The Importance of Discovering History

When talking about history it seems there are very different types of responses. The response which utterly loves anything about history then the other type of pure boredom. So what’s the importance of history when homeschooling? And how do you engage your child if they aren’t quite fond of it?

First, understanding that history is learning about real people who lived in before us with real emotions and thoughts.

The more you can help children understand that these stories from hundreds or even thousands of years ago really happened, the more relatable and influential history becomes. When I was studying Ancient Studies, I remember the time my professor spoke about his student writing on women’s sandals in the ancient world. I remember thinking “Wow these women back then cared about their style just like we do today!” A great way to have students engage with history is to have them focus on something they love but find it in history! If your student loves to go hunting with their grandpa or dad, have them research about hunter/gather societies or find out how important hunting was to different civilizations! All people must eat – food was not readily available like it is for the majority of the world today! If your student loves drawing, have them research a famous artwork from that period! Although this art may not be on canvas but may be on stones or caves – civilizations loved recording beautiful things – just think of Egypt! Ancient Egypt was littered with walls of color and great stonework. You can learn a lot about a culture through its artwork!

Second, explain “the Why”!

Why is it important to study history? Did you know that much of Western thought today can be traced back to ancient philosophers and politicians? Discovering what worked and what did not for those who came before us, helps us to not make the same mistake again! History does not always need to be studying of Ancient Egypt or Greece but should also be the study of family history and your own city or state history. Understanding where your own family came from – your parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and so on is a great practical use of the importance of history. I’ve always loved history. Whenever I was visiting my grandma, we would sit down together before anyone else woke up and she always told me stories. Stories of my great-grandpa and his struggles in the war. Stories of where they came from and how they remembered a time prior to cellphones and even cars! We have access to a generation who experienced a lot of change in their lifetime and you can hear about their parent’s and their grandparent’s stories!  I know for me, my grandma would always speak of the day man walked on the moon, and the first time she got her own personal car. She worked at an old Bell company at the switchboard. Can you imagine how much history she saw seeing the changes from a switchboard to the modern iPhone? Even in these stories, there is so much to learn about modern history.

Third, history is not just a ton of dates and facts. History should be engaging!

Here at WP we want to help engage your students, allowing them to experience and discover history for themselves! We want them to experience what life was like on a spaceship (Adventures in the Sea & Sky) or to learn how to spell their names in Phoenician letters (Hideaways in History). We want them to be able to understand the hardships which the soldiers fighting for American freedom went through, and to understand the suffering of those awfully sold into slavery. (American History 1&2) The more we understand history, the more we can hope to help our society. History is not always easy to hear or fun to deal with but we need to ensure that we teach our children the mistakes made so we do not continue to do the same!

History has such a rich and amazing influence on young learners. Read the interesting excerpt from one of our digital studies below!

 

The Akkadians*

Taken from our Ancient Civilizations Digital Study

Near the Sumerians grew up the city of Akkad, probably somewhere

along the Tigris River. Today no one knows where the actual city was

located, but there are quite a few other things we know about Akkad,

because it grew to the be capital city of the Akkadian Empire.

Akkad is mentioned in the Bible in Genesis 10:10, spelled out there as

Accad. It began as a city, and it appears from historical records that

the Sumerians and Akkadians developed a thriving trade relationship,

interacting culturally alongside each other. They mingled enough that

most people who lived in the region in the 3rd millenium B.C. spoke

both the Sumerian and Akkadian languages.

In time, the Akkadian Empire gradually grew more powerful. Rulers of

the city-state began expanding their power. The most famous ruler of

Akkad was Sargon, who defeated the king of Uruk in the Battle of Uruk

and took over the empire ruled by that king. Sargon also defeated its

once-friendly neighbors, the Sumerians, but Sargon wisely appointed

over 5,000 Sumerian men to help him rule over his empire, so that

there would be less chance that Sumer would revolt in the years ahead.

In time, only the Akkadian language was used throughout the kingdom,

and Sumerian was not used, but the Akkadians did adopt the Sumerian

style of cuneiform script for writing. They inscribed important papers

onto clay tablets or cylinders. The writing on these tablets and seals

was usually drawn among decorative scenes taken from myths or rituals.

The Akkadians also adopted the Sumerians’ religious beliefs.

The Akkadian Empire spread over Mesopotamia between the Tigris and

Euphrates rivers. At its height, it ruled over cities like Assur, Mari, Eshnunna,

Sippar, Nippur, Uruk, Ur, Lagash, and Suse. Sargon was able to

expand the empire under his rule so that it reached the Mediterranean

Sea on the west, the Persian Gulf on the east, and deep into the Arabian

Peninsula to the south.

