If we don't learn from history...

History is one of my favorite subjects, but I can't remember a date to save my life. I wish I could remember all those dates, places and names that you have to regurgitate for the final exam, but alas they escape my memory. As the old adage has it..."if we don't learn from it we are bound to repeat it." I don't recall it saying we had to know the date the Roman Empire fell, but what we learned from the Roman Empire.

I love reading historical fiction and non-fiction. Well, I just love to read, but history is one of my favorite subjects to read about. I love to read about everyday people in everyday situations during a certain period in time. I love reading personal journals and histories of real people. I'll take the historical fiction as well because you can learn some great things from wonderfully crafted stories.

What I didn't learn...

Long ago when I was in public school, I think I spent most of my life studying from 1940 on. I finally figured out that if there was a World War TWO there had to be a World War ONE. I really didn't know history. I had learned ancient history only from the Bible (good start but I was missing much) and current history....well it went from Christopher Columbus "sailing the ocean blue" to the atomic bomb being dropped on Japan. All those years were missing.

What I now have learned (with my kids)...

The year 2000-2001 we focused on American History using Beautiful Feet.
The year 2001-2002 we used Green Leaf Press while studying Egypt, Greece, Rome and the Middle Ages. Of course we heavily added our own books to read.
For the year 2002-2003 we study the Renaissance (Leonardo de Vinci & Michelangelo), Lewis and Clark and Baseball
For 2003-2004 we studied Viking and the Wright Brothers in our Aviation unit.
For the 2004-2005 school year we finished Plants and then went to American History starting with the French and Indian War, since we did the discovery of America in 2000. We then went on to the States and stopped half way through so we could start the Revolutionary War (a HUGE unit).
for the 2005-2006 year we finished the Revolutionary War then went on to a general science course of study while we sprinkled in the states that we didn't get last year. We also studied the War of 1812 and The Mexican-American War and started the Civil War which will take us into the 2006-2007 traditional school year.

Isn't homeschooling GREAT! I know know more than I ever dreamed of know....in fact I didn't know half of this history even existed. And I learned all that in just 7 years!

Writing and History

This is a great subject that lends itself to writing. We have the kids do some research project with every unit (about one every two months) and also a writing paper per major book we read. We also have some fun paper/project thrown in to keep things light and fun. See writing for more ideas.

We are living history right now! I think our children need to make a history of their own. Have your children start journals. Have them keep up with current events and then write their feelings about what is going on. Have them write about history and what they think. What is this or that didn't happen? There are many fun things to learn from writing about history. But there is power in a personal journal.

Do you have the journals from your ancestors? We do and though they aren't great literary pieces they have a special place in our heart and are priceless! They have proved to our children that they need not be a published award winning author to have something of value to say to those who read their words. They have instilled a desire to write their own "his" story.

Stores that sell History products.

Last updated: November, 2006

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