Helping Your Child Learn History
With activities for children aged 4 through 11
By Elaine Wrisley Reed
Edited by Jacquelyn Zimmermann
Contents
Introduction
History Education Begins at Home
Children and History
Parents Make a Difference
History Is a Habit
Enjoying Your Child and History
The Basics of History
The Meanings of History
A New Look at History
Asking Questions
Activities: History as Story
What's the Story?
Our Town
History on the Go
What's News?
History Lives
Cooking Up History
Rub Against History
Activities: History as Time
Time Marches On
Weave a Web
Put Time in a Bottle
Quill Pens & Berry Ink
School Days
Time To Celebrate
The Past Anew
Appendices
Parents and the Schools
Resources
Local and National Resources
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Imagine waking up one morning to find out that you have no memory! You are not able to remember who you are or what happened in your life, yesterday or the day before that. You are unable to tell your children from total strangers, you cannot communicate with people because you no longer know how to greet them, or understand their conversation. You don't remember what "the election," "war," or "the movies" mean.
Lack of historical memory is parallel to this loss of individual memory. The link on which we depend every day between the past and present would be lost if we had no memory of our history. And we would miss a great source of enjoyment that comes from piecing together the story of our past.
Today American educators are working to promote the study of history in the schools and at home. Knowledge of our history enables us to understand our nation's traditions, its conflicts, and its central ideas and values. Knowledge of world history enables us to understand other cultures.
We hope to encourage children to love history and to enjoy learning about it. This booklet is a tool you can use to stimulate your children's active involvement in the history that surrounds them every day. It includes:
History Education Begins at Home
Children and History
As parents we are in the best position to encourage our children's natural interest in history. It is to us they address their first historical questions: "Where did I come from?" and "Was I always here?" These two questions contain the two main meanings of "history": it is the story of people and events, and it is the record of times past.
Now is the time to bring out the historical evidence and to share family stories with your child. Birth and adoption certificates, immunization records, first pieces of your child's writing and art, as well as photographs all count as historical sources that tell the story of your child.
The stories you tell and read to your children, or make up with them, are part of their cultural heritage and reinforce the two basic parts of history: "Once upon a time, and long ago."
Parents Make a Difference
Your child is born into history. She has no memory of it, yet she finds herself in the middle of a story that began before she became one of its characters. She also wants to have a place in it.
As parents we can prepare our children to achieve the lifelong task of finding their place in history by helping them to learn what shaped the world into which they were born. Without information about their history, children don't "get" a lot of what they hear and see around them.
Your attitude about history can also make a difference for your child. Showing your interest in history--your belief that knowing history makes a difference for your life--encourages your child's own interest.
Many parents say they love history. If you are one of them you can share your particular interests in history with your children as well as help them develop their own.
Many other parents say they find history boring. If you are among these, try one of the following: start writing your own life story; read the diary of Anne Frank, or the autobiography of Frederick Douglass; read the Declaration of Independence, or rent a video about the Civil War. As you rediscover history your children may be inspired by your interest.
History Is a Habit
The activities in this book can help you start doing history with your child. You will probably get more ideas of your own. In addition, you can develop some of the following "history habits" that make history important not only during an activity but every day.
History Habits for Parents
Habits are activities we do on a regular basis. We acquire habits by choosing to make them a part of our life. It is worth the time and effort to develop good habits because they enhance our well-being. We suggest the following history habits to enrich your life experience and your children's.
Share family history with your children, particularly your memories. Help your own parents and other relatives know your children and talk with them about family stories.
Participate in your community by voting and helping to make changes in areas that interest you. Encourage your children to vote in school elections, to present themselves as candidates, and gain knowledge of history and the values and behaviors that are the basis of their citizenship.
Read newspapers and news magazines, and watch television news programs to maintain an informed judgment about the world. Talk about current events and your ideas about them with your children and other adults, and explore different points of view. Check the encyclopedia or your local library for additional historical information.
Watch television programs about important historical topics with your family, and encourage conversation about the program as you watch. Get library books on the same topic and learn more about it. Check to see if the books and television programs agree on significant issues, and discuss their differences.
Read with your children about people and events that have made a difference in the world, and discuss the readings together. The list of publications at the end of this book serves as a support to you for choosing materials.
Help children know that the makers of history are real people like themselves, who have ideas, work hard, and experience failure and success. Introduce them to local community leaders in person if possible, and national and world leaders via the media and biographies.
Make globes, maps, and encyclopedias available and use every opportunity to refer to them. A reference to Africa in a child's favorite story, or the red, white, and green stripes on a box of spaghetti can be opportunities to learn more about the world.
Have a collection of great speeches and written documents to read from time to time with your child.
Your own involvement in history, in any of the forms referred to in this book, is a good habit you can pass on to your children.
