Learning from biographies can be as simple as watching a show or reading a book, but there are many different ways to expand the learning potential. You can springboard on to other topics in discussion or worksheets and cover other subjects with related material to focus on writing, spelling, science, etc. The ideal biography learning experience will include the interests of one or more of your family members and incite conversation about the person and places in the story.
Throughout the various sites and the magazine of The Old Schoolhouse® are many different biography learning aides and materials. Use the list below to see the many options your family has to learn through biographies.
The Canadian Schoolhouse Articles
- The People of Canada's Immigration Settlements - See a short list of biography books about immigrants to Canada in the early days of the country.
- Canadian Landscape Art – The Group of Seven - Seven artists created a group to showcase the beauty in the Canadian landscapes. They later gave themselves the name The Group of Seven and began exhibiting their work in 1920. This article provides a brief biographical summary of the seven original artists for you to start and an art-focused biography study.
- Emily Carr: Vision Revived - Be encouraged by this short summary biography to further look into the life and achievements of artist Emily Carr.
- Viola Irene Desmond - Her Legacy Our History - Get the summary story of how Viola Desmond impacted our Canadian history in the mid-1900s and helped to stir people to action, both locally and internationally, and raise reality about segregation in Canada.
The Old Schoolhouse® Homeschooling with Heart Blog
- John Glenn Orbits the Earth - John Glenn made history and became an American hero when he orbited the earth in his spacecraft Friendship 7 on February 20, 1962. Your children will get excited to learn about this inspirational man who went into space later in life when he was 77 years old, served as a senator from Ohio, and ministered as an elder in his local Presbyterian church.
- Travel God’s World With Missionaries to Bring Geography Alive - This article profiles various missionaries around the world, giving basic details that can engage your learners into further study of the people and places. Lots of further resources are provided in this article!
- Teaching on Historical Figures Like Scripture Does – Part One - Scripture teaches history in the context of individual men and women in their relationships to God as the central character. This article profiles the life of Moses and provides instruction on how to teach about historical figures, using the Bible’s biographies of men and women God used at pivotal moments during the first four thousand years of human history.
The Old Schoolhouse® Store
- Biography Geography - In this WeE-book™ you will learn all about the fascinating life of George Friedric Handel and make the natural geography connection . . . all at the same time! Learn how to teach biography in a fun, interesting way using the life of any historical figure as Biography Geography teaches you a treasure trove of possibilities!
- Lincoln vs. Darwin: What’s the Difference? – FREE! - The year 2009 marked the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the respective birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin. What a great time to spark a little historical curiosity in your kids! Discover some amazing facts and utilize those thinking skills with this interesting comparison study!
- Mary Slessor: The White Ma of Calabar - Who was the first woman vice-consul in the history of the British Empire? Would you be brave enough to live among African cannibals? Meet a fascinating woman and a devoted missionary as you learn all about the life and adventures of Mary Slessor.
SchoolhouseTeachers.com Courses and Media
If you’re not a SchoolhouseTeachers.com member yet and would like to see all that membership has to offer your family (one membership price for every member of your family – including access to lots of parent resources!), then go to the membership page for all the pricing options.
Lighting the Way course - This homeschool history course includes 10.5 hours of video plus workbooks and worksheets. Torchlighters is a series of animated programs for youth ages 8-12 that presents the lives of true-life heroes from Christian history. When kids see what God can do through a “Torchlighter” who is devoted to carrying out His will and purposes, they too may want to carry a torch of faith by serving Him. Children’s Heroes from Christian History is dedicated to awakening the imagination of children as they see how God has worked through the most unlikely instruments, men and women who faced seemingly insurmountable challenges but through God’s grace demonstrated the life-changing power of the Gospel.- Biography Center on World Book Student (accessed through this SchoolhouseTeachers.com member page) - The Biography Center featured in the Student library contains biographies of more than 10,000 famous people. Students can search for a specific person or generate lists of people based on gender, job or achievement, country or cultural heritage, and time period. For example, students could find female explorers or male English scientists of the 1800s.
- Important People on World Book Kids (accessed through the SchoolhouseTeachers.com member page) - The Important People feature in the Kids’ library helps students find biographies of famous people. Students can search for a specific person or generate lists of people based on gender, job or achievement, country or cultural heritage, and time period. For example, students could find female authors or male English scientists of the 1800s.
The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine
Each issue of the quarterly magazine profiles a Torchlighters series episode about heroes of faith.
Recent biographies in the digital magazine:
Winter 2020-2021 - The Unwavering Faith of Harriet Tubman
Fall 2020 - Martin Luther: Transformed by God’s Word
Summer 2020 - Jim Elliot: Risking It All For Christ
This article has been written by homeschooling staff writers of The Canadian Schoolhouse (TCS). Enjoy more of our content from TCS contributors and staff writers by visiting our Front Door page that has content on our monthly theme and links to all our content sections.
"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6).