About

THE HISTORY SCHOOL STORY

Tensions over critical race theory swept through the United States in 2021. 
When schools began pulling important historical events and perspectives
from their classes, progressive families were left on their own to provide
a rigorous, uncensored history education for their children.

With 25+ years of experience designing children’s history instruction and teaching,
Elise Fillpot knew she could provide the resources families are seeking.

Using her landmark Bringing History Home (BHH) curriculum as a starting point,
she created 6 foundational history courses.

Designed to give children the historical context and thinking skills to understand
today’s social justice issues, The History School launched in early 2023.

Learning at The History School

The History School online courses are designed for parents to complete with their children. The courses are asynchronous,
so you can learn on your own schedule.

Each foundational course incorporates beautiful children’s books that must be purchased separately, as well as videos curated from public spaces on the internet at no additional cost.

THS lessons are organized in easy-to-follow steps, with guides and activities to structure learning.  The sequential lessons help kids develop an understanding of major historical arcs.  And when your child is inspired to work on an issue they’ve learned about, THS provides suggestions for ways to take action.

Deep Dives

After completing a foundational course, your child will have the necessary knowledge
to explore related events and people more deeply.
Starting in Spring 2023, The History School will introduce Deep Dive mini-courses.  
Deep Dives focus on analysis and interpretation, to help children develop critical thinking skills.
Foundational courses, Deep Dives, and social justice connections…
THS inspires children to imagine, and work toward, a better future.

EVIDENCE-BASED /
RESEARCH-BACKED

The History School is based on the Bringing History Home curriculum.

The University of Iowa’s formal evaluation of Bringing History Home is one of the largest and most rigorous multi-year studies of K-5 history learning in the world.  The evaluation found student learning in BHH classrooms to be highly significant and impactful.  

The History School lessons incorporate the highly effective learning strategies that were classroom-proven in BHH.

EXPERT CURATED

During 11 years as the full-time director of Bringing History Home, Elise Fillpot, Ph.D., intensively researched how children learn history. BHH has been successfully taught to thousands of children in hundreds of public school classrooms and has proven children can learn in-depth histories. 

To develop Bringing History Home (BHH), Elise secured $3.5 million in Department of Education grants.  Funding from the federal Teaching American History program enabled her to conduct workshops and courses for school districts across the United States. 

At the University of Iowa, Elise was a College of Education Visiting Scholar for twelve years, and a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of History for three years. At Western Governors University, she was a full-time member of the Elementary Education Social Studies faculty for seven years.

She received her B.A. in History from the University of Illinois at Champaign, her M.A. in History from Texas Tech, and her Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Iowa.  

Now, through The History School, the expertise and knowledge from Elise’s lifetime career can impact any child anywhere.

ELISE’S PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS

  • Kearney, J. M., Yarbrough, D. B., & Fillpot, E. (2014). Using the Expanded Program Model to Evaluate the Bringing History Home Projects. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Evaluation Association
  • Fillpot, E. (2012). Historical thinking in the third grade. The Social Studies, Routledge Press, n. 5, v.103.
  • Fillpot, E. (2009). History in every classroom: Setting a K-5 precedent. In The Teaching American history project: Lessons for teachers and historians, Eds. Ragland, R. & Woestman, K. New York: Routledge Press.
  • Fillpot, E. (2009). Bringing History Home: A K-5 curriculum design. The History Teacher. The Society for History Education, n. 42, v. 3. California State University, Long Beach.
  • Fillpot, E. (2009). It’s elementary: Focusing on history teaching, K-5. Perspectives. American Historical Association, n. 47, v.8.
  • Fillpot, E. (2005). Start with the text, End with historical thinking. Iowa Council for the Social Studies journal, vol. 18, n.1, 11-17.
  • Fillpot, E. (2004). Teaching history K-6. Iowa Council for the Social Studies journal, vol. 17, no.1, 17-21.
  • Fillpot, E. Dating the past: Children’s understanding of historical chronologies. Working title. Manuscript in progress.
  • Fillpot, E., (2004) A study of selected variables associated with freshman attrition at the University of Iowa. Dissertation in fulfillment of a PhD in Higher Education Administration at the University of Iowa.
  • Fillpot, E. (1989). The Tribally-Controlled Community Colleges Act of 1978. Thesis in fulfillment of a M.A. in History, Texas Tech University.