Enjoying Your Child and History
We have intentions of good fun as we plan any activity with our children. We also want them to learn something from most activities. They probably would say they want to have fun and learn something new too. But sometimes the difference in abilities between us and them, or the demands of time, end up leaving us disappointed. Keeping the following in mind can help keep your time together fun and productive:
You don't have to know all the facts or fully understand history to help your children learn. Your willingness to learn with them--to read, to ask questions, to search, and to make mistakes--is the most important gift you can bring to the process. By viewing their mistakes as sources of information for future efforts, your children gain confidence to continue learning.
Conversation gets you past the difficult moments. Keeping open the communication between you and your children, and encouraging continued discussion no matter how off the mark your children may seem, tells them you take them seriously and value their efforts to learn. The ability to have a conversation with your children profoundly affects what and how they learn.
Children have their own ideas and interests. By letting them choose activities accordingly, you let them know their ideas and interests are valuable. Often they will want to teach you as a way to use what they know. Share their interests and encourage them to learn more.
Make the most of everyday opportunities to do history: visits from grandparents, reading books, telling stories, holidays, elections, symbols like the flag, the national anthem before sporting events, pictures in newspapers and magazines, visits to museums. If your child asks about a person in a painting, stop to find out who it is. Keep asking: "What does this mean? How do I know?"
Choose your activities well. The activities in this booklet are for children aged 4-11. Each of the activities can be adapted to a child of any age and ability level. Even a preschooler can "read" a newspaper with your help, for a short period of time. While an activity that is too difficult will frustrate your child, an activity that is too easy will lose his interest. Challenges bring feelings of accomplishment.
Have a goal. When you choose or begin an activity you may not have a clear idea of where it's going. But keep in mind that the purpose of doing the activities in this book is to learn something about history. The first section of this book, the introduction to each activity, and the question boxes can help you. As you complete each activity discuss with your child what you learned together. Making bread is one thing, knowing that bread has historical meaning is another. Achieving a goal for an activity also helps your child sense the pleasure of a completed project.
The Basics of History
The Meanings of History
If you look for the meaning of "history" in the dictionary you may be surprised to find that history is not simply the past itself. The first meaning of history is "tale, story," and the second meaning is "a chronological record of significant past events." The opening of tales for children--"Once upon a time"--captures both the story and time nature of history.
When we study history we are involved in a branch of knowledge that records and explains past events. Many would say that history is not just one branch of knowledge among others, but that it is the most essential one because it is the complete story of human endeavor. It happens that the word "history" comes from the Greek "to know."
The activities in this book are organized according to the two meanings of history as story and time in order to help you explore these meanings with your child.
The Story in History
The work of doing history is to consider people and events that are no longer in our presence. Unlike doing science, we do history without being able to observe behavior and its results.
This work is fun when we make the past meaningful. We do this by weaving together various pieces of information about the past. In doing this we create a pattern that gives shape to "just a bunch of facts." Doing history is a way of bringing the past to life, in the best tradition of the storyteller.
But not just any story will do. While there are many possible tales of the same event, good history is based on evidence and several perspectives.
The history with which we are most familiar is political history--the story of wars, peace treaties, and changes of government. But anything that has a past has a history. This includes the history of ideas, for example the concept of freedom, and cultural history, for example the history of music.
The story of history is interesting to us because it tells us about real people who had ideas and beliefs, worked and struggled to put them in action, and shaped the present in which we find ourselves.
Time in History
Human events take place in time, one after the other. It is important to learn the sequence of events in order to trace them, reconstruct them, and weave the stories that tell of their connections. Children need to learn the measures of time, such as year, decade, generation, and century. When they hear "Once upon a time in history" they need to be able to ask "When did that happen?," and to know how to find the answer.
Time in history is a kind of relationship. We can look at several events that all happened at the same time, and that together tell a story about that period. Or we can look at the development of an idea over time, and learn how and why it changed. And we can consider the relationship between the past and the present, or the future and the past (which is today!). The present is the result of choices that people made and the beliefs they held in the past, while the past, in being retold, is in some way remade in the present. The future will be the result of the coming together of several areas developing today.
The main focus of history is the relationship between continuity and change, and it is important that our children understand the difference between them. For example, the population of the United States has changed dramatically over time with each wave of immigration. With the entry of these new groups into American society, bringing their own ideas, beliefs, and cultures, American democracy has continued and grown stronger. It continues to function according to its original purpose of safeguarding our basic values of freedom and equality, even as the meanings and effects of these values change.
A New Look at History
History is now understood to be more than memorizing names and dates. While being able to recall the details of great people and events is important, the enjoyment of history is enhanced by engaging in activities and experiencing history as a "story well told."
Original sources and literature are real experiences. Reading the actual words that changed the course of history, and stories that focus on the details of time and place help children know that history is about real people in real places who made real choices that had some real consequences, and that they could have made different choices.
Less can mean more. "A well-formed mind is better than a well-stuffed mind," says an old proverb. Trying to learn the entire history of the world is not only impossible, it feels too hard and reduces our enthusiasm for history. In-depth study of a few important events gives us a chance to understand the many sides of a story. We can always add new facts.
