Homeschool History Curriculum: Secular and Faith-Based Options
A homeschool history curriculum comes down to three choices, in this order: the sequence (a four-year chronological cycle through world history, or American history first), the format (a narrative spine with library books, a textbook, or an online course), and the worldview (secular, faith-based, or written to sit between them). Settle those three and the field shrinks from dozens of programs to two or three. The six most-asked-about programs are compared below, with each one’s worldview described the way its publisher or a major reviewer describes it, not the way a forum thread does.
I’ll say where this site stands, because it matters for a history post in particular: we’re worldview-neutral here. Secular and faith-based programs are both market options, and families choose for their own reasons. My job is to tell you what’s actually in each box.
Decision one: the four-year cycle or American history first
Most homeschool history programs follow one of two sequences, and knowing which one you want rules out half the shelf.
The four-year chronological cycle runs through world history in order, one era per year: ancient times, the middle ages, the early modern period, and the modern era. Then it starts again at a deeper level. This is the classical model, and it’s the backbone of The Story of the World, Build Your Library’s first four levels, and The Mystery of History. Its strength is that a child sees history as one continuous story, with each era leading into the next. Its weakness is that a seven-year-old meets ancient Mesopotamia before they’ve met their own state’s history.
American history first starts close to home: the child’s own country, then outward. Notgrass’s elementary line, with titles like Our Star-Spangled Story and Our 50 States, takes this approach, and Oak Meadow’s fifth grade explores early American history before sixth grade turns to ancient civilizations. Its strength is relevance: a child can visit the places in the book. Its weakness is that world history arrives later and has to be fitted around the national story.
Neither is wrong. If you have several children close in age and like reading aloud, the cycle lets everyone study the same era together. If your state expects particular content in particular grades, check that before choosing; requirements vary by state, and the rules are worth reading for yourself.
Decision two: spine, textbook, or online
A spine plus living books. A “spine” is one narrative book that carries the story of each era, read in short chapters. Around it you add library books: biographies, historical fiction, picture books about the period. This is the Charlotte Mason and classical way of doing history, and it’s the cheapest format, because most of the books come from the library. It also asks the most of the parent: someone has to request the books and read many of them aloud. The Charlotte Mason homeschooling post explains the living-books idea and narration, the “tell it back to me” method most spine programs rely on.
A textbook. A single book with lessons, review questions and tests. It’s less atmospheric and much easier to run, and it’s the format many families switch to in the upper grades, when a child can read and summarize on their own.
An online course. Video or interactive lessons with grading built in. It suits an older child working independently, or a parent who can’t sit with every subject. It’s the least flexible format if you want to combine siblings.
Most families mix these. In our house, history in the early grades is a spine and a library basket. We run The Story of the World, Volume 1 with a chapter, a narration and a map, and the third grade picks post shows how that block fits a week. I expect the upper grades to move toward more independent reading and written work, which is the usual path.
Decision three: worldview
History is one of two subjects (science is the other) where publishers differ most in worldview, and it shows up in specific places: how a program treats creation and early human history, how much space it gives to biblical and church history, and whether religions are presented as beliefs held by people in the past or as the framework of the story itself.
There are roughly three positions on the market:
- Explicitly faith-based, where the publisher says the program is written from a Christian perspective.
- Explicitly secular, where the publisher says it neither promotes nor opposes any faith, and religions are covered as historical subjects.
- In between, where the program isn’t written as a religious text but includes more biblical material than a secular family might expect.
The fastest test, whatever the label says, is to read the sample lessons on creation, early civilizations and the life of Jesus. Three short readings will tell you more than any review. Families who want a fuller secular list, including Pandia Press’s History Odyssey and History Quest, will find it in secular homeschool curriculum.
Six homeschool history programs, compared
All descriptions below come from each publisher’s own site, except The Story of the World, whose publisher’s site wouldn’t load for me when I checked in October 2026; that one comes from Cathy Duffy’s long-standing review.
The Story of the World (Well-Trained Mind Press)
Susan Wise Bauer’s four-volume narrative of world history, written to be read aloud. Cathy Duffy’s review gives the volumes and target grades: Volume 1, Ancient Times, from the earliest nomads to the last Roman emperor (grades one to four); Volume 2, The Middle Ages (grades two to five); Volume 3, Early Modern Times (grades three to six); and Volume 4, The Modern Age, from 1850 to the end of the twentieth century (grades four to eight). Each volume has an activity book with review questions, narration exercises, map work and projects, and a separate book of tests.
Worldview: the review describes Volume 1 as “not overtly Christian, although it recognizes and includes coverage about Christianity,” with a notable weighting of biblical stories in the ancient volume, and the series overall as secular but Christian-friendly. That mix is why secular families disagree about it. Read the first chapters of Volume 1 before you buy the set.
BookShark (Reading with History)
A boxed, literature-based program that combines history with reading. BookShark describes the format as “4 days a week,” and its packages include a history instructor’s guide, read-alouds, readers and the required resources, using what it calls “35–50 real books across the year.” The guide includes “discussion questions, vocabulary, mapping topics, and timeline suggestions.” Levels run from Pre-K up to high school, where the line splits into world history, U.S. history and government options.
Worldview: BookShark says it is secular and “does not espouse or oppose any faith,” leaving origins and spirituality for parents to teach. It also says it teaches history “from multiple perspectives.”
