Do you want to study World War 2 with the teens in your homeschool? Here are some of the best resources for a living history approach to WW2 in your homeschool!
{This post contains paid links. Please see disclaimer.}
Studying WW2 In Our Homeschool
Ever since I was a child, I’ve been fascinated by the history of World War 2. I loved reading books like Number the Stars and The Hiding Place and imagining myself as a character in the stories!
My grandparents were children during WW2. My grandfather told stories of how his dad kept up a large world map on the wall of his country store. Locals would tell him the current locations of their deployed friends and family, and the whole community could keep updated in this way (no social media needed).
My husband’s grandfathers both fought in WW2, one in the North African and European theater, one in the Pacific. His great-great aunt was a WASP.
So my own children, too, have this connection to WW2 history as something that really happened to real people.
It is easy to look back at the horrendous acts of cruelty and hatred men have committed against other men and say “it would never happen now” or “that’s just the ignorance of earlier generations.”
But when we study the barbarity that led to WW2 (and the sacrificial generosity that grew alongside it), we are humbled to realize the common fallen humanity we share with both history’s monsters and heroes.
This is one of the reasons why we’ve always included the study of World War 2 in our homeschool with all ages.
As our children become teens, however, they’re able to examine the issues in deeper ways. We can begin to ask bigger questions about cause/effect, complicated geo-political and cultural challenges, and why ordinary people could so easily capitulate to tyranny and participate in the Holocaust.
WW2 Resources For Teens
As I study WW2 with my teens, I like to do so in the context of the larger movements going on culturally in history. We love Dr. Grant’s Kings Meadow Humanities lectures as our core resource.
Alongside these lectures, we prioritize deep reading, recitation, and discussion.
WW2 Book Recommendations
Here are a few of my favorite World War 2 books for middle school and high school.
This WW2 book list also includes links to reviews from Goodreads and Redeemed Reader whenever possible.
WW2 Speeches Recommendations
You can see my complete collection of the best historic speeches to include in your homeschool here. But there are 3 famous speeches in particular that I think are worth including in your studies of World War 2:
- “We Shall Fight on the Beaches” by Winston Churchill (1940)
- “Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat” by Winston Churchill (1940)
- “Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation” by Franklin D. Roosevelt (1941)
Other WW2 Resources
- National WW2 Museum Virtual Field Trips
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Virtual Field Trips
- Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center
- Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site in Tuskegee, AL video
- WWII Library of Congress Primary Sources
- WWII Interactive Timeline and Map
- World War II Geography: Marching with the Greatest Generation
- 15 Classic WW2 films
- Holocaust films for middle and high school
- World War 2 movies to watch with your kids
Homeschooling History Without A Curriculum
You don’t need a formal curriculum or traditional history textbook to pursue a thorough, rigorous homeschool history study.
In fact, your studies will be deeper when they focus on original sources, deep and broad reading, curiosity, and humility.
Start with a non-fiction core, then build from there with biographies, literature, geography, and beautiful memory work.
Learn how to craft your own multi-age, Textbook-Free History plan in my masterclass here!
Explore more Textbook-Free Homeschool History resources on Humility and Doxology
- World War 2 book list for middle school and high school
- Ancient Greece
- Middle Ages
- Early American history
- World Mythology
- African American history book list
- Using drama to bring history to life
- Hands-On History Craft Project Inspired by Native American Winter Counts
- Beginner’s Guide to Church History
- Kings Meadow Humanities from StandFast: Homeschool High School History Curriculum Review
- The 26 Best Historic Speeches For Homeschool Memory Work
I’ve got to offer 2 books that we are reading in Y6 for WW2. Pocket Battleship and Sink the Bismark. Yeah, its naval military, but oh, so much fun. Pocket Battleship is about the German pocket battleship, the “Admiral Sheer” and told from a German point of view. Sink the Bismark is all about the English efforts to sink the battleship “Bismark”. I just found there is even a song about it.
Thank you for the suggestions!