History is hands-on work. Learning history is best done in the same way we learn to use a new language, or to play basketball: we do it as well as read about it. Doing history means asking questions about historical events and characters; searching our towns for signs of its history; talking with others about current events and issues; writing our own stories about the past.
There is no final word on history. There are good storytellers and less good storytellers. And there are many stories. But very rarely does any one storyteller "get it right," or one story say it all. A good student of history will always look for other points of view, knowing that our understanding of history changes over time.
Your children do well to ask "So what?" Much that we take for granted is not so obvious to our children. We should invite them to clear up doubts they have about the reasons for remembering certain things, getting facts right, and collecting and judging evidence. At each step, asking "so what?" helps to explain what is important and worth knowing, and to take the next step with confidence.
Asking Questions
At the end of each activity in this book, you will find a series of questions that can help develop the critical thinking skills children need to participate well in society, learn history, and learn from history. The questions help them know the difference between what is real, fantasy, and ideal, and make the activity more
Critical thinking is judging the value of historical evidence; judging claims about what is true or good; deciding what information is important to have; looking at a topic from different points of view; being curious enough to look further into an event or topic; being skeptical enough to look for more than one account of an event or life; and being aware that our vision and thinking are often limited by our biases and opinions.
The following two sections contain a sampling of history activities, organized by the meanings of history as story and time. Each group of activities is preceded by a review of three elements of story and time from the perspective of history. The review is meant to inform and support conversation between you and your child, which is the most important step in each activity by far.
Activities: History as Story
Records
History is a permanent written record of the past. Because recording history is an essential part of doing history, a "history log" is indicated for each activity. More recently, history is also recorded on audio and video tape, and many of the activities lend themselves to this type of recording as well. Your children may be interested to know that the time of their favorite dinosaurs is called "prehistory" because it is unrecorded history. They should also know that some written languages have been invented because telling stories orally, without recording them in some form, is not by itself a sure enough way to preserve the identity of a people.
Narration
George Washington, in his Farewell Address in 1796, said: "Though in reviewing the incidents of my administration I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors." This reflection is a good reminder that history, with its facts and evidence, is also an interpretation of the past. There is more than one cause for an event, more than one kind of outcome, and more than one way of looking at their relationship.
Evidence
All good histories are written on the basis of evidence. Your children need to learn the importance of evidence, and to distinguish it from biases, propaganda, stereotypes, and opinion. They need to judge whether the many stories about John F. Kennedy or World War I, for example, are based on solid enough evidence to provide an accurate account of the life and times.
What's the Story
History is a story well told. Through storytelling children can understand what's involved in writing the stories that make history.
What you'll need
Family members and friends
A fairy tale or folk tale
History log
What to do
In the storytelling session about the person you know, how did you verify the "truth" when there were differences of opinion about what "really happened"? If you were to write the story of a real event for the newspaper, what would count for you the most in preparing it? What else would you include? Where would you get your information? How would you check the accuracy of the information?
Our Town
Your phone book, newspaper, and other resources can serve as your best guide to history in your town. Not only does referring to them save time, it teaches how to use tools to get information.
What you'll need
Phone books, both yellow and white pages Daily city newspaper
Community newspaper
History log
What to do
Participate in an event and help your child write about it in the history log when you get back home.
For more help, call education services at your city newspaper. Ask about their education programs that use newspapers.
2. Phone book search. Look in your phone books under "History" or "Historical Places." You will find a few places under this heading but many more are listed elsewhere.
Brainstorm with your children about what other words to look under in the phone book to find local history.
Call the places you find. -Ask about their programs, hours, and upcoming special events. Ask to be put on their mailing list. Also ask where else you should go to learn about your town's history.
Your younger children should listen to your phone conversation. They learn how to ask for information by listening to you.
3. Begin a list in the history log of local historical sites. Include phone numbers, addresses, hours of operation, and other useful information for future visits.
What is the most surprising thing you learned about your town? If you were asked to be a tour guide for visitors to your town, what would you show them? If you went to another town, how would you go about visiting it?
History on the Go
Visit the historical places in your child's history book, either in person or by collecting materials.
What you'll need
Your child's history book
Maps, guidebooks
History log
What to do
What was historical about the place you visited? What kinds of things communicated the history of the place? When you returned, did you see your town in a new way, or notice something you hadn't seen before?
What's News?
What's new today really began in the past. Discussing the news is a way to help your child gain a historical perspective on the events of the present.
What you'll need
Daily or Sunday newspaper
Weekly news magazine
A daily national news program
Highlighter
History log
What to do
"There is nothing new under the sun," according to an old saying. Did you find anything "new" in the news? What "same old stories" did you find?
History Lives
At living history museums you can see real people doing the work of blacksmiths, tin workers, shoemakers, farmers, and others. Children can see how things work, and can ask questions of the "characters."