Trade routes were established that allowed for safe travel of trade

goods throughout Sargon’s lands and along the Euphrates River.

Sargon used these trade routes to gain access to further lands for

expansion, and brought back booty from his conquests along the

established roads in the kingdom. While agricultural products were

produced in Mesopotamia, the area lacked other natural resources.

Wood, building stone and precious metals were required by Akkadian

rulers. They were traded and imported, and floated to Akkad on the

Euphrates as well.

The empire was so well organized that it had a regular postal service.

Akkad’s ruler did a survey of the land, and began naming the years

from the year Sargon began to rule. Sargon appears to have established

a library that took and collected astronomical observations.

After Sargon’s death, his sons and descendants ruled his empire for

several generations. Sargon was considered a model for later

Mesopotamian rulers, later great kings in Assyria and Babylon, who

looked back at Sargon as the first dominant ruler in Mesopotamia.

These kings looked upon themselves as heirs to the empire that Sargon

had begun long before.

The Akkadian Empire lasted from 2334 B.C., when Sargon took over

control of Akkad, to around 2193 B.C.

Who is Charlotte Mason and what are the basics of her education?

Charlotte Mason was a British educator, who, in the late-nineteenth century, published books on education that were both down-to-earth and practical. Her book, “Home Education,” was innovative and influential to other educators of the time.

She fostered the idea that children could be inspired to learn and explore with joy the world around them. Today, many homeschoolers find her ideals are very relevant to their everyday lives and her ideas are practical and inspiring to both parent and child.

Charlotte Mason’s Fundamental Ideas

Charlotte Mason based her philosophy of education upon nine fundamental, practical principles. There are five “DO’s” and two “DON’T’s.”

DO’s:

• DO provide intelligent reading in abundance.
• DO introduce your student to culture and things of beauty — music, nature, poetry, and the arts.
• DO teach your children to narrate, telling you back about their learning experiences in their own words. Notebooking is a part of narration.
• DO build habits that shape your child, and teach the discipline of self-education for joy’s sake.
• DO allow free time to develop as a person instead of a heavy homework load, especially in the younger grades.

DON’T’s:

• DON’T teach your student to succeed for the sake of a grade; instead, introduce them to things that capture their interest and they will try their best.
• DON’T plan on lecture times of teaching; instead embrace learning together with discussion, experimentation, and narration.

How Do We Measure Education

Charlotte Mason summed up her ideals about education into the phrase, “bringing up” a child. Karen Andreola, in her marvelous book, “A Charlotte Mason Companion,” sums it up this way:

We all wish our children to be well brought up, and when we have come to understand what that means, we know that we need to go beyond simply fitting the child with the basic skills to make a living . . . First and foremost in importance is the power to live the life God has given in the way God intended. In order to have this power, a person must be at his best in his heart, mind, and soul. He must know how to choose good and how to refuse evil.

We, as persons, are not enlightened by means of multiple-choice tests or grades, but rather by the other people in our lives that we have come to know, admire, and love… Children are inspired by relationships, and this helps form their personalities. And so, throughout their educational life, we put them in touch with persons, places, and things…When you give your child a Charlotte Mason-style education, you will be endowing them with the substantial things of our culture, and their interest in these things will naturally spill out, like a cup running over, into their leisure activities, even as they enter adulthood.

Children have the same needs as an adult — to have meaningful work that excites and motivates them to achieve more and more. Charlotte believed that traditional educational systems — designed for demonstrated success through testing — denied children the opportunity to grow in their souls. Education should strive to introduce a student to that which expands their knowledge and understanding of the world in a way that shapes them to be the person God intended them to be.

So lets dive deep into some of CM’s ideas!

Wonderful Books

If you talk to anyone about Charlotte Mason, the first thing they’ll mention will be her advocacy of — in her words — “Living Books.” Charlotte believed that a child needed to read books of quality that were written by people who loved their subject matter and brought their subject alive through action and character development. She felt that stories communicated to readers in a way that would excite, be remembered, and induce them to further interest in self-education. You’ll find the wonderful books we’ve chosen will help you toward these goals!

Culture
Introduce your student to the finer things of life, things of beauty and grace, and you will develop in them a taste for these things and a distaste for things that degrade and sully their lives. Our programs attempt to draw in these aspects to your students’ education, and our four-day schedule allows you time to delve into music and art as a separate pursuit.

