One of my favorite parts of homeschooling is being able to learn together as a family. With kids in different grade levels, I don’t necessarily want everyone studying completely different periods of history at the same time. I would much rather have us gathered around the table learning about the same civilization, looking at the same maps, having conversations together, and then adjusting the actual work to fit each child’s age and ability.
That’s exactly what I’m doing with our Ancient History curriculum this year.
My fourth grader and high schooler will both be studying Ancient History, but obviously I don’t expect the same level of work from both of them. This particular curriculum was created with my fourth grader in mind, so I would consider it appropriate for roughly grades 3–5.
As always, though, use what works for your family.
You can follow the lessons exactly as I’ve written them, skip activities that don’t interest your child, add more books, spend two days on something I’ve scheduled for one, or turn a topic your child loves into an entire week.
This is a roadmap…not a race.
Our Approach to Family-Style History
Family-style learning has become one of my favorite ways to homeschool because it allows us to share conversations and experiences even though my children aren’t all doing identical schoolwork.
For history, that means we can all be talking about Mesopotamia during the same week.
We can locate the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers together. We can talk about irrigation together. We can look at artifacts, watch a documentary, visit a museum website, or build something together.
But afterward, everyone’s individual work can look different.
My fourth grader might draw and label an irrigation system in his history journal and write a few sentences about why irrigation was important.
An older student can take that same topic much further through additional reading, primary-source analysis, research and more advanced writing.
That’s what I mean when I talk about family-style learning. We aren’t necessarily using the exact same curriculum at the exact same academic level. We’re studying the same general subject and adjusting the depth for each child.
This particular free curriculum is the upper-elementary version I’ve created for my fourth grader.
About This Free Ancient History Curriculum
I wanted something that would give us a little structure while still letting me teach both of my boys together. So we decided to use The Story of the World: Volume 1 — Ancient Times as the main spine for our Ancient History studies.
I love having one book that moves us chronologically through Ancient History, but I still wanted the freedom to add videos, maps, projects, journal activities, primary sources, books, and other resources as we go. Most importantly, I wanted to be able to use the same history topics with both my 4th grader and my 9th grader without expecting them to complete the same level of work.
That is what this curriculum is designed to do.
We homeschool four days a week, and both of my boys study the same period of history together. We read, talk about what we’re learning, watch additional videos, and sometimes complete activities together. Then their individual assignments are adjusted for their grade levels.
You can follow our Ancient History studies right along with us and use as much, or as little, of what I share as works for your own homeschool.
Using The Story of the World as Our History Spine
Our main history book is The Story of the World: Volume 1 — Ancient Times by Susan Wise Bauer.
Rather than jumping from one random Ancient History topic to another, the book gives us a chronological path to follow. I use each chapter as our starting point and then build our lessons around it.
That means our week might include the chapter reading along with a documentary or educational video, a map activity, vocabulary, a journal page, a hands-on project, additional books from our shelves or library, or a deeper discussion about something that caught our attention.
We aren’t trying to race through the book.
Some chapters may take longer than others, and there may be topics we decide to spend extra time on. That’s one of my favorite parts of homeschooling. We have a plan, but we also have the flexibility to slow down when something sparks their interest.
One History Curriculum for Multiple Ages
One of my biggest goals with history this year was to stop teaching two completely separate history classes.
My 4th grader and 9th grader can absolutely learn about Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, early humans, Ancient India, Greece, Rome, and the rest of the ancient world at the same time.
The difference is in what I expect them to do with that information.
For My 4th Grader
My 4th grader uses a mixed-media notebook as his Ancient History journal.
Instead of filling his school day with worksheets, I want him creating something he can look back through at the end of the year and actually remember.
His assignments may include:
- Drawing and labeling
- Vocabulary
- Maps
- Timelines
- Short written responses
- Compare-and-contrast activities
- Cause and effect
- Narration
- Illustrations
- Hands-on projects
- Simple research
- Cut-and-paste or interactive notebook activities
The goal isn’t pages and pages of writing. I want him understanding the history, learning how events connect, and gradually becoming more comfortable putting what he’s learned into his own words.
For My High Schooler
Obviously, my 9th grader needs more than an elementary history assignment.
He studies the same topics with us, but his extension work asks him to think more deeply about the evidence, people, cultures, and consequences behind what we’re learning.
His assignments may include:
- Longer written responses
- Historical analysis
- Primary and secondary sources
- Evidence and inference activities
- Comparing historical interpretations
- Research
- Map and timeline work
- Essays
- Document analysis
- Discussion questions
- Independent reading
- Projects and presentations
This lets us have the conversations together while still giving him work that is appropriate for a high-school student.