What you'll need
Visitor brochure and museum map
Sketch pad and pencils, or camera
History log
What to do
How were days spent in the period of time you experienced? What kind of dress was common, or special? What kinds of food did people usually eat, and did they eat alone or in groups? What kind of work would you have chosen to do as an adult? If a living history museum were made of the late 20th century, what would people see and learn there? Reminder: if you can't visit a museum, travel by reading books.
Cooking Up History
Every culture has its version of bread. "Eating it, one feels that the taste one cannot quite put to words may almost be the taste of history."* Children enjoy making this American Indian fried bread.
What you'll need
2 1/2 cups all-purpose or wheat flour
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon dried skimmed milk powder
3/4 cup warm water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Oil for frying
Mixing bowls and spoons, spatula
Large skillet
Cloth towels
Baking sheet
Paper towels
History log
What to do
How is this bread different from other breads you have tried? Think of common expressions that use the word "bread." For example, "the nation's breadbasket"; "I earn my bread and butter"; or "breadlines of the 1920s." What does "bread" mean in each of these? What place does bread have in your daily life and in other cultures?
Rub Against History
Younger children find rubbings great fun. Cornerstones and plaques are interesting, and even coins will do.
What You'll Need
Tracing paper or other light weight paper Large crayons with
the paper removed, fat lead pencil, colored pencils, or artist's
charcoal
History log
What to do
What showed up in your rubbings? What did the date and designs commemorate? Historical preservation groups in America have worked to preserve old buildings and to install plaques on public historical places. Is this interesting or important work? Why have humans left their marks on the world from early cave drawings to Vietnam Veterans' Memorial?
Activities: History as Time
Chronology
While our children need the opportunity to study events in depth to get an understanding of them, they also need to know the sequence of historical events in time, and the names and places associated with them. Being able to place events in time, your child is better able to learn the relationships among them. What came first? What was cause, and what was effect? Without a sense of chronological order, events seem like a big jumble, and we can't understand what happened in the past. It matters, for example, that our children know that the American and French Revolutions are related.
Empathy
Empathy is the ability to put ourselves in the place of another person and time. Since history is the reconstruction of the past, we must have an idea of what it was like "to be there" in order to reconstruct it with some accuracy. For example, in studying the westward expansion your children may ask why people didn't fly across the country to avoid the hazards of exposure on stagecoach trails. When you answer that the airplane hadn't yet been invented, they may ask why not. They need an understanding of how technology develops and its state at the time. Using original source documents, such as diaries, logs, and speeches, helps us guard against imposing the present on the past, and allows us to see events through the eyes of people who were there.
Context
Context is related to empathy. Context means "weave together" and refers to the set of circumstances in several areas that framed an event. To understand any historical period or event our children should know how to weave together politics (how a society was ruled), sociology (what groups formed the society), economics (how people worked and what they produced), and religion, literature, the arts, and philosophy (what was valued and believed at the time). When they try to understand World War II, for example, they will uncover a complex set of events. And they will find that these events draw their meaning from their context.
History means having a grand old time with new stories. So, think about the relationship between history and time as you do the following activities.
Time Marches On
The stories of history have beginnings, middles, and ends that show events, and suggest causes and effects. A personal timeline helps your child picture these elements of story.
What you'll need
Paper for timeline
Colored pencils
Crayons
Shelf paper or computer paper
Removable tape
History log (optional)
What to do
What is the most significant event on the timeline? What effects did the event have on your child's life? What are the connections between the events in your child's life and world events at the time?
Weave a Web
A history web is a way of connecting people and events. Is there an old ball field in your town you've always wondered about? Or did you ever wonder why there are so many war memorials in your town? Then you need to do a history web!
What you'll need
Large piece of paper or poster board (at least 3 1/2 x 2 1/2
ft.)
Colored pencils or markers
History log
What to do
Or ask yourself. "What are there lots of in my town?" Churches, fountains? Pick one of these historical "families."
2. Go to one of these places. Jot down in your history log what you see and hear there. For example, look for marks on the buildings, such as dates and designs, or parts of the buildings, such as bleachers or bell towers.
3. Find out other information about the place by asking a librarian for resources, or by searching the archives of your local newspaper. Look for major events that took place there, such as the setting of a world record or the visit of a famous person. Also look for other events that changed the place, such as modernization or dedications.
4. Find people who have lived in your town a long time. Interview them using questions about these major and related events, and any others they remember.
5. Draw a web, with the name of the place you studied in the middle (like the spider who weaves a "home").
6. Draw several strands from the middle to show the major events in the life of the place.
7. Connect the strands with cross lines to show other related events.
8. When the web is complete consider the relationships among the strands. (See parent box.)
9. Ask the editor of your local newspaper to publish your web. Ask readers to contribute more information to add to it. This is exactly how history is written!
When was the place you picked built? If you picked a "family" of places, when was each place built? If they were built around the same time, what similarities and differences do you notice about their features, such as style and what they commemorate? How is the place you picked connected to other events in history?
