Vikings & Explorers Enrichment Unit Study (Teacher’s Guide)

30 Lessons | 6 Weeks | Grades K–6

Set sail on an unforgettable journey through the Viking Age and the Age of Exploration with this engaging six-week Charlotte Mason-inspired unit study. Designed for homeschool co-ops, microschools, classrooms, and families, this comprehensive Teacher’s Guide includes 30 complete lessons that explore Viking life, navigation, exploration, trade, and the discoveries that forever changed the world.

Students will discover how the Vikings became some of history’s greatest sailors, learn how explorers navigated without modern technology, follow Leif Erikson to North America, investigate the Age of Exploration, and examine how these remarkable journeys continue to shape our world today. Each week includes materials for 5 “in class” lessons.

What You’ll Study

Week 1 — Viking Ships and Navigation Across the North Atlantic

Discover how Viking longships revolutionized travel while exploring Scandinavian geography, shipbuilding, navigation, trade routes, and the lasting influence of Viking exploration.

Week 2 — Viking Trade Routes and the Medieval World

Learn how the Vikings traveled the rivers of Europe, connected three continents through trade, founded important settlements, and became merchants as well as explorers.

Week 3 — Leif Erikson and the Discovery of Vinland

Follow Erik the Red and Leif Erikson as the Vikings establish Greenland, reach North America centuries before Columbus, and explore what archaeology reveals about their settlements.

Week 4 — The Age of Exploration

Discover why Europeans searched for new trade routes while learning about navigation, Portugal’s voyages, Prince Henry the Navigator, and the beginning of global exploration.

Week 5 — Columbus and the Atlantic Voyages

Examine Christopher Columbus’s famous voyages, the civilizations he encountered, the Columbian Exchange, and the lasting impact of first contact between Europe and the Americas.

Week 6 — Great Explorers and a Changing World

Meet Vasco da Gama, Ferdinand Magellan, Jacques Cartier, Hernán Cortés, and other explorers while discovering how exploration reshaped maps, trade, cultures, and world history.

Teacher’s Guide Includes

• 30 complete daily lessons
• Teacher lesson plans
• Vocabulary cards
• Reproducible classroom copywork pages
• Book and resource guide
• Timeline
• Full-color photographs and illustrations throughout
• Narration and discussion opportunities

Teacher License

Your purchase includes a single-teacher license.

You may:

• Teach the curriculum to your own class or homeschool group.
• Print or maintain one personal working copy.
• Display pages digitally during instruction.
• Copy only pages specifically marked “Reproducible” for classroom use.

This license is for one teacher only. Additional teachers should purchase their own licensed copy. Student editions are available upon request. Please contact customers@pallascenter.com for information about student books, bulk purchases, or additional licenses. This follows the licensing terms included with the curriculum.

Whether you’re teaching in a homeschool co-op, microschool, private school, or at home, this open-and-go Teacher’s Guide provides everything you need for 30 engaging, discussion-rich lessons that help students understand not only how the Vikings explored the world, but how centuries of exploration transformed civilizations and continue to influence global trade, travel, and culture today.