River civilizations and the ancient world
Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley, and early China. Writing, law codes, irrigation, and the first cities, with students building their own founding charter in parallel.
Grades 5-12
World History — Homeschool Curriculum
Ancient civilizations to the modern world, with your student running a nation the whole way.
World history stops being a list of dates when students are responsible for a country of their own. This unit runs from the first river civilizations through classical empires, the medieval world, revolutions, industry, world wars, and the present, and each era comes with a decision your student has to make in SFC Nations: how to tax, who to ally with, when to expand, when to stop.
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Free sample pages (World History PDF)
Three printable sample pages from the World History unit: the unit overview and learning goals, a sample lesson, and a student worksheet with the weekly plan. Free to preview, print, and use with your students right now.
Full World History unit PDF
The complete unit, every worksheet, rubrics, and answer keys are available now in the Homeschool Nations curriculum packages.
What students learn
- ✓Place the major civilizations and eras on a single working timeline
- ✓Explain why empires rise and why they collapse, with examples
- ✓Compare government and economic systems across eras and regions
- ✓Trace how trade, technology, and disease moved ideas and power
- ✓Analyze causes and effects of revolutions and both world wars
- ✓Support a historical argument with evidence from primary sources
A sample week
- • Monday: read the era, add entries to the timeline
- • Tuesday: map the region and the trade routes involved
- • Wednesday: primary source reading with three questions
- • Thursday: mirror the era's dilemma in your nation and record the outcome
- • Friday: paragraph, essay section, or oral summary
Topics covered
Classical empires
Persia, Greece, Rome, Han China, and the Maurya and Gupta periods. Students compare how each held territory together and where each cracked.
The medieval and connected world
Islamic golden age scholarship, Byzantium, the Silk Road, Mongol networks, African and American kingdoms, feudal Europe, and the plague that reshaped labor.
Revolutions, industry, and empire
Scientific revolution, Enlightenment ideas, the American and French revolutions, industrialization, and the imperial competition that carved up the globe.
The modern era
Two world wars, decolonization, the Cold War, globalization, and the world of roughly 195 nations students see on the SFC Nations map today.
Activities you can start today
- 1.Build a wall timeline and add every era as you study it
- 2.Write a cause-and-effect chain for one empire's collapse
- 3.Pick a real historical government type for your nation and live with it a week
- 4.Compare two primary sources about the same event and explain the gap
- 5.Write a two-page essay on whether trade or war changed history more
Questions parents ask
How long is the World History unit?
36 weeks as a standalone full-year spine, or 18 weeks paired with African History for a two-semester history year.
Is it secular or faith-based?
It is written neutrally. Religion is covered historically as a major force, without preaching for or against any tradition.
Can this count as a high school credit?
Yes. With the weekly writing and the capstone essay, most families log it as a full world history credit.
Do we need the paid bundle?
No. The subject page, weekly plan, and sample PDF are free. The bundle adds the full worksheet packs and answer keys.
Other homeschool subjects
Ready to run a nation?
The complete Homeschool Nations curriculum bundle and standalone digital book are available to purchase and download now.