Put Time in a Bottle
Collecting things from one's lifetime and putting them in a time capsule is a history lesson that will never be forgotten.
What you'll need
Magazines or newspapers with pictures
Sealable container
Tape or other sealant
History log
Lift up your eyes upon
This day breaking for
Give birth again
To the dream.
Women, children, men,
Take it into the palms of your hands,
Mold it into the shape of your most
Private need. Sculpt it into
The image of your most public self.
Lift up your hearts...
Excerpted from "On the Pulse of Morning", delivered by Maya Angelou at the 1993 Presidential Inauguration.
What to do
Some things to collect that represent the life and times of a period are games and toys, new technology, means of transportation, slang, movies, presidential campaign memorabilia, great speeches, poetry and fiction, music, heroes, advertising, events, television shows, fashions, and accounts of issues and crises.
Also have them include a letter describing life today to the person who opens the time capsule.
3. Meet together for a "show and tell" of the items.
4. Once everyone is satisfied with the collection, label the items by name and with any other information that will help those who find them understand how they are significant to the history of our time.
5. Place the items in a container, seal the container, and find a place to store it.
6. Write in the history log a short description of the time period and record the location of the time capsule.
What did, the collection of items tell about the period? Did the items tend to be of a certain type?
Quill Pens & Berry Ink
Knowing how to write has been a valued skill throughout history. History itself depends on writing, and writing has changed over time from scratches on clay to computerized letters.
What you'll need
For quill pen:
feather, scissors, a paper clip
For berry ink:
1/2 cup of ripe berries, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon vinegar, food strainer, bowl, wooden spoon, small jar with tight-fitting lid
Paper
Paper towel
History log
What to do
Why do write? When do people in your family use writing? What written things do you see every day? What is their purpose? What effect do different writing implements have on writing, for example quill pens, ballpoint pens, typewriters, and computers?
School Days
Did you ever wonder why there is no school in summer? Or why there might be soon?
What you'll need
Map of the United States
Crayons or colored pencils
History log
What to do
Include the history of work in America and how this affects schooling. For example, when America was an agricultural society, children were needed to help plant and harvest crops. It was common then that children didn't go to school every day, or in the summer.
Have children draw a variety of crops or animals raised in the United States, including those grown in their own state or neighborhood. They can draw either right on the map or on paper that they will cut and paste on the appropriate state. The map can be traced from an atlas in the library or from a geography book. Talk about when various crops are planted and harvested, and the effects of growing seasons on migrant worker families.
Talk about another change in work in America and how it affected schooling. For example, when America was becoming a manufacturing economy, during the Industrial Revolution, laws were made against child labor and for mandatory schooling.
Help your child talk about how the work of parents in America today affects schooling, for example, the need for afterschool programs.
3. Imagine what school will be like in the future. Younger children may want to use blocks to build their future school, and older children may want to draw theirs.
What has remained the same about school from the past to the present? What has changed? If you could be the head of a school 20 years from now, what would you keep and what would you change based on your current school? How would you go about making the changes?
Time To Celebrate
On quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies is written the phrase "E pluribus unum," "One out of many." What does it mean?
What you'll need
U.S. coins
Map of the world
Calendar
History log
What to do
New Year's Day January 1 New beginning
Martin Luther January 15 Birth of a leader King Jr.'s
Birthday
Presidents' Day 3rd Monday Originally, Presidents of February Lincoln and Washington
currently all former
U.S. presidents
Memorial Day Last Monday War dead of May
Independence Day July 4 National independence; adoption of the
Declaration of
Independence in 1776
Labor Day First Monday Working people of September
Columbus Day Second Monday Landing of of October Columbus in the
Bahamas in 1492
Veterans Day November 11 War veterans
Thanksgiving Fourth Giving thanks Day Thursday of for divine goodness
November
Christmas Day December 25 Birth of Jesus
3. Use the opportunity of talking about what holidays celebrate to read original sources. For example: on Presidents' Day read one of the great presidential speeches such as the Gettysburg Address; on Martin Luther King's Day read the "I Have a Dream" speech.
4. Find holidays celebrated in other nations. Classmates, neighbors, and relatives from other countries are good sources of information.
5. Think and talk about other important holidays our nation should celebrate.
6. Discuss what your family celebrates, and have your children write about the discussion in their history log.
What kinds of accomplishments or events do we celebrate in America? What similarities and differences did you find between American holidays and holidays celebrated by people from other countries.
The Past Anew
Reenactments of historical battles or periods, such as colonial times, make our nation's history come alive. And they get our children involved.
What you'll need
A library card
Local newspapers
Phone book
History log
What was unusual or interesting about the reenactment? What role did each of the reenactors play? If there was conflict, what was shown or said about its causes? What obstacles did the characters face? How did they overcome them? What is the difference between the "real thing" and a performance of it? What did you learn from the performance?
