You may have noticed that throughout our website we have tried to clearly express our belief in the importance of history. We have done this in various ways, including numerous quotes supporting the view that history is vital and the reasons for learning from the past.
However, some people might be thinking, “yes, I know, I see…but how? How do I teach my children, who dislike history, to love history?” I’m definitely not an expert, nor do I try to be, but I thought I would share some ideas from my upbringing.
- Approach history with unit studies, if possible. Pick out a book, such as our Sweet Land of Liberty, and read a chapter aloud to all your children. Then, assign each one different projects according to their learning skills, styles, and abilities. Your high school age child could read a chapter that goes along with that time period in Stories of the Old Dominion. Think creatively. Kids like skits and stories. More advanced children could write essays, do further research, or read historical fiction books that go along with the time period. We are currently searching high and low for additional, supplemental books for younger children that will go along with each of our sets. Whatever you do, make it fun for everyone, and get everyone involved. This is the way I learned history, and it has impacted me better than grade level textbooks.
- Read biographies. I read many biographies when I was young. I started with reading simple junior biographies when I was very young. Reading about people’s lives and their joys and sorrows, pains and tears, discoveries and successes, puts history on a practical, everyday level. It shows how people really lived. I don’t find biographies boring if they are well-written because I was raised on them. Learning about God’s hand in history is one thing, but seeing it applying to the nitty-gritty details of someone’s personal life reveals more than just meaningless dates and circumstances.
- Think outside the conventional box. Grade level textbooks are a nightmare to me. I did not do well reading through a history textbook. I never made it through one. My mom was more concerned about us developing a Biblical worldview than she was about making sure that we had all the important dates in American history memorized. Along the way, we have picked up so much knowledge that Jonathan and I probably know a lot more than Mom when it comes to history dates. This knowledge did not come from reading textbooks and memorizing dates, but by digging deeper, reading biographies, doing projects, and reading all kinds of history books. I’m not saying to never use history textbooks. In fact, we have a couple that we use as reference books. When we need a little more detail on a period, we grab the textbook from the shelf. However, it wasn’t our main source of learning.
- Ask God what He has for your family. Families are different (thankfully!). What we did in our schooling years may be totally different from what you need for your family. Find something that works for your family’s needs and that brings fun and joy into learning. History should be fun to learn. Remember that your goal isn’t (or shouldn’t be) to have children who know all the answers, but to have children who love to learn and who seek to apply what they learn to their lives.
For His glory,
Melinda
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