I’m out of town this weekend, with virtually no internet hook up, so I’m just going to share a couple more of Cindy Rushton’s articles with you.
Cindy is the hostess for the Ultimate Homeschool Expo, a HUGE online homeschool convention that begins Monday. She’s given me permission to share these good articles with you. Today’s article will help you add some fun quick projects to your history lessons.
So read today and tomorrow and be ready to listen, whenever you’re able beginning Monday.
Don’t forget to tune in on Friday, May 2 at 3 p.m. CT to listen to Me speak on Finding Freedom & Simplicity™ while Seeking Biblical Excellence (Wisdom).
And, of course, you’ll need to get your ticket to the Expo first.
Quick Ideas for Making History Fun!
by Cindy Rushton
Want to make the new school year better than ever? Want studies
that are interesting for the whole family? I think I can help you!
How about some quick tips for making your history studies fun? I
think you will find these to make lessons fun and easy. Let’s dig
in…
* Get Out to See History as Much as Possible… Hunt up any
Living History Days scheduled in your area. Get out to all
historical sites and museums…even hands-on children’s museums.
Don’t miss any historical reenactments and plays within driving
distance! These all give wonderful opportunities to get your
children in touch with those that love History and know it best.
* Begin a History Notebook… This is the cure to dull, lifeless
texts. Let your children create their own notebooks of study!
Include anything from great quotes to poetry to pictures to
sketches to newspaper clippings to photographs to mementos from
history sites, reenactments and postcards from friends to
narrations from books read. These personalized curricula will
bring life into all areas of study.
* Tap Into Grandparents, Elderly, Family, and Friends… Our
family and friends have been a key source of finding out neat
stories that are not recorded in the history books. Sitting at
their feet, we have learned many details from history that would be
long lost without the gift of story telling. The key to making this
come alive is to listen and record their stories for your History
Notebooks. Keep this part of history alive for you and for
generations to come!
* Find Treasures at Antique Stores… One of our favorite
past-times is “junking” at antique stores, junk shops and flea
markets. Take your time to find wonderful treasures from the past,
which will breathe life into your History studies. You can find
journals, uniforms, books, dress up clothes, and even play gadgets
to make history come alive for your little ones!
* Let the Little Ones Make Up Their Own Costumes… I have always
enjoyed researching and creating authentic costumes from other time
periods. I used to have more time and energy to create costumes
for every time period we studied. Now, my children are using their
extra time and endless supply of energy to create their own
costumes. I love to see them as they pull together little things
from around the house to create their own costumes!
* Let Them Make Doll Clothes… This tangent began for us when my
daughter got her first American Girl doll. We combined my love of
creating authentic doll clothes with my deep passion for making
doll clothes. Each year for the past five years, I have spent time
each December creating matching outfits for Elisabeth and her
dolls. This is easy to do with today’s patterns. Just take basic
designs and create your own “historical” costumes for the dolls.
If you have a beginning seamstress interested in some quick
projects, this would be a wonderful way to learn the basics of
sewing while learning History!
* Make a Timeline…Timelines are priceless! We have had two
different kinds of timelines for our studies in History. We had a
huge one that took up an entire wall in our old home. It was
fascinating to watch the little ones as they would “review” and
“test” each other on history as they went by! When we built our
home, my husband would not allow that one back on the wall, so we
made our own Book of Centuries on our computer, which includes all
of our history facts. We simply developed a notebook with the dates
marked. We record key events, people we study and the key events
of their life, our family’s key events, illustrations which remind
the children of those historical figures and events, pictures that
the children have collected from books and trips that we have
taken, information from our Computer Encyclopedias and Internet
Sites, and even charts we have collected or made ourselves. These
are another “text” that we create about our studies. How priceless!