What to do
Parents and the Schools
Educators and education policymakers at the national and state levels support an expanded history curriculum in our schools. Parents and schools can be partners in this endeavor as they work toward their common goal of educating children. Following are some well-proven measures for supporting your children's study of history at school, and for forming productive relationships with those responsible for their education away from home:
Resources
Listed below are a few of the many excellent books about people, events, and issues in American and world history that are available for primary and middle school children. They are available in most public and school libraries, as well as in children's bookstores. Suggestions came from: The New York Times Parents Guide to the Best Books for Children, by Eden Ross Lipson; History--Social Science Curriculum: A Booklet for Parents, by the California Department of Education; The Horn Book Guide to Children's and Young Adult Books, by The Horn Book, Incorporated; Children's Books in Print; and from the 1991 bibliography of the National Council for the Social Studies-Children's Book Council. The listing includes author, title, and publisher.
Primary Level Books
Adler, David A. A Picture Book of Eleanor Roosevelt. See also other titles in this series, and Thomas Jefferson: Father of Our Democracy, and George Washington: Father of Our Country. Holiday.
Barth, Edna. Turkeys, Pilgrims and Indian Corn: The Story of the Thanksgiving Symbols. Clarion.
Cherry, Lynne. A River Ran Wild. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Cohen, Barbara. Molly's Pilgrim. Lothrop.
Faber, Doris. Amish. Doubleday.
Ferris, Jeri. Go Free or Die: A Story about Harriet Tubman. See also Walking the Road to Freedom: A Story about Sojourner Truth. Carolrhoda Books.
Fisher, Leonard E. The Statue of Liberty. Holiday.
Fritz, Jean. Can't You Make Them Behave, King George? See also What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin?, and Will You Sign Here, John Hancock? Coward.
Gibbons, Gall. From Path to Highway: The Story of the Boston Post Road. T.Y. Crowell/HarperCollins.
Harness, Cheryl. Three Young Pilgrims. Bradbury Press.
Jakes, John. Susanna of the Alamo: A True Story. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Lawson, Robert. Watchwords of Liberty: A Pageant of American Quotations. Little, Brown.
McGovern, Ann. If You Lived in Colonial Times. Scholastic.
McGuffy, William Holmes. McGuffey's Third Eclectic Reader. Van Nostrand Reinhold.
Monjo, F. N. The One Bad Thing about Father (biography of Theodore Roosevelt). See also The Drinking Gourd. Harper.
O'Kelley, Mattie Lou. From the Hills of Georgia: An Autobiography in Paintings. Little, Brown.
Provensen, Alice. The Buck Stops Here: The Presidents of the United States. HarperCollins.
Rynbach, Iris V. Everything from a Nail to a Coffin. Orchard.
Sewall, Marcia. The Pilgrims of Plimoth. See also People of the Breaking Day (same period from Indian point of view). Atheneum.
Von Tscharner, Renata, and Ronald Fleming. New Providence: A Changing Cityscape. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Waters, Kate. The Story of the White House. Scholastic.
Williams, Sherley Anne. Working Cotton. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
2. World History and Culture
Adler, David A. Our Golda: The Story of Golda Meir. Viking.
Aliki. Mummies Made in Egypt. T.Y. Crowell/HarperCollins.
Fisher, Leonard E. The Great Wall of China. See also Pyramid of the Sun--Pyramid of the Moon, and The Wailing Wall. Macmillan.
Musgrove, Margaret W. Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions. Dial.
Provensen, Alice, and Martin Provensen. The Glorious Flight: Across the Channel with Louis Bleriot. Puffin.
Sabin, Louis. Marie Curie. Troll.
Stanley, Diane. Peter the Great. Four Winds.
Wells, Ruth. A to Zen: A Book of Japanese Culture. Simon and Schuster.
3. Historical Fiction and Poetry
Aliki. A Medieval Feast. T.Y. Crowell/HarperCollins.
Baylor, Byrd. The Best Town in the World. Scribner's.
Benchley, Nathaniel. Sam the Minuteman. HarperCollins.
Burton, Virginia Lee. Litle House. Houghton Mifflin.
Goble, Paul. Death of the Iron Horse. Macmillan.
Hall, Donald. Ox-Cart Man. Puffin.
Kurelek, William. A Prairie Boy's Winter. Houghton Mifflin.
Kuskin, Karla. Jerusalem, Shining Still. Harper Trophy.
Lee, Jeanne M. Ba-Nam. Henry Holt.
Le Sueur, Meridel. Little Brother of the Wilderness: The Story of Johnny Appleseed. Holy Cow! Press.
Livingston, Myra. Celebrations. Holiday.
Lobel, Anita. Potatoes, Potatoes. HarperCollins.
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. Hiawatha. Dial.
Lyon, George-Ella. Who Came Down That Road? Franklin Watts.
Spier, Peter. We the People: The Constitution of the U. S.. See also Tin Lizzie, New Amsterdam, and The Star-Spangled Banner. Doubleday.
Swift, Hildegarde, and Lynd Ward. Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Turkle, Brinton. Thy Friend, Obadiah. Puffin.
