Don’t get me wrong. I love games in the classroom. They can really help students connect with the lessons. Heck, I sell several games (click here to see some). But sometimes, you just want to encourage students to sit down, be calm, and focus.

Successful education requires students to master numerous ways of working. A more traditional approach absolutely has a place in your homeschool classroom and can be quite helpful on days that require your attention elsewhere.

Social Studies Skill Builders

Having time for social studies can be difficult when all we hear about is how students need to spend more time working on math or reading. There are definitive social studies skills that students need to master as well as state standards to meet. One page a day of my Social Studies Skill Builders can really make a difference in your homeschool classroom.

Add this to a morning work packet or transitional work as you prepare to get started for the day. You can also just make this part of your full social studies lessons.

This resource is built around Pennsylvania’s 3rd-grade social studies standards and covers history, economics, government, geography, and social studies vocabulary.

To see more specifics about this resource, check out this blog or go directly to my TPT store.

Primary Map Skills

This is a simple introduction to developing map skills. This resource is intended for young students who have never read a map or who have very limited map-reading skills.

Other than taping the map together, this is a print-and-go resource. No other prep is required unless you want to cut the task cards.

The task card prompts are of cardinal directions that students will try to use on the map before writing answers on their paper. Task cards come in two difficulty levels: beginner and intermediate.

Check out all the details in my TPT store.

Geography Descriptive Writing

Inspired when my oldest couldn’t describe a tree, this unique writing practice is best used throughout the year rather than in one big writing segment. I love how interactive this resource can be between the teacher and the students. Homeschoolers can use this for a variety of ages and writing levels making this a great way to teach all of your homeschoolers at the same time.

See the blog for more details or go directly to my TPT store.

Washington/Lincoln Full Fun Bundle

This activity bundle is full of sweet little activities for your younger homeschooler while at the same time, still teaching about two of Americas most beloved presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

Celebrate Presidents Day while also working on the history skill chronology. Students will cut and paste major events in both the lives of Washington and Lincoln. Make a Washington wig with cotton balls or cut out a popular hat from his time. Color quilt patterns. Color American flags. There are lots to do in this big bundle.

See all the details in my TPT store.

Chronology for Elementary Students: K – 2

Chronology is a major history skills. Work on it with this resource. First, introduce dates and how to organize them correctly. Follow up with the chronology activity that asks students to create a chronology about their family.

This resource can also align with some math standards. Check out more details in my TPT store.

Centuries Flashcards

If your homeschool students struggle with the numbering system used for centuries, spend some extra time by using these flashcards. There is nothing wrong with spending more time working on learning skills and giving students time to develop. Get good at knowing the centuries. This will pay off when working on periodization in more advanced history classes.

Click the link to go to this resource in my TPT store.

Me and My World Flip Book

This was really fun to build for my oldest as he developed a love of geography. I wanted to help him see where he fit in the world. This resource helps accomplish this with the flip book.

Each page highlights a different piece of the universe puzzle. The bigger the page, the bigger the element: solar system, planet, continent, country, state, town, home.

This resource does require a little bit of prep. The flipbook, however, is cute, keeps the information organized, and helps with the visual of know which piece is bigger.

See this in my TPT store.

Integrated Elementary Math & History Bundle

Math and history are two subjects that rarely are paired together which is nonsense. They belong together.

These resources are best for upper elementary students and are organized to correspond with various American history units. For example, when studying colonial American history, add the colonial American history pages. Elements in the resources include but aren’t limited to four-digit arithmetic, older than/younger than, timeline work, map work, and create-a-graph.

This bundle has four volumes and covers various time periods in American history. Check out my TPT page for all the details.

Apples and Oranges: Primary and Election Bundle

We have elections every single November.

Every. Single. November.

A healthy democracy is dependent on people voting and being informed about the system. This begins at very young ages. Students should be aware that we vote and have an understanding between primary season and election season.

The problem: not every student is ready for politics. This resouce takes care of that.

Explaining primaries and elections with apples and oranges, students learn just the basics of voting and how we select candidates.

If you want to talk about voting with your homeschooler but aren’t prepared to discuss politics yet, this is the perfect resouce for you.

History Skill Builders

Similar concept to my Social Studies Skill Builders, this resource focuses just on history skills.

Create booklets that focus on each individual history skill or create mixed booklets. I also like the idea of adding a page or two to your morning or transitional work.

History skills included in this resource are timelines, periodization, chronology, historical sources, data, vocabulary, and world history periodization.

Check out each skill individually by clicking the links in the bundle.

Build-a-museum: Historical Artifact Activity

Work on historical artifacts with this fun history activity. Your students will build a museum to be toured by other students. You can collect actual artifacts (not actually recommended though), use play things like the picture above uses, or print images from the internet.

This resource is available for grades 1 – 4 (they focus on artifacts from the 20th century), grades 5 – 8 (focus on artifacts from the 18th – 20th centuries), and grades 9 – 12 (artifacts from any time, any place but also has additional challenges available).

This is a great opportunity to have all your homeschoolers working on the same activity but still be working on grade-level.

There is also a blog about this resource if you want to delve a little deeper into this activity.

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