It’s not always easy to find a homeschool program that your kids actually come running to do every day. That’s what my kids do with History Plus Online – a video-based curriculum, created by a set of homeschooled siblings out of Alberta, Canada that rotates through history, geography, and science. Their motto? Learning should be fun.
What is History Plus Online?
History Plus Online is a video based online homeschool curriculum that focuses on a specific subject over the course of a year and divides it up into monthly topics. This runs on a 3 year cycle – one in history, one in geography, and one in science.
The main teacher is a young man named Daniel Allers – a homeschool graduate who is incredibly passionate about teaching. Along with him is his brother Jonathan (who pops into videos throughout the month) with occasional guest appearances from their sister Eliana and Daniel’s wife, Amberly.
There are two levels of classes. One for students ages 8 through 11 and one for students 12+. The 3 year cycle allows you to do all 3 programs with your younger child and then graduate them up to the older program for the next 3 years.
Each month includes 20 short daily videos released on the 1st of the month and available until the 5th of the following month. The videos also include worksheets with answer keys, and a separate listing of recommended books or other resources that would work with the topic of the month.
Often, there are extra videos that they have added to help make the month’s programs even more fun. Like the time they all taste-tested scorpions and tarantulas, and when they tried the world’s stinkiest fish- surströmming. And the time we were walked through how to make paper airplanes from easy to challenging – with a launcher too!
And, sometimes they even add a bonus program just for additional learning on something happening in the world. For example, Remembrance Day and the Solar Eclipse of 2024.
Our Experience with History Plus
Our family is closing in on the end of year two with History Plus Online. Our first year was all about world geography. This past year was all about science. Next year will be about world history. We are currently in the junior level program, but anticipate moving to the age 12+ program at the end of the 2025 school year.
Originally, I bought the program with the intention of using it with my then 9 year old son to work with the world geography curriculum I’d been planning to use at the time. It ended up being so much fun that we basically dropped the other curriculum and just used History Plus instead.
Honestly, this is one of the only programs I’ve used in my homeschooling years where the kids willingly come running to do. I’ve even found my teenagers sneaking into the room sometimes to watch the lesson too!
Why do they like it?
First, because Daniel and Jonathan are funny guys. We crack up all the time. Daniel is a little silly and totally passionate about what he’s teaching – which the kids pick up on. Plus, he’s great at explaining things in a way that makes sense, even if it’s somewhat complicated. And behind him, on the green screen, are videos and pictures about the topic he’s speaking on – often popping up with thought bubble style commentary which they find hilarious. Who wouldn’t want to name every animal in the world “Billy-Bob?” It’s adorable!
Somehow, they’ve managed to tie in a “Creature Feature” every month, even when there doesn’t seem to be a way to do that. We learned about sharks when studying magnetism and electricity for example. Some of the creatures we’ve learned about are very very strange! It’s fascinating!
Every month, they have a Q&A video where they answer questions from 2 months before (because they need time to record answers, etc). My kids were so excited to hear Daniel answer their specific questions. It made them feel very special and very much part of the History Plus experience.
How we use this program
I load the program on my chromebook laptop and then screen cast it to our living room television so that everyone can watch it together.
Before we start a video, I ask my kids about the topic of the day to see what they already know about the subject. That usually sparks some kind of conversation and then we follow it up with the video of the day. They are usually between 5 to 10 minutes long, meaning the kids are able to stay engaged and focused throughout the video. We follow it up with a simple question of “So, what is one thing you learned?” or “Tell me the neatest thing you learned in that video.” Other times I ask leading or open ended questions to make sure they understood or to see if I can get any additional curiosities out of them. This also leads to some great conversations.
There are worksheets that you can download for every video. These are primarily fill-in-the-blank sheets (at least the ones I’ve checked) to make sure your child has been paying attention. Sometimes, I’ll screencast the worksheets onto the tv so we can answer them together but, in truth, we’ve rarely used them. I do like that they are available if you like to use them though!
We also pop over to the library at some point during the month to get some books on the topic we are studying and I sometimes even look up ideas related to the topic to move it off screen and add an element of hands-on learning– like science experiments or mapping skills, etc.