What You’ll Find in the Free Lessons
I’m sharing the curriculum here on the blog as we work through it ourselves.
Each section may look a little different depending on what we’re studying, but throughout the curriculum you’ll find things like:
- A simple lesson plan
- Story of the World chapters we’re covering
- Vocabulary words and definitions
- Discussion questions
- Videos and documentaries
- Book recommendations
- Maps and geography
- Timeline activities
- Journal prompts
- Hands-on activities
- 4th-grade assignments
- High-school extensions
- Primary-source activities
- Additional resources we actually use
You do not have to use every single resource or complete every activity.
Think of this curriculum as a framework you can adapt to your own family.
Choose the videos that work for you. Skip a project when life is busy. Spend an extra day on Ancient Egypt because your child suddenly wants to know everything about mummies.
That’s the beauty of it.
Free Ancient History Curriculum Lessons
This page will serve as the home base for our entire Ancient History curriculum.
As we work our way through The Story of the World: Volume 1, I’ll continue adding our lesson plans and resources here. Each part will have its own post so you don’t have to scroll through one enormous curriculum page trying to find what you need.
Bookmark this page and come back as we add new lessons throughout the year.
Part 1: Weeks 1–3
We start our year by learning how we know what happened in the past before jumping into the earliest civilizations.
During these first three weeks, we introduce ideas like primary and secondary sources, evidence, inference, archaeology, and how historians interpret the past. Then we begin working through the opening chapters of The Story of the World: Volume 1.
Story of the World: Introduction + Chapters 1–6
Our first three weeks include our 4th-grade mixed-media journal activities, high-school extension assignments, vocabulary, videos, discussions, and additional resources.
→ Ancient History Curriculum: Week 1
→ Ancient History Curriculum: Week 2
→ Ancient History Curriculum: Week 3
Part 2: Week 4
Story of the World: Chapter 7
During Week 4, we continue following the ancient world chronologically while adding journal work, discussion, outside resources, and differentiated assignments for both grade levels.
→ [Ancient History Curriculum: Week 4]—–COMING SOON!
Part 3: Week 5 — Gilgamesh
Story of the World: Chapter 8
This week gives us the opportunity to explore The Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the world’s oldest surviving works of literature.
Along with our history lesson, we can begin talking about ancient storytelling, what these stories can tell us about the people who created them, and the difference between using a story as literature and using it as historical evidence.
→ [Ancient History Curriculum: Week 5 — Gilgamesh]—–COMING SOON!
Part 4: Week 6 — Ancient India
Story of the World: Chapter 9
Next, we move into Ancient India.
We’ll use our history reading as the foundation and add geography, vocabulary, journal work, videos, discussion, and age-appropriate assignments for both my elementary and high-school students.
→ [Ancient History Curriculum: Week 6 — Ancient India] —–COMING SOON!
More Ancient History Lessons Coming
This curriculum is being created alongside our actual homeschool year, so I’ll continue updating this page as we move through The Story of the World: Volume 1.
That also means you’ll get to see what we actually used rather than a giant list of resources I planned months ahead of time but never touched.
As new parts are published, I’ll add them here so you’ll eventually be able to follow the curriculum from the beginning of Ancient History through the end of our year.
If you’re starting later than we are, that’s completely fine. Start with Part 1 and move at whatever pace works for your family.
What You Need to Get Started
You really don’t need an elaborate homeschool setup to use these lessons.
Our main resource is The Story of the World: Volume 1 — Ancient Times, and then we use supplies we already have whenever possible.
A few things that are helpful to have on hand are:
- A notebook or mixed-media journal
- Pencils and colored pencils
- Markers or crayons
- Glue
- Scissors
- Printer paper
- Basic craft supplies
- Access to a printer when needed
- Library access for additional books
My 4th grader’s mixed-media notebook has become one of my favorite parts of this curriculum because everything stays together. His drawings, vocabulary, maps, written responses, and activities slowly create his own Ancient History book as we move through the year.
Follow Along With Our Ancient History Year
I’ll continue sharing the lesson plans, resources, activities, and things we change along the way.
You don’t need to recreate our homeschool exactly.
Take what helps. Change what doesn’t. Adjust the assignments for your child’s abilities and interests, and don’t be afraid to spend more time on the parts of history your family loves.
My hope is that by sharing what we’re already creating for our own homeschool, I can make planning Ancient History a little easier for another family too.
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