Build Your Library
Downloadable lesson plans built around library and bought books, which Build Your Library describes as “a secular homeschool curriculum that takes a literature approach” and “Charlotte Mason inspired.” Levels 1 to 4 follow the world-history cycle in order: Level 1 The Ancient World, Level 2 The Medieval World, Level 3 The Early Modern World, Level 4 The Modern World. Level 5 begins American history. Each level is a PDF with “a daily and weekly schedule for 36 weeks of study.” The Level 1 plans were listed at $39.95 when I checked in October 2026; that price covers the plans only, and you source the books yourself, from the library or by buying them. Level 1 uses Pandia Press’s History Quest: Early Times as its starting spine.
Worldview: secular, in the publisher’s own words.
The Mystery of History (Bright Ideas Press)
A four-volume chronological world history by Linda Lacour Hobar. Volume I covers “creation to the resurrection” in 108 lessons over 36 weeks, three lessons a week, with pretests, review activities, memory cards and quizzes. The publisher describes the student reader as “a stand-alone world history text for all ages to enjoy” and its companion activities as written for younger, middle and older students, which makes it one of the easier programs to use across several ages. Available from Bright Ideas Press.
Worldview: the publisher says it is “written from a Christian, young earth, perspective,” and that “unlike many publishers, we weave biblical, secular, and church history together.”
Notgrass History
A family of history courses from elementary to high school, arranged by grade band on the Notgrass shop. Elementary (grades 1 to 4): Our 50 States, Our Great Big World and Our Star-Spangled Story. Middle school (grades 5 to 8): America the Beautiful, From Adam to Us and Uncle Sam and You. High school (grades 9 to 12): Exploring America, Exploring World History, Exploring Government, Exploring Economics and Exploring World Geography. It’s the clearest American-history-first sequence of the six.
Worldview: Notgrass says it “exists to glorify God by producing materials centered in His Word.”
Oak Meadow
A PreK-12 curriculum, and also an accredited distance-learning school, founded in 1975. History sits inside social studies. In the elementary years, kindergarten through third grade is integrated into one coursebook per grade. On its middle school page, fifth grade “explores early American history through biographies and opinion formation,” sixth “covers ancient civilizations,” seventh “covers industrialization, civil rights, and global governance,” and eighth focuses on civics and government. Oak Meadow says it wants students to form reasoned opinions and support them with evidence “rather than merely filling children with facts.”
Worldview: Oak Meadow’s own pages don’t describe a religious orientation at all, and it’s usually grouped with the secular programs.
The six side by side
| Program | Sequence | Format | Worldview (as described) |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Story of the World | Four-volume world cycle | Read-aloud spine + activity book | Not overtly Christian; biblical stories included (reviewer) |
| BookShark | By level; separate world and U.S. courses in high school | Boxed, literature-based, 4 days a week | Secular |
| Build Your Library | World cycle (Levels 1-4), then American history | PDF plans + library books, 36 weeks | Secular |
| The Mystery of History | Four-volume world cycle | Textbook-style reader + activities, 36 weeks | Christian, young-earth |
| Notgrass History | American history first | Textbook-style courses by grade band | Christian |
| Oak Meadow | U.S. history in 5th, ancient world in 6th | Coursebooks; optional enrolled school | No religious orientation stated |
Teaching history to several children at once
History is the easiest subject to combine. A third grader and a six-year-old can hear the same chapter about ancient Egypt and respond at their own level: one narrates a paragraph, the other draws a pyramid. Programs built on a read-aloud spine (The Story of the World, Build Your Library, BookShark’s read-alouds) combine naturally. The Mystery of History is written with younger, middle and older activities for exactly this reason.
Where combining stops working is around middle school, when the older child is ready to read and write about history on their own. That’s usually the point to give them their own text and keep the younger ones on the family read-aloud.
How I’d choose, briefly
- A family that loves reading aloud, with children close in age: a read-aloud spine on the four-year cycle, plus library books. Choose the spine by its worldview.
- A parent who wants the week planned for them: a boxed program (BookShark if secular matters) or a textbook course.
- A child who wants to start with their own country: an American-history-first line, then bring in world history later.
- A tight budget: the spine-plus-library route costs the least. Plans like Build Your Library’s add a schedule for not much money.
If you’re choosing a whole year at once, the method in how to choose homeschool curriculum works for history too: read the samples, match the format to the parent’s time, and don’t buy more than one term ahead.
FAQ: homeschool history curriculum
What is the best homeschool history curriculum?
There isn’t one best program, only the best fit for your sequence, format and worldview. Families who want a secular, literature-based box often choose BookShark; families who want a Christian chronological history often choose The Mystery of History or Notgrass; The Story of the World is the best-known read-aloud spine.
What age should you start homeschool history?
Most structured programs begin around first grade. Before that, picture books, family stories and library visits do the job. The Story of the World’s first volume is aimed at grades one to four, per Cathy Duffy’s review.
Is The Story of the World secular?
Not exactly. Cathy Duffy’s review calls it not overtly Christian but notes it includes substantial biblical material in the ancient volume, and describes the series as secular but Christian-friendly. Some secular families are comfortable with that and some aren’t, so read the sample chapters first.
Should homeschoolers do world history or American history first?
Either works. The four-year world cycle gives one continuous story and suits siblings studying together. American history first starts with what a child can see and visit. Check whether your state expects particular content in particular grades before you decide.
Can I teach homeschool history without a curriculum?
Yes. A library card, a timeline on the wall and one narrative book per era is a complete elementary history program. A curriculum mainly buys you a schedule and a reading list.
