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I soon found that there were no children's history books ......
...Yes, there were “ordinary” children's history books and yes, there were books that told history from a Christian perspective – for adults or for Americans! (Mothers' Companion)
Teaching UK history well is a difficult task. Most of the Christian curriculums are American and therefore include a lot of American history and very little that is applicable to the UK. Resorting to using the history books for children found in the bookshops/libraries is dangerous - it is a much distorted subject.
History is learning how God has dealt with nations and our nation in particular. History is very important and cannot be left to chance. ...our history is not only part of our culture, it is the road map to our identity. More, it tells us who we are. Ignorance of our national history – national amnesia – exposes us to those who wish to change this country forever. Furthermore, ignorance of the past means we are condemned to repeat it. Nick Seaton July 2004
More than this even, as Christian home-educators we don't just want our children to learn a list of facts and figures, but to understand how God has worked and is still working. We do need to understand the past, so that we can interpret NOW according to God's Word and to examine our place here and now in time. In other words HIS story. As Chrisitans we want our history to be as accurate as possible.
It would be worth reading the rest of the article quoted above here, as history is a contentious subject. It has been subject to much change in fairly recent years and as this change is subtle in nature, many parents may be ignorant of it. Recent changes in the National curriculum and exams may have gone some way to address the content of the history curriculum, but it still doesn't address the spiritual aspect. How do we give our children a truly Christian education in history? I would suggest that it doesn't lie in the giving of numerous worksheets, museum visits and historic craft activites, and least of all in the sitting of a GCSE History exam (though that may have its place in due time). Although these may have their place there needs to be more. Mainly, the answer, I believe, lies in the reading material we give our children. It also lies in the many discussions that are held in Bible time, or around the dinner table as the children mature. We need to be thinking parents, aware of these things for ourselves, and ever seeking to learn. This will give our children a role model. Of course there is always the place for, "Well, I don't know! Let's go look for an answer." To be honest, I am disappointed with many of the museums we have visited, especially ones that I remembered from my own childhood which I expected to be the same as I remembered them. Most had succumbed to entertainment style teaching, with little real information. Museums used to be places for serious study. It seems that few are interested in serious study these days. Perhaps if you know of a good museum that does have serious material on display you could let me know and I can start a list for the benefit of us all. So what books should we use? Aim that your children should see the Bible as their main history textbook. Aim for them to know their Bible history very well. How you do this is up to you, but one thing we learnt early on is that if you want to know what the Bible says, you should read it, using the most reliable version available to you! In the UK this is the KJV, considered by many to be archaic. However its language is actually very simple and clear as well as beautiful and easily memorised. To this end, once our children could read the KJV, we bought them one for their birthday (one started age 4) and from about the age of 8 they were expected to read one chapter every day, 352 days of the year, as part of their school work. If you would like to know why we consider the KJV the best version of the Bible to use, read this article here. This is in addition to family Bible time. As a result they have read their Bibles through several times and have a very good grasp of its history. Do not underestimate young childrens' ability to do this. A young child properly taught to read can read the KJV. It has been proved many times. No, reading the Bible will not save them, but God's Word is imprinted in their minds. Try not to use entertainment to teach children what it says in God's Word, or they will 'grow out of it'. Try to avoid Sunday Schools and youth groups. These may be fine for the children of the unconverted, but are not suited to the children of Christians. Help your children to see the study of God's Word as serious, urgent and relevant. The best way to do this is to have this attitude yourself. Let them see you reading your Bible. Let them hear you talking about it together. Yes, the day to day application of Scripture is vital too, but they also need to know how all the books of the Bible fit together, Genesis to Revelation and all the bits in between. They need to see the relevance of it to TODAY. Let your family become its own little 'Bible School'. Apart from reading the Bible, we started with Little Arthur's History of England which is suitable for very young children (KS1). Once they were ten, we moved onto Christina Eastwood's The Story of God's Dealings with Our Nation, sold by Icthus Resources (Both of these books are included in the Mothers' Companion curriculum, along with a treasure trove of other delights, for just £20 on a flashdrive - ready to print out). As our children got older and had also read things like Our Island Story, they learnt most of their history by reading as accurate as possible historical fiction titles, such as GA Henty, or Ballantyne as well as through conversation (as above). Rather than giving them lots of dates to learn they absorbed the details while enjoying a story. It's amazing how good their history is as a result - far better than mine! They have taken ownership of their learning and the knowledge has stuck, rather than having it imposed upon them. A time line A time line on the wall (or make your own!) has been a useful resource as has been good an atlas, as of course history does not exist in isolation - it is very much linked to geography. By teaching in this way we do not compartmentalise subjects, but they are rather seen as they relate to the whole.
See our History Resources page for a list of helpful resources, compiled by a number of Christian, home-educating families. Comments are closed.
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Welcome!After studying for an Early Years Specialism degree (B.Ed. Hons), and teaching in mainstream education, I home-educated my own children, after my husband and I were persuaded of the need to take responsibility for bringing up our children 'in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.' (Ephesians 6:4) We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
This costs the purchaser nothing extra. In this way I can continue to provide free resources. Thank you for your support. Looking for a read-aloud?
Here's one I heartlily reccomend for ages 10 +. Search
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The First book from Christina Eastwood - the first in a triology - only £5.99 (ages 8 to 13).
Now available in PRINT!
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See here Now available in PRINT
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