Living History

by | Oct 1, 2015 | History, Home Schooling

“Living history” is infectious and constitutes a deep level of understanding.  For our family, history is a family adventure, we immerse ourselves in a variety of time periods, even to point of having joined a local Fife and Drum Corps, attending
local Civil War balls in period costumes, visiting historical sites and attending electronic field trips on the web. Our family library is well stocked with great historical fiction for a wide variety of ages and time periods. When my husband and I are enthusiastic about history it becomes contagious to our children.

 

It is definitely worth reading Mortimer Alder’s How to Read a Book, especially his section on history. This book will give you excellent, practical ways to teach reading for deeper understanding. In doing so, the student develops the habit of asking questions and seeking the answers, which fosters a love of learning and a deeper knowledge base. This is essential if one wants to eventually be able to speak or write about what they are studying, in addition to being  excellent preparation for college work too!  Deciding on which historical fiction books to use can be tricky, we hope our suggestions on this on-line review site will help, since we are very selective and carefully read each book we review. New books are added daily, so visit often.

glass-29648_640Here are a few things we look for: What is the author’s agenda? Is it fair and balanced? Does it have a rich bibliography? Is it age appropriate? Does it include primary sources?

A natural place to improve our writing skills is in the area of history. For those of us not secure in our own ability to teach writing to our children, an excellent resource is Teaching, Writing, Structure and Style and the corresponding History Based Writing Lessons Source Material books (both published by IEW). This program has given us a solid foundation in teaching our children how to,  begin outlines, form topic sentences, and organize their ideas in a variety of writing styles, from creative writing to persuasive essays.

 

Use a good, reliable, Catholic textbook as your framework for the time period you are studying, like From Sea to Shining Sea and Light to the Nations. Round out the study with age-appropriate, well-written, historical fiction or primary sources. Then add on hands-on projects like the ones in the easy to use History Pockets series and History Portfolios. Timelines are important element in giving perspective and overview of the time period you are studying.  We worked hard to create our History Worth Remembering Timeline Figures , where the contributions of Catholics throughout time are highlighted.

By following a plan as outlined here, your family will see clearly God’s Divine Providence throughout history while having a ton of fun and knowing that real, sustained skills are being mastered.

 

 

Get updates for the next post!

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Get Ready to Thrive in Your Homeschool

4 simple steps to create your best year! 25+ years of homeschool experience compressed into 1 simple guide. Written by Paola Ciskanik

2023 Virtual Catholic Homeschool Conference

2023 Virtual Catholic Homeschool Conference

Get Ready for the 2023 Catholic Homeschool Conference, hosted by our friends at Homeschool Connections. It is happening June 9th and 10th, 2023. Woo-hoo!!! To get all the juicy details..... I put together a 2023 Virtual Conference Guide book which has all the details...

Our Family’s One Heart for the Sacred Heart

Our Family’s One Heart for the Sacred Heart

Catholic Homeschool Online · Blog One Heart For The Sacred Heart AUDIO Did you know that June is the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus? Traditionally, the month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart as the feast day falls within the month. The history of...

Teach Multi-ages Family Style

Teach Multi-ages Family Style

 Catholic Homeschool Online · BLOG Teach Multi - Ages Family Style AUDIO When it comes to homeschooling multi-ages, life can get super busy, super FAST! I keenly remember having all seven of my children in one year, K through 11th grade! Whoosh!! Many of the...

How Homeschooling Builds Catholic Culture

How Homeschooling Builds Catholic Culture

Catholic Homeschool Online · BLOG How Homeschooling Builds Catholic Culture AUDIO It all begins with an invitation... Here is my Catholic culture story…yes, when my husband I began dating over 35 years ago, he invited me to go to Mass with him one Sunday. I had not...

5 Tips to Get the Most From a Virtual Homeschool Conference

5 Tips to Get the Most From a Virtual Homeschool Conference

Catholic Homeschool Online · BLOG: How to get the MOST out of Conferences AUDIO Have you been to any virtual conferences? I have been able to attend several inspiring conferences recently, because I can do so without ever leaving my home, paying for a hotel, or gas....

How to Begin Homeschooling

How to Begin Homeschooling

 Catholic Homeschool Online · BLOG: How To Begin Homeschooling AUDIO As an educating mom for over 25 years, I have the unique position of being both parent and teacher, simultaneously. This affords me with the privileged position of knowing my children as life-long...

Best Mother to Guide Your Family

Best Mother to Guide Your Family

 Catholic Homeschool Online · BLOG Best Mother To Guide Your Family AUDIO Ever since my kids were little, they knew who was the "Best Mom in the World".... Mary, the Blessed Mother.   This comes so clearly to their little hearts and I certainly was okay with coming...

The Good News the Homeschool Way

The Good News the Homeschool Way

 Catholic Homeschool Online · Blog The Good News The Homeschool Way AUDIO The other day I heard a knock on the door, who was it? Jehovah Witnesses. Now I will be honest, in the beginning of my homeschool journey, all too often, I shied away from any encounters to...

Holy Week in Your Homeschool

Holy Week in Your Homeschool

Catholic Homeschool Online · BLOG: Holy Week in Your Homeschool AUDIO It's coming! That most sacred of weeks in the liturgical year, Holy Week! When the kids were little, I was much more on top of the liturgical colors and the upcoming liturgical seasons. Why? Well,...

Art in Your Homeschool

Art in Your Homeschool

Catholic Homeschool Online · Blog; Art In Your Homeschool AUDIO I wrote a blog article about Beauty in the lives of our children. Developing an eye for beauty helps to foster a love of beauty and in turn, the ability to recognize the author of beauty, Jesus Christ. ...

St. Patrick’s Day Family Style

St. Patrick’s Day Family Style

St. Patrick was amazing, he was all about prayer! I became overwhelmed at the sheer number of prayers attributed to this holy man, not only ones he wrote, but also many that were inspired by him.