Krono
Drag history cards into chronological order; a Pinpoint mode guesses years.
- Sources
- Every question links to Wikipedia
- Price
- Free with subscription ($2.99/mo, $19.99/yr) or $49.99 one-time
- Age
- 13+
What are the best history apps for homeschool middle school?
The best history apps for a homeschooled middle schooler are the ones that ask your child to reason from evidence, such as ordering events, comparing sources and judging claims, rather than only recalling dates. Trivia and timeline apps are good for recall; reasoning apps build the skill middle school history standards actually ask for. We make PastRush, a reasoning app, and we compare it fairly with three others below.
Recall is a fact. Reasoning is a habit. Middle school is when the habit starts.
Who PastRush is not for
- Families who need a full-year US or world history course. PastRush has 12 investigations, from the Rosetta Stone to the last mammoths. That is depth, not coverage.
- Early readers. Exhibits are real text from labelled sources. A strong 10-year-old copes; a 7-year-old will need you beside them.
- Android or Chromebook households. It is iPhone only.
- Anyone wanting quick-fire trivia. Try a timeline trivia app instead; we name two below.
A Tuesday at the kitchen table
Twenty minutes before lunch. Your twelve-year-old opens Case 6, the Norse in Vinland, and meets two kinds of evidence: medieval sagas written down long after the voyages, and the excavated site at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland. The question on screen is not “when did the Vikings arrive?” but what each source can and cannot show.
They put a saga in “written later”, argue with you about whether that makes it useless, and save an exhibit to the Notebook. You did not lecture once.
Worth knowing for Case 6
In 2021 researchers used tree rings in wood cut at L'Anse aux Meadows, matched to a solar storm of 993, to date Norse woodcutting there to the year 1021 (National Geographic, October 2021, reporting a study in Nature). It is a good talking point for “scientific finding” versus “written later”.
Homeschool history app questions, answered
Can an app count as a homeschool history curriculum?
On its own, rarely. Most history apps are practice or enrichment: they sharpen dates, places and reasoning but do not cover a full year's scope. Pair one with a spine (a textbook, a living-books list or a curriculum) and let the app carry the hands-on reasoning.
What is the difference between a history trivia app and a history reasoning app?
A trivia app asks you to recall a fact or a date. A reasoning app hands you sources and asks what they support. PastRush is built on the second idea: put events in order, compare two sources, and sort claims into supported and going too far.
Is PastRush free?
Six of its 12 investigations are free for everyone: the Rosetta Stone, Pompeii, the Grand Canyon rock layers, Ötzi the Iceman, continental drift and the Norse in Vinland. The other six, every story collection on the globe and the Master tier come with Founder Lifetime, a one-time purchase with no subscription.
Is PastRush safe for a middle schooler to use alone?
The listing says no account, no ads and no tracking. Class mode hides purchases and outside links on shared devices. Some features, such as the satellite map and Where in the World?, need an internet connection.
Does Founder Lifetime work with Family Sharing?
Yes. The listing says Founder Lifetime works with Apple Family Sharing, while progress and notes stay on each device.
How long does one PastRush investigation take?
It depends on the reader. We would budget 20 to 30 minutes for a first case, including reading the labelled exhibits carefully. The Daily Evidence Check, five claims a day, is much shorter.
Can my child show me what they did?
Yes. The offline Notebook keeps saved exhibits and notes, and the Notebook screen in the App Store screenshots shows a learning summary with a share or print option.
Is PastRush on Android or the web?
No. It is an iPhone app from the App Store.
History apps for middle school, compared
Checked against each App Store listing or website on 3 November 2026. We make PastRush.
Wikitrivia
Drop event cards on a timeline; three misses end the game.
- Sources
- Facts from Wikipedia and Wikidata
- Price
- Free; “No Ads” $2.99
- Age
- 4+
DocsTeach
Website from the National Archives Foundation with 13,000+ primary source documents and activities.
- Sources
- Real archival documents
- Price
- Free (website, no app)
- Age
- Teacher-led
PastRush ours
12 case files: order events, compare sources, trace causes, judge claims.
- Sources
- Every exhibit labelled; answers link to sources
- Price
- 6 cases free; Founder Lifetime one-time
- Age
- No account, no ads
Fair to say: DocsTeach has vastly more primary sources than any app, and it is free. If you are happy to sit at a laptop and lead the lesson, start there. PastRush is for the phone in your child's hand, with the reasoning built into the game.
Inside a PastRush case
How to use a history app in a homeschool week, in 3 steps
- Read your spine first. Monday, cover the period in your main book. Choose the PastRush case closest to it (Pompeii for Rome; the Black Death, a Founder Lifetime case, for the Middle Ages).
- Let them work the case. Midweek, your child plays one investigation. The five task types, from chronology to “What can we conclude?”, do the questioning for you.
- Close with the Notebook. Friday, open their Notebook together and ask one question: which exhibit would you trust most, and why? Then do the Daily Evidence Check as a warm-up the next week.
One case a week, one conversation on Friday. That is a semester of reasoning practice.
Start on your iPhone
Six investigations are free. No account, no ads, no tracking.
Start on your iPhone: PastRush on the App Store · Updated November 2026
Related
- PastRush: the history detective game with real evidencePastRush is a history detective game: order events, weigh sources and decide what evidence proves. Six cases free on iPhone, no ads, no account.
- Winter break screen time ideas for middle schoolersTwo weeks off and the tablet never sleeps? Pick your family's situation for a realistic screen plan, with CDC and Mayo Clinic guidance for parents.
- Primary source checklist for kids (free printable)A one-page primary source checklist for kids aged 9 to 13: six questions, four evidence labels and a worked Rosetta Stone example. Free PDF.
- How to count years from BC to AD: the no-year-zero ruleAdd the two years, then subtract one, because 1 BC is followed by AD 1. A free BC to AD calculator and a 4-step visual guide with real dates.