I wanted to show you how we make history fun and memorable. We start with a textbook (The Story of the World) and make outlines and learn general information, make maps, etc. Then we do projects. For Daniel, this usually means building something. For Paige, this usually involves some art. The idea is to gain a general knowledge of a historical time (such as WWII) and then take some time to learn about various aspects of the time using primary source documents, recipes, models, and articles. I let the children choose what they wish to study in more depth. I love Learning Through History Magazine. These offer great articles and project ideas. These are the sources Paige used in her study of WWII, minus the library books we have already returned:
We make a plan, based on what interests each child. Paige wanted to do a project about the women who worked at home, so we re-created this picture and put it on the cover of her folder. (It’s just a manila folder folded in 4ths.)
Inside, she displays her summaries, outlines, maps, reports, artwork, and other research from the time period:
Maps are neatly folded into envelopes; Photos are mounted; written work is typed and well-edited. The rose wreath is made from Sculpey clay in honor of the slain White Rose German resistance leaders. She wrote reports about Rosie the Riveter, the Nazi Olympics, the Rise of Hitler, Jesse Owens, A Day in the Life During WWII, The Kindertransport and the Atom Bomb. She wrote an outline describing the winding up scenes from WWII. In her literature study, she is working on Anne Frank The Diary of a Young Girl. We will probably put her book report in this folder, too.
Here’s her folder from WWI, completed last April:
I got this idea from someone else. I don’t know who invented the idea, but I think the concept of it is great. It feels good to see all the work the children have done about a civiliazation or a time period in a neat little package. This is good for older children. I like smaller projects for younger children. I’ll take some pictures of what the little ones do for history and post it sometime.