Provides practical guidance on developing and reinforcing knowledge of history in preschool- through elementary-school-age children. Parents can be a positive force in helping their children become and stay interested in history by sharing family stories and memories, reading with their children about important people and events, and watching television programs about historical events. Parents get step-by-step tips on a range of learning activities, including: (1) making books with history themes as part of read-aloud routines; (2) using story-telling to introduce children to what is involved in writing the stories that make history; (3) taking children to living-history museums to demonstrate how daily life has changed over time; (4) involving children in making meals from different cultures as a window into those cultures; (5) using local newspapers as a guide to local history; (6) discussing the news in order to give children a historical perspective on the events of the present; (7) making time capsules and personal timelines; and (8) reenacting a historical period. Parents also can help their children become successful history students by finding out about their school’s history curriculum and visiting their children’s classroom as well as by chaperoning field trips and assisting with classroom projects.