Narration
Narration is the art of “telling back.” To some extent this ability is inborn in our children. From their earliest childhood they tell us what just happened to them, or what their best friend just told them. Often we as parents are guilty of stemming their enthusiasm for relating to us in this way, when in fact, this skill, if encouraged to blossom and disciplined to be a part of their education, becomes an integral part of their understanding and an opportunity for reinforcement. Parents are encouraged to integrate narration into the program along the way as a habit, and we’ve even included different narration ideas for greater variety.

Notebooking
A great way to “narrate” is in written form. Notebooking has become popular among homeschoolers as a great way to reinforce student studies. Our “Make-Your-Own” history series and “Timelines in History” are exclusive resources designed to help your student learn the joys of notebooking.

Discipline & Free Time Fundamental to Charlotte’s approach is her belief that education needed a proper balance between the discipline of good habits and free time to enjoy. Our daily schedule will help you implement the daily discipline needed to acquaint younger students with the necessity of a habit of study. As students progress, our independent study schedules will allow you to make them accountable to complete their work according to a list for which they are responsible. Finally, high schoolers also have an independent study regime that will build the skills needed to easily move on to more education. And, all of the schedules we’ve created, allow, we believe, plenty of the free time Charlotte advocated.

Learning Together
All of our resources are designed to keep you interacting with your student for much of their studies. Time spent cuddling on the couch, reading together, contrasts well with the times you’ll work together to complete hands-on activities, or, as the student grows older, research activities. Watching an educational DVD, listening to a music CD together or preparing historical recipes all involve family time … and family memories. WinterPromise is committed to bringing together the perfect balance of resources to keep your family excited, interested, and sane!

Join Hawk, our friend from our Adventures in the Sea & Sky program, as you go on a time-traveling adventure as you witness the birth of Christ.  You will spend 3-weeks (12 days) learning about Roman and Jewish culture, as well as observing the birth of Christ and learning about all that it meant for us.  This study is rich with learning opportunities but also for new family memories. You will experience our “12 Deers of Christmas” activity, watch videos that will take you into the world around the time of Christ, make Jewish food, learn about Roman accomplishments, make your own ornaments and much more! Spend this month learning about the true joy of Christmas and making new memories as a family.

Read a Snipbit from the Study below!

“One of the primary reasons that Rome could expand to the size it was, reaching its peak in 117 A.D., was because of the strength and size of its military. During the reign of the current and first emperor of Rome, Augustus Caesar, he had twenty-five legions at his command. What is a legion? A legion was a grouping of ten cohorts of 600 men each. This meant that a legion had 6,000 soldiers total. Legions made up the backbone of the Roman military. Roman soldiers had many parts to their uniform.”

Tunic

“The tunic was worn underneath a soldier’s armor. It looked like a long shirt that reached down to the middle of the thigh. The tunic was made of rough wool and left the soldier’s lower body unrestricted for marching and fighting, or even working on the empire’s roads.”

Caligae

“A soldier’s shoes were called caligae, sandals that allowed soldiers to march for long distances. The sandals were strong and well-made, well-ventilated and good for marching along quickly. The sandals often had metal studs in the sole, which gave the soldiers grip on rough or wet terrain and made the shoes last longer.”

Gladius

“This short sword is made for stabbing an enemy. Its short length made it perfect to use in close quarters in battle.

Click here to check out The First Christmas Digital Study!

Does your family love to cook together? In Children Around the World we schedule a number of recepies for you to try making as a family that are found from all over the world. Try making the recipe below as a family!

Here’s a recipe from our Children Around the World Themed Program!

Chicken Curry

 

This recipe serves just four hungry people. If you’ve invited more people to your buffet, or have more famished mouths to feed, increase the recipe as needed!

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 whole boneless, skinless chicken breast, chopped into small chunks

2 Tablespoon butter

1-2 Tablespoons curry powder, according to how spicy you like it

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 cup canned coconut milk

½ cup golden raisins

Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan over fairly high heat. Add onion and chicken and cook for five minutes or until the chicken is browned slightly on all sides. Remove the chicken and onion from the pan, and set aside for now. Clean the pan with a paper towel, and continue to use it to melt the butter over low heat. Add the curry powder and the garlic and cook for three minutes. Stir in the coconut milk and the raisins, and add back in the chicken and onion. Cover the pan and simmer for 25 minutes. Serve over rice.

For more recipes from around the world and other hand’s-on experiences check out our Fun & Traditions from Many Lands – part of our Children Around the World!