Our Results
I have to say that the best feedback we’ve gotten so far about what my kids have learned through History Plus Online has been the science year. My 8 year old daughter is part of a Girl Guide group (Embers level) and one week they had in a special guest – a retired scientist. We had no idea that lady was coming, but when I went to pick her up, both her leaders came to talk to me separately about how much my daughter knew about the laws of motion! She was able to not only say the 3 laws of motion, but also able to explain what they meant and helped other girls with their experiments. My daughter proudly attributed her knowledge to the History Plus team.
The Great Things about History Plus
- The program is very engaging. Daniel and Jonathan are fun to watch and listen to – keeping kids entertained and interested throughout each video.
- The videos themselves are short (between 5 to 10 minutes) and you only need to watch one every weekday during the month to stay on track. And if you fall behind, you can easily catch up by watching multiple in a day!
- They put the monthly topic plans up way ahead of time so you know what’s coming up next and soon – so if you need to get books from the library or buy any additional resources, you have time to do that.
(Picture by my daughter to show off her work.)
- It can easily be a full curriculum for the year, can be added to with books and additional activities, can be combined with other curriculum, or can be just a simple fun extra to add to your day.
- There are both monthly and annual memberships – so if you only want to cover one topic, you aren’t locked if for a year, and if you do want to pay it all up front, you get a discount on the annual price.
- They are a Canadian family. Who were homeschooled! So they get it!
Some Potential Downsides to History Plus
- I’ve heard some disappointment that you have to take the current topic only instead of being able to pick one that might match what you are learning about in other places. (Like, if this month is all about space, you can’t purchase the Vikings unit.) They put all their registered students on the same topic at the same time, so you need to wait until the topic you want comes around again.
- I found I wished there were more “extras” ideas instead of just the worksheets. For example, the lessons about paper airplanes were some of our family’s favourite classes! We copied Jonathan’s designs all the way up to the extreme ones and had a blast testing them out!
- The pricing page is a little confusing because it automatically is set to only be for a single student. You have to go digging a little to find more information on multiple students and the annual membership options.
- I can’t figure out how or where to change or upgrade my membership outside of cancelling. I know they have great customer service though, so I suppose I can reach out to find out!
Other Things About History Plus
If you happen to live in Alberta, Daniel and Jonathan hold in person classes and workshops throughout the province. You can find more about it on the website historyplus.ca.
Whenever Daniel and Amberly go travelling, they take us with them! You can follow along in their Facebook page where they go live at different places along their journey. In 2024, they did a whirlwind adventure through different places in Europe and Turkey – even travelling by camel back in the desert!
As a note, the History Plus team are Christian and are open about their faith, however the program is not a faith-based program and I’ve never heard them reference their beliefs in any lessons.
Price and Value
Pricing as of March 2024 is $11/month or $110/year for a single child in either level or a family pass for 2+ kids for double that. As a bonus, the pricing is in Canadian dollars!
Do I think the price is worth it?
Absolutely. My kids love it, are excited to learn from Daniel and Jonathan, and have learned so much from their daily video. It’s possibly the first program we’ve used where the kids want me to make sure we’re signed up again. Next year, our plans for curriculum don’t quite line up with the subject from History Plus, but we’ll be doing it anyway.
Who is History Plus Online for?
Honestly, I think this program is great for anyone – whether they homeschool or not, no matter the age range, and even if it’s not the core plan for your curriculum. It’s great for parents who need a low-prep program or want someone else to do the main teaching. It also is a great fit for a family who just wants to add something fun or add to their preferred curriculum just to change things up a little.
It might not be a good fit for those who want a rigorous, structured, formal curriculum as this is more fluid and fun style of learning. Also, if you are trying to avoid screen time (although it’s only a short video daily) – it might not be for you.
If you want to be in control of the topics covered during the year or need to include specific topics for regulations, History Plus Online might not be a best fit to use as a primary curriculum since you can’t pick and choose the topics for the month or year. However if you are flexible with topics to cover or are interested in using it as a fun educational extra, it can be a great fit.
Remember that you will need internet access to be able to use this program as it is all done online.
Final Thoughts
In short, I’m a fan. My kids are fans. We’re not planning to stop any time soon.
Want to sign up for this program or learn more? History Plus Online can be found on the website: https://www.historyplusonline.com/ You can even see a sample video on the home page.
Have you used the History Plus Online program? What are your thoughts?
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