Teaching History to Kids

[Joe Rigney]

Here's a post from Pastor Wilson on teaching history to kids:

http://www.dougwils.com/Mere-Christendom/fill-in-details-later.html

Joe Rigney

612.455.3420

joe.r...@gmail.com

[Cara Bergeron]

I read the post--and it's good (as usual). However, one comment seems to speak to my primary irritation with history as we "classical educators" teach it to young children:

 

I think we should tell our children that what we teach them is somewhat simplified and that we will clarify as they get older.

To me, this diminutive warning prepares their brain to doubt the hashmarks and periodizations in a proper way--one that will lead to greater accuracy rather than to disconnected despair or unhealthy skepticism.

Another thought that I have about teaching history to young children is that we should be providing far more "significant/signifying events" on the timeline. And, as Christians, we should be including a much wider range of people, places, and events than we're currently comfortable asserting. Why do we assume that we must have the rest of the world's approval in order to include something on the timeline? If it's historically formative--if it has "agency"--then it counts. This is what "real historians" assume anyway. They tend to write about very narrow slices of the historical pie, and yet, because the Incarnation connects all people and all events, studying one event in some detail inevitably leads to another. And another. We insult children when we give them a timeline and some historical soundbytes--and then revisit them again and again in the same way. This is a false limitation on the brain at a time when the brain itself is more than capable of expanding--even if only filling with "pieces" of grammar. If we really want to get down into the details of the stories at a later date--the people, cultures, times, and places--and connect them with other stories, then we need to provide many more raw materials than we're currently providing. On a different front, we see this in young children as they develop their taste buds. Children who are required to try a little bit of everything become children who can eat and enjoy and truly feast. Those who limit themselves to chicken strips and Saltine crackers, well . . . To be more specific, Veritas Press's timeline cards are great--but we need about 2000 more of them--and that might just be a start. Cards, timelines, stories, songs--however we package the signifying events--we would never use all of them. Or at least we shouldn't. That would be like drowning in the wedding punch (sorry! it's the only metaphor I could think of). But good teachers are willing to sift through the countless historical gems to figure out frameworks that can accurately hold history together in the child's mind--in a way that means something of personal import to the child while still connecting him to the covenant community--and the human community.

Incidentally, last night's discussion of a historical "bedrock" upon which to hang later types of historical stories--social, cultural, economic, political, military, religious--triggered an amazingly personal, startlingly elegant idea for my own teaching of U.S. history this coming year. I'll try to remember to tell you all, either at the picnic or on Monday. A huge thanks to Maryani, Joe, and Mr. Schlect for your intense discussion last night.

Cara

 

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[Chris Schlect]

All good remarks.

I agree with Doug fully. But I would add something in a slightly different direction. The examples in Doug's article reinforce the notion that historical analysis focuses on the ethical questions of good vs. bad (ethical questions that can be treated simply or with great nuance).

1. Was Luther a good guy or a bad guy?
2. How was Luther influenced by politics?
3. How was Luther influenced by the marketplace?
4. How was Luther influenced by ethnicity?
5. How was Luther influenced by the theological ideas of others?
5. By what means or methods did Luther influence other people?

I am not convinced that question no. 1 is the "ultimate" question or the most important question in this list. In fact, all five questions get at very important aspects of the way God works in human events; thus all five questions help to form a Christian perspective on the past.

The ethical question is truly important, but I would not exalt this question above all others as though it is The Most Important question of historical inquiry for Christians.

One of the ways Christian history teachers sell our kids short is our failure to expose them many important historical questions, even at a basic level. Christian reflection is far broader than simply labeling the past with white hats and black hats. I am not talking about nuance or complication here, these other questions can be taught to little ones.

CRS