are DOZENS) of history based unit studies. Beginning in the 1500's and broken down into centuries, you will meet artists, inventors, poets, musicians and immerse yourself in the lifestyle and experiences the era has to offer! Be sure to check out their "Book Studies" tab to add to the fun!
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This wonderful fellow has put together an e-book containing 400 titles to free Kindle books about history. I have this one myself. It was TOTALLY worth the .99 to have them all in one place.
A favorite of my son's, the lessons, PowerPoints, clip-art, and games make history a joy! Not exactly a problem at our house, as you can see from the number of links here (grin) but it's not ALWAYS a fun subject. It does have Ancient and Colonial periods, with an added bonus of further U.S. History. Revolutionary War, Westward Expansion and Civil War included! Ad blocking is useful here too.
Focusing on the American Revolution, there are short summaries of key events and documents from the era. These include all major battles (such as Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill) along with The Treaty of Paris, Articles of Confederation and The Declaration of Independence. Articles have links to further reading and short YouTube videos. These are embedded (awesome) so you can watch them on the history article page without actually opening YouTube.
The home page to this site doesn't have many bells or whistles, but PLEASE don't judge a book by it's cover here. Military histories featured include Britain, Europe, Revolutionary and Civil War periods. Each section leads to pages of sub-sections. For instance, the Britain page has links to virtual battle fields, naval sites and castles. Scroll down to the bottom of The Civil War virtual battle fields page and there is a link to DOZENS of other related pages. An absolute gold mine of history resources!
The look and feel of the WWII era makes this a special one. Complete with home page radar appearance, a dark room to explore technology a grainy, newsreel effect for some of the activities- it really gives an authentic nostalgia. One of our favorite things was the Bakelite presentation and original advertisements on the darkroom. It's a great one for American history buffs.
Absolutely fantastic information and interactives on the history of flight in America. Presented by The Smithsonian Institute, there is a level of professionalism and thoroughness that's hard to beat. Flight history is covered by era: early history, expansion, propeller and jet. "Fly across America" is a fun and informative feature that documents the evolution of flight experiences over the decades. Their game page is quite extensive. Most of them are simple, but all interactive. We especially enjoyed "Dress the Pilot," where you get to choose an era, pick what you think the pilot would have worn and then compare it to an actual photo.
If you want to spice up your American history without searching a lot of different sites for videos, this is a great one. Most of the clips are fairly short, so they'll fit easily into a lesson plan. There are so many fun, vintage ones! I really like that you can watch them full screen and that the site menu is simple. Search by subject, time period or time line. There is even a whole section on things that have shaped America like famous icons, technological advances and industry. This site isn't overwhelmed with ads, which is nice, but I still use my blocker here.
The University of Houston has made available their, digital American History curriculum. It begins with the first Americans and goes through the 21st century. Just click on a subject in the menu on the left and a vast amort of amounts learning becomes available in an instant. The sub menu contains links to textbooks, source documents, film, music, images and more teacher resources! External links and even quizzes make this one a real keeper.