5. Analyze History
The best book I can recommend regarding teaching history is Thinking Like an Historian: Rethinking History Instruction. The book is filled with theory, which is very helpful. The classroom activities may or may not be appropriate for a homeschool teacher. But the back of the book is filled with amazing templates that help your student in analyzing the critical aspects of history. Here are the categories that need to be understood for any time or place in history are these.
Change over Time “In what three ways did society change after…?”
Cause and Effect “What were three most significant causes for …?” or “What were three of the worst effects of …?”
Compare and Contrast “In what ways were…. and ….. the same? In what ways were they different?”
Define and Identify “What is … and what are the signs of its presence during ….?”
Statement and Reaction “What was the most far-reaching reaction to …….’s speech….? …..’s book…?”
Evaluation “Was the …. a good or a bad change for the people during the era of ….?”
Analyzing Viewpoints “Why were …. in favor of …. ? Why were …. against it?”
When you take any time period, or event, or individual in history approach that part of history from at least one of these analysis categories. Debate, essay, or oral report, or a combination of these, can be used for the presentation of your student’s ‘debatable historical analysis.’