Zolotow, Charlotte. The Sky Was Blue. Harper.
Upper Elementary Level Books
The Log of Christopher Columbus' First Voyage to America: in the Year 1492, As Copied Out in Brief by Bartholomew Las Casas. Linnett Books/Shoestring Press.
Brown, Margaret W. (editor). Homes in the Wilderness: A Pilgrim's Journal of Plymouth Plantation in 1620, by William Bradford and Others of the Mayflower Company. Linnett Books/Shoestring Press.
Cousins, Margaret. Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia. Random.
Douglass, Frederick. The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass. Macmillan. See also The Narrative and Selected Writings. Modern Library.
Freedman, Russell. Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Clarion. See also Indian Chiefs, The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane (Holiday), and Lincoln: A Photobiography (Clarion).
Harrison, Barbara, and Daniel Terris. A Twilight Struggle: The Life of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Lothrop/Morrow.
Lester, Julius. To Be a Slave. Dial.
McKissack, Patricia, and Frederick McKissack. Mary McLeod Bethune: A Great Teacher. Enslow.
Meltzer, Milton. The Black Americans: A History in Their Own Words. See also others in this "In their own words" series, and Voices from the Civil War. T.Y. Crowell/HarperCollins.
Ravitch, Diane (editor). American Reader: Words That Moved a Nation. HarperCollins.
b. Period History and Historical Fiction
Alcott, Louisa May. Little Women. Little, Brown/Orchard House. See also An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving. Holiday.
Benet, Rosemary, and Stephen Vincent Benet. The Ballad of William Sycamore. Henry Holt.
Blumberg, Rhoda. The Incredible Journey of Lewis and Clark. Lothrop.
Brink, Carol R. Caddie Woodlawn. Macmillan.
Brown, Marion Marsh. Sacagawea: Indian Interpreter to Lewis and Clark. Childrens.
Fisher, Leonard E. The Oregon Trail. See also Tracks Across America: The Story of the American Railroad, 1825-1900. Holiday.
Flournoy, Valerie. The Patchwork Quilt. Dial.
Forbes, Esther. Johnny Tremain. Houghton Mifflin.
Freedman, Russell. Cowboys of the Wild West. Clarion.
Fritz, Jean. Shh! We're Writing the Constitution. Putnam. See also other books by the same author on Pocahantas, Paul Revere, and others.
Hakim, Joy. The First Americans, the first volume of the series A History of the United States. Oxford University Press.
Haskins, Jim. Outward Dreams: Black Inventors and Their Inventions. Walker.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. True Stories from History and Biography. Ohio State University Press.
Hunt, Irene. Across Five Aprils. Berkley.
Jacobs, William J. Ellis Island: New Hope in a New Land. Scribner.
Maestro, Betsy. A More Perfect Union: The Story of Our Constitution. Lothrop.
Nixon, Joan L. A Family Apart. Bantam.
O'Dell, Scott. King's Fifth. See also The Serpent Never Sleeps: A Novel of Jamestown and Pocahontas. Houghton Mifflin.
Parker, Nancy W. The President's Cabinet and How It Grew. HarperCollins.
Smith, Carter (editor). Daily Life: A Sourcebook on Colonial America. Millbrook.
Stewart, George. The Pioneers Go West. Random.
Wilder, Laura I. Little House in the Big Woods. See also others in the "Little House" series. Harper Trophy.
2. World History and Culture, and Historical Fiction
Blumberg, Rhoda. The Remarkable Voyages of Captain Cook. Bradbury.
Corbishley, Mike. Ancient Rome. Facts on File.
Foreman, Michael. War Boy: A Country Childhood. Arcade.
Galbraith, Catherine A., and Rama Mehta. India Now and Through Time. Houghton Mifflin.
Harkonen, Reijo. The Children of Egypt. Carolrhoda Books.
Macaulay, David. Pyramid. See also City: A Story of Roman Planning and Construction; Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction; and Castle. Houghton Mifflin. Also available on video.
Marrin, Albert. Napoleon and the Napoleonic Wars. Viking.
Muller, Jorg. The Changing City. McElderry.
Nhuong, Quang Nhuong. The Land I Lost: Adventures of a Boy in Vietnam. Harper Trophy.
Rogasky, Barbara. Smoke and Ashes: The Story of the Holocaust. Holiday.
Stott, Ken (illustrator). Columbus and The Age of Exploration. Bookwright.
Collections
Baker, Charles F., Ill. The Struggle for Freedom: Plays on the American Revolution. Cobblestone.
Barchers, Suzanne, and Patricia Marden. Cooking Up U. S. History: Recipes and Research to Share with Children. Teacher Ideas Press.
Bell, R. C. Board and Table Games From Many Civilizations. Dover Publications.
Benet, Rosemary, and Stephen Vincent Benet. Book of Americans. Henry Holt.
Boorstin, Daniel J., and Ruth F. Boorstin. The Landmark History of the American People. Random House. See also Visiting Our Past: America's Historylands. National Geographic Society.
