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Learn About the Civil War

My public school education only gave me the "textbook" version of the Civil War.  Now that I am homeschooling my children I once again see that there was just so much more to the story.

Know what I mean?

A huge advantage to homeschooling is giving our children an accurate picture of history, and presenting it in a way that is engaging and memorable and yet...   keeping things SIMPLE.  With a few well chosen books, projects, and other resources, I've learned we can accomplish a lot in our homeschool.

This collection of Civil War resources will help you keep things simple - and provide choices for every type of learner on your list. 

(My children seem to learn best through historical fiction. I recall one book -- The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P Figg -- that has stuck with my children for years!)

What a tremendous opportunity we have to teach our children history in such a meaningful way.

Enjoy these resources.

Learn About the Civil War

Learn About The Civil War

The Civil War Trust is an excellent resource for information about the Civil War. I especially like their animated videos. Below you will see the video about Gettysburg, but you can find all of their animations on their website. This site has a plethora of information all about the Civil War such as:

Learn About The Civil War

Here are some more resources to help you with your studies of the American Civil War. 

Civil War Homeschool Lesson Plans

Have Fun With History videos about The Civil War 

BrainPop video about The Civil War 

Study maps from the Civil War era such as this one from Scholastic showing the states and capitals of the Union and Confederacy. 

Play a Civil War Vocabulary Matching Game, a Civil War Printable Board Game, or Professor Noggin's Civil War Trivia Game.

Movies about the Civil War

This list of Civil War films and apps for kids offers descriptions to help you determine if the movies are right for your family. Here's another list of Civil War movies, most of these are for upper grades. 

Hands On Activities About The Civil War

Visit a Civil War Battleground, local Civil War cemetery, or see a Civil War Re-enactment. We were able to go on a fascinating field trip where local historians helped us understand more about the Civil War battles that occurred in our town, and we were able to walk along trails where it happened. 

Build Civil War Projects - Using this book, you and your students can work on Civil War-era projects together. 

Civil War Era Recipes - Learn about the foods eaten by soldiers by following recipes from the Civil War era. 

Create a Civil War Lapbook from Jimmie's Collage or use this Free Civil War Lapbook from Life of a Homeschool Mom.

Homeschool in the Woods has a thorough unit study on the Civil War. Read this review by Brandy at Half a Hundred Acre Wood for more info. 

Use copywork of Civil War Quotes and Documents to help your students not only practice their handwriting, but become more familiar with historical documents and quotes. You can find this copywork in manuscript or cursive.

Books and Resources about The Civil War

Learn About the Civil War

Are you learning about The Civil War this year in your homeschool? I hope these resources are helpful to you!

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Learn About Martin Luther and the Reformation

October 31, 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. 

Whether you decide to have an enormous celebration, or just touch on the life of Martin Luther, it is a subject that is important to share with our children. The Reformation shaped the landscape of Christianity and civilization for the next 500 years - and the Reformation continues to this day. 

Martin Luther was ANYTHING but boring - he was fiery, humorous, and shocking. His personal quirks were interesting to say the least. Because of this, kids always enjoy learning about him!

(I also just finished a wonderful Martin Luther biography - well worth your time to read!)

This subject can be HUGE, however, so I like to break it down for kids.

Luther was known for three things: 

  • The doctrine of salvation by faith alone

  • The belief that Scripture should be translated into the people's language

  • The birth of congregational singing. He felt that music was of God, not of man. He was determined to restore congregational singing in the German language to the Church.

I've put together this list of resources and also a special free gift for you to help you celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.  Enjoy! 

Learn About the Reformation
“You are the worst rascal of all the rascals on the earth!”
— from Against the Roman Papacy, an Institution of the Devil (Martin Luther)

Martin Luther was NOT meek or mild. He could sometimes be offensive. He challenged the religious order of the day.

When I began teaching my children about him, I turned (as I always do) to good books. And remember, I always keeps things SIMPLE.  Less is more.

Once we discovered a subject through a book I could then tell if my children wanted to explore further - I would add in notebooking, lapbooking, projects, field trips - as their interest continued. 

 

Books About Martin Luther For Kids

When my children were young we read Martin Luther: A Man Who Changed the World over a span of two weeks during our Morning Time. I then used the book with my 4th-6th grade Sunday School class.  It's a fabulous read aloud and accurate depiction of Martin Luther's life. 

Movies About Martin Luther

Another simple way to get an overview of a subject is through a good documentary or movie.  

The Torchlighters video (if you haven't watched these they are GREAT - and included with an Amazon Prime membership) is perfect for all ages, and the other two videos I recommend are better for upper elementary and older. 

 

This video is EXCELLENT! The Story of Luther & The Reformation -- great for the entire family.

 

 

Notebooking & Martin Luther

Notebooking is the perfect way to delve a bit deeper into a subject. Take the knowledge from those books and movies and have your children document what they are learning. (We love to look back at our notebooks now that my children are older!)

We always turn to Notebooking Pages - they have a beautiful set about Martin Luther and other famous people of the Reformation.  

Martin Luther & Music

 Luther's first hymnal was published in 1524. It contained eight hymns, four written by himself. Later hymnals were also published for congregational use. He urged people to use the hymns at home and encouraged parochial schools to teach them to their students.

Working with skilled musicians, Luther also created new music for church choirs, organ, and other instruments during his life. And after his death in 1546, the first line of "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" was inscribed on his tomb.

Here's a simple organ arrangement of the hymn:

Another hymn by Martin Luther - done in a more contemporary style: 

 

For a full listing of Martin Luther's hymns, visit Hymnary.org.

 

Other Activities to Learn About the Reformation

 

Free Reformation Unit Study & Lapbook from Homeschool Share

Teach Children a Reformation Hymn -- practical ideas to get your kids singing!

Make a Diet of Worms Cake!

Art Activities and Craft Ideas for Reformation Day

Luther Rose Coloring Sheet and The Meaning of the Luther Rose

Free Printable Martin Luther coloring book (for littles)

The Reformation in LEGOS  (kids can build while you read aloud about Martin Luther!)

Make a Luther Rose Snowflake Cut Out

 

 

 

 

The Words of Martin Luther Copywork

I've created a FREE download to help you teach your children about Martin Luther.

There are print and cursive downloads available.  Each download contains 10 quotes from Martin Luther.

Combine this copywork with an engaging read aloud, a craft, and some hymn study and you have a simple celebration of Martin Luther for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation!

Do your children know who Martin Luther is?  Have I missed a resource that you'd like to suggest?  

Let me know in the comments below!

Learn About Martin Luther - including free copywork download