Friends, if you’ve ever wished you could squeeze in a little American History without adding “one more big thing” to your homeschool day, you are in the right place! These American History Mini Lessons (formerly my On This Day in American History series) are designed to help you expose your children to interesting events, people, inventions, and turning points in our nation’s story—in bite-size chunks that take about 10 minutes.
You do not need to be studying American History as your main subject this year to enjoy these. Think of this as an easy “plus one” for morning time, lunch break, or independent enrichment.
We have a fascinating history here in America, and it is our duty (and joy!) to teach that history to our children.
⭐ Browse by calendar month or topic. See below.
What You’ll Find in These American History Mini Lessons
Each history minute lesson includes:
- A short introduction to a real event in American history
- A simple set of “To Do” activities (watch, read, map, write, compare, build, or research)
- Ideas that work for a wide age range—elementary through middle school, with some lessons easily stretching into high school
You’ll notice that many lessons mention the original calendar date (because that was the fun theme when I wrote them), but you can complete these lessons in any order, any time of year.
3 Easy Ways to Use These History Lessons in Your Homeschool
1) Morning Time “Plus One”
Add a mini lesson after Bible, read-aloud, or breakfast. Watch a short video, answer one question, and move on.
➡️ This would make a wonderful Plus 1 for after your Bible time each morning!
2) Independent Work for Upper Elementary & Middle School
Assign the “To Do” list to your student and have them complete the notebook response on their own.
3) An Individual or Family “Notebook of Knowledge”
If you plan to do more than a handful of lessons, I highly recommend keeping a Notebook of Knowledge.
A spiral notebook is perfect for this task. For each day, instruct your child to write:
- the topic
- today’s date
- a few notes from the lesson in bullet-style
- their written response (when included)
This Notebook of Knowledge becomes a treasured record of what they learned—and it’s so fun to flip back through later.
Browse the Free Mini History Lessons
All of the American History Mini Lessons are free on my website, however, you can purchase them in a single download for your convenience and planning purposes.
January Mini Lessons (Free on the Blog)
You can browse all of the free January lessons here:
Click here to browse the free January American History LessonsFebruary Mini Lessons (Free on the Blog)
You can browse all of the free February lessons here:
Click here to browse the free February American History LessonsWant Everything Planned Out and Ready to Go?
If you love the idea of these lessons but don’t want to hunt for links each day, you can purchase the Print-and-Go Monthly Packs.
Each monthly pack includes:
- Access to the full month’s lessons in one convenient place
- A printable PDF version (with clickable links)
- Any needed downloads included for easy access
- Answers for applicable questions (when included)
➡️ Tip for planners: If you want a month of American History mini lessons ready at the beginning of the month—this is the easiest way to do it.
January Mini Lessons Pack
You can purchase the full January pack here:
On This Day in American History January Calendar
On This Day in American History January Calendar
Enjoy a daily American History event with suggested learning activities for each day of January
February Mini Lessons Pack
You can purchase the full February pack here:
On This Day in American History February Calendar
On This Day in American History February Calendar
Enjoy a daily American History event with suggested learning activities for each day of February
If you’re an All Access Pass member, you can log into your account, and then click on the Famous People, History, and Geography Page.
You will see all of the On This Day in American History calendars at the very top of the page.
Browse History Lessons by Theme
If you prefer to choose history lessons by topic instead of by month, you can browse the following:
- Wars & Military History – coming soon
- Inventions, Technology, & Engineering – coming soon
- Arts, Music, Literature, & Photography – coming soon
- Geography, States, Landmarks, & National Parks – coming soon
- Sports, Traditions, & Americana – coming soon
Ideas for Using American History Mini Lessons in Your Homeschool
I believe it is valuable and a worthy use of our time to study American History in our homeschools. Whether or not you are studying American History as a formal subject this year, you can use these monthly calendars in your homeschool to discover interesting facts about our United States.
Each “day”, I share an event that occurred in U.S. History. It might be the birth of a famous American, a notable event during a time of war in which America was engaged, an American invention, an event related to music or art, or state specific.
I will then list several activities that you can do to supplement the idea presented for the day.
Only one American History event is lister per day, despite having a multitude from which to choose.
You might choose to do this monthly calendar activity with your children, where you all talk about, research, and/or ponder the event. There might be a quick video to watch or a paragraph to write answering an opinion question. There might be words to define or research using the given links, which you call all do together as a group.
If you choose to do this as a group project, I would encourage you to place all of the written work in one notebook. How fun it will be to look back on this project in the coming years!
This would make a wonderful Plus 1 for after your Bible time each morning!
You might also choose to assign the American History Mini Lessons activities to your child for independent work. Again, I would encourage you to have your child write all of his answers in one notebook which will serve as a “Notebook of Knowledge.”
You can print the pdf or send it to your child in an email for them to access, or you can send them straight here to Mama’s Learning Corner each day.
A note about links used in these posts: While I have carefully reviewed every site and video to which I am linking, please use your own parental discretion. I cannot be responsible for material found on other websites.
