How many times has your child asked when they would ever use something they learn in school? “Why do I need to learn trigonometry? What are Robert Frost poems going to mean to me in four years?” Well, you can easily tell your children that learning, processing, and evaluating historical facts will help them to better understand the world, to become more responsible contributors to their communities, and to become impactful professionals in our global world.
Learning and understanding historical facts teaches children many different but essential lessons. Therefore, GAMECHANGER is presenting 5 reasons why history shouldn’t be a mystery for children.
- History helps children develop research skills. After being presented with information, children must learn to evaluate sources and dig deeper to determine whether the information taught is objective and unbiased. When studying history, children must identify causation, contextualize situations, evaluate continuity, compare situations to other events, and how the events changed the world over time. By researching historical topics, children learn the importance of describing, analyzing, and evaluating past events. They learn to interpret primary [firsthand] and secondary [scholarly] historical sources. They learn to put the source in context, and determine the context of the perspective and evaluating evidence presented. Developing research skills, learning to evaluate sources and analyze conclusions, is applicable across an array of disciplines.
- History teaches children to understand the present from learning about the past. Since history empowers children to analyze situations that already happened, they learn to see patterns that might not be identifiable in the present. This provides children with critical viewpoints to better understand current events. Therefore, if children learn about the Great Depression in the 1930’s, they can better understand the impact of extreme economic fluctuations going forward. They can evaluate the ways in which economic downfalls impact society as a whole. They can identify warning signs of potential economic downfall in the future and search for ways to problem solve. As such, studying history helps children understand the ways in which our world functions today based on past events that contributed to the world today.
- Studying history makes children more empathetic. Studying the diversity of human experiences since the dawn of time helps children to appreciate other cultures, traditions, ideologies, and perspectives. Studying history, children understand how their lived experiences are different from their ancestors. Stories from the past can offer direction as children determine their values and ideas. They learn to identify goals and values that are shared or should be shared across generations and cultures.They learn to identify problems that they want to solve, allowing children to examine alternative value systems and their impact on supporting basic human rights and the aspirations of all peoples. Studying history empowers children to see situations through the eyes of others. Studying history provides children with role models and teaches them to become role models. Understanding diverse historical perspectives helps foster mutual respect and civic courage in an interdependent global society.
- Studying history teaches children to solve mysteries. When children study the past, they are putting together a set of clues based on documents, artifacts, and testimonials. These clues tell children a story and paint a picture, giving them opportunities to problem solve at the earliest ages. As children sort through diverse, sometimes conflicting, interpretations of events, cultures, and ideologies, they must learn to identify and evaluate facts versus fictions. Studying history teaches children the need to assess facts, to engage in debate, and to consider varied perspectives to solve puzzles and mysteries.
- History provides children with a sense of identity. Studying history teaches children about the formation of families, religions, cultures, and countries. Children learn how these groups of people evolved over time. Many groups use history to explain their development and to assert their identity. Histories tell both national and global stories, invoking an understanding of shared and individualistic values and helping children understand that they should have a sense of belonging.
Ultimately, it is important to study history to better understand the human experience. Children with an in-depth understanding of historical events are better able to evaluate varied, diverse situations. They have stronger reading comprehension skills and writing skills. They can identify trends and problem-solve. All of these skills are essential for lifelong personal and professional success.
If your child is struggling to comprehend and evaluate historical facts and timelines, GAMECHANGER Tutoring Connection is here to help.
