Ways to Foster an Interest in History

Children are born to learn. A little participation from mom and dad goes further than anything else toward motivating a child to focus his learning capacities. A solid knowledge of history is one of the most important stones your child can have in the foundation of her consciousness. Helping her develop an interest can be easy. Just get into it with her. Here are some suggestions for showing your child the fun and excitement of historical study.

The Family Tree

Learn your family history and tell it to your children. Make sure your kids get plenty of exposure to grandparents and relatives and encourage conversation about the family tree.

Community

Participate in the formation of your community by voting and by helping to make changes in areas that you feel are important. Help your children to see the connections between local, state and national politics. Encourage them to vote in school elections, to run for office and exercise their rights and responsibilities as citizens.

Current Events

Keep up to date with current events by reading the daily newspaper and also news magazines. Watch television news programs to stay informed and formulate opinions about the world. Talk about the important news stories with your children, encouraging them to listen to other points of view.

Historical TV and Movies

Watch TV programs on important historical events with your family and lead conversations about the program as you watch. Find books on the same topic and study it further. Watch for differing viewpoints in various sources of information. Encourage your child to seek out the differences between fact and fiction.

History Makers

Study the people and events that have made a difference in the world. Encourage your child to join you and discuss the readings together. Look online for resources and information about where to find the best reading material. Your children need to know that the makers of history are real people too, who have ideas, work hard, and know the feeling of failure and success. Introduce your kids to local community leaders in person if you can and to national and world leaders via the media and through reading biographies.

Maps and Globes

Make maps globes, atlases, and encyclopedias available and use frequent opportunities to refer to them. You can even make a map yourself to enhance the significance and reinforce the place names and topography. Watch for you opportunity to bring up a historical topic and return to the map or globe. A reference to Africa in a storybook or a red, white and green flag on a box of spaghetti can present opportunities to explore.