D'Aulaire, Ingri, and Edgar D'Aulaire. D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths. Doubleday.
Dorell, Ann (collector). The Diane Goode Book of American Folk Tales and Songs. Dutton.
Fearotte, Phyllis. The You and Me Heritage Tree: Children's Crafts from 21 American Traditions. Workman.
Hughes, Langston, and Arna Bontemps. The Book of Negro Folklore. Dodd, Mead.
McEvedy, Colin. The Penguin Atlas of Ancient History. Penguin.
National Geographic Society. Historical Atlas of the United States.
Walker, Barbara M. The Little House Cookbook. Trophy.
Children's Magazines
Calliope: World History for Young People. Cobblestone Publishing, Inc., 30 Grove St., Peterborough, NH 03458. World history for grades 6-8.
Cobblestone: The History Magazine for Young People. Cobblestone Publishing, Inc., same address as above. An American history monthly for grades 4-8.
Videos
An American Tail, Universal Studios. An animated fable about 19th century immigration, in color.
The Civil War, PBS, directed by Kenneth Burns. An 11 hour series in color and black and white.
Eyes on the Prize, PBS. A series on the civil rights movement in the United States.
References for Parents
Hirsch, E.D. Jr. What Your First Grader Needs To Know. See also titles on second-, third-, and fourth-graders. Doubleday/Core Knowledge Series.
Local and National Resources
Federal Government
General Services Administration, Publications Sales Branch, NEPS-G, Washington, DC 20408. Write for a list of available "documents from the past."
National Park Service, Office of Public Inquiries, Washington, DC 20013-7127. Write for maps and guides to national historic sites.
National Register of Historic Places, Interagency Resources Division, National Park Service, P.O. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127. The Register's archives contain information on 59,000 places of national, state, and local significance.
National Nonprofit Organizations
American Association for State and Local History, 172 Second Avenue North, Suite 202, Nashville, TN 37201. The association maintains an extensive list of museums, historic sites, and historical societies.
National Council for History Education, 26915 Westwood Rd., Suite B-2, Westlake, Ohio 44145. Write to the council for the monthly newsletter, History Matters! The council also maintains a Speakers' Bureau.
National History Day, University of Maryland at College Park, 0121 Caroline Hall, College Park, MD 20742. Write for information on local, regional, state, and national contests for middle schoolers.
National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1785 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036. Write to them for lists of preservation groups in local communities throughout the United States. These groups often have walking maps and special historical programs.
Acknowledgments
This booklet was made possible with help from the following people who provided materials and suggestions: George T. Reed, Rodney Atkinson, Gilbert Sewall, Joseph Ribar, Steven and Amy Jack, Candece Reed, Joseph and Peter Ryan, Nancy Taylor, Joan McKown, Susan Perkins Weston, Carol Shull, Paul Regnier, and Joyce Hunley. Special thanks are given to Judith J. French, a media specialist in Fairfax County Public Schools, for reviewing the bibliography; to the 1990 third-grade class of Capitol Hill Day School whose illustrations of historical houses in Washington, DC appear on page 13; to Leo and Diane Dillon for their advice on how to work with illustrators; and to Gerard Devlin, Nancy Floyd, John Fonte, Paul Gagnon, Wilma Prudhum Greene, Margery Martin, and many others at the U.S. Department of Education.
The Helping Your Chad series was initiated by Diane Ravitch when she was Assistant Secretary of OERI, to expand educational opportunities for children. In addition, she provided a historian's thoughtful review of this manuscript.
The following sources were consulted in conceiving the introductory text: Awakening Your Child's Natural Genius by Thomas Armstrong; Building a History Curriculum by the Bradley Commission on History in Schools; History-Social Science Framework for California Public Schools by the California State Department of Education; Framework for the 1994 NAEP U.S. History Assessment by the National Assessment Governing Board; Learning H/story by A.K. Dickinson et al.; and the Art of Eating (No.18), a newsletter by Edward Behr with an article on the history of breadmaking.
The activities are inspired by suggestions from John Ahem; Kid's America by Steve Caney; Great Fast Breads by Carol Cutler; Native American Cookbook by Edna Henry; Claudia J. Hoone; Kathleen Hunter; Peter O'Donnell, Director of Museum Education at Old Sturbridge Village; Janice Ribar; and My Backyard History Book by David Weitzman.
What We Can Do
To Help Our Children Learn:
Listen to them and pay attention to their problems. Read with them.
Tell family stories.
Limit their television watching.
Have books and other reading materials in the house.
Look up words in the dictionary with them.
Encourage them to use an encyclopedia.
Share favorite poems and songs with them.
Take them to the library--get them their own library cards.
Take them to museums and historical sites, when possible.
Discuss the daily news with them.
Go exploring with them and learn about plants, animals, and local geography.
Find a quiet place for them to study.
Review their homework.
Meet with their teachers.
Do you have other ideas?