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Learning History through Literature

Answers in Genesis

Learning history through literature is a rich and immersive experience that brings history to life for children and allows them to retain what they’ve learned in meaningful ways.

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History through Literature

History through literature is our preferred way to study history so I was so excited to have a chance to review Modern American and World History: A Literature Approach for Intermediate Grades from Beautiful Feet Books with my daughters.

We received a box full of gorgeous books — enough to make any book lover swoon! We have been working our way through them over the past few weeks and enjoying every minute of it. These are books to be savored and treasured, so we aren’t hurrying through them just to “get done” with history lessons.

What makes learning history through literature different than just reading textbooks? Let me count the ways.

A Feast of Ideas through Living Books

If you’re familiar with Charlotte Mason, you’re probably familiar with this quote:

Children should have the joy of living in far lands, in other persons, in other times – a delightful double existence; and this joy they will find, for the most part, in their story books. Their lessons, too, history and geography, should cultivate their conceptive powers. If the children do not live in the times of his history lesson, be not at home in the climate his geography book describes, why, these lessons will fail of their purpose.

Beautiful Feet Books takes this to heart and creates guides that represent Charlotte Mason’s vision for a deep and delightful education.

Authors Rea Berg and Jonathan Crabtree include these components of Charlotte Mason’s philosophy throughout the guide book:

  • Read
  • Reason
  • Relate
  • Record

We read aloud many of the books together, but students are also encouraged to read silently to develop annotating and literary analysis skills.

We reason together through in-depth discussions about what we have read and Socratic questions to gain critical thinking skills.

We relate what we have learned through narration and the comprehension questions offered in the guide.

We record thoughts and observations in our notebooks, along with maps, copy work, and a timeline.

Children learn empathy as well as historical cause and effect through reading great books.

Modern American and World History through Literature

Modern American and World History for Intermediate Grades covers the 19th and 20th centuries, which of course include dark and bloody chapters in history. Wars, slavery, religious persecution, the Holocaust, racism, Civil Rights, the Cold War, and more are covered in this study.

The darkness of this historical period is counter-balanced by stories of everyday heroes who persevered and gave others hope during dark times. There is a mix of fiction and non-fiction, including biographies.

This study is geared for grades 5-8. As homeschoolers, we know that grade levels can be arbitrary, but this gives parents a general gauge for maturity level. My daughters are 11 and 13 and officially in the 5th and 7th grades for state reporting purposes. We had previously read a few of the books on our own, but most of them are new to us. I feel that the level is appropriate for my girls, but parents should use their own judgment for that. I have/am pre-reading or skimming the materials ahead of time before we read them aloud so that I can be prepared for questions.

History through Literature Reading Materials

The reading list includes the following 23 titles and they are all included with the package when you purchase it from Beautiful Feet Books:

  • Carver: A Life in Poems
  • History of Us: All the People
  • Across Five Aprils
  • Air Raid–Pearl Harbor
  • Stealing Home: The Story of Jackie Robinson
  • The Perilous Road
  • Number the Stars
  • The Little Riders
  • Year of Impossible Goodbyes
  • Ronald Reagan: Our 40th President
  • Twenty and Ten
  • Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
  • Echoes of the White Giraffe
  • Gladys Aylward: The Little Woman
  • Sergeant York
  • Water Buffalo Days
  • Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
  • Theodore Roosevelt
  • The Wright Brothers: Pioneers of American Aviation
  • Rascal
  • The Singing Tree
  • War Boy: A Wartime Childhood
  • A Child’s First Book of American History

The pack also includes the Teacher Guide and a timeline for students to put together. There is also a free picture packet that accompanies this study, which you can download from the website. These are coloring pictures referenced in the Teacher Guide.

This study contains 116 lessons. If you complete 3-4 lessons per week it will make a one-year study.

The Teacher Guide provides detailed background information, study notes, comprehension and discussion questions, writing assignments, website links, a timeline for a fun hands-on activity, and recommended supplemental literature. It also includes an answer key for the discussion questions.

The lessons are organized and easy to follow. In addition to historical living books, children also learn through poetry, geography, and character studies.

A Few Things to Note

Obviously the time period from the Civil War to the present day is huge and eventful. This study does not cover everything that happened, so supplementing will be necessary. We love the living books approach to learning, as I mentioned, but it’s important to cover a wide variety of perspectives in your reading selections. I think this study does this fairly well, with a few exceptions.

I have to admit that I’m disappointed about a few things in this study that I feel the need to mention.

  1. There is no reference to women’s history or women’s rights, such as the suffrage movement. As a mom of daughters, I have been very intentional about including women’s history in our studies. There is a chapter on the Women’s Rights Movement in one of the books included, A History of Us: All the People Since 1945, but it isn’t covered in the study guide. It may be covered in other packages in higher levels, but not this one.
  2. There is little information about the stock market crash and the Great Depression.
  3. There is little information about the Industrial Revolution, workers’ rights, safety, and child labor.
  4. There is a political slant to the resources. This includes the biography of Ronald Reagan.

Obviously the discussion of Capitalism versus Communism is politically charged. This is made clear with the anti-union, anti-government programs (deemed “welfare” when in reference to the poor, but “tax breaks” when in reference to the rich), and a dim view of other cultures. It should be made clear what Communism and Socialism actually are and their factual flaws, rather than what one particular political party claims. All Americans can be anti-Communist oppression without voting for one set political party here in the United States.

To be clear, I’m a firm believer in democracy and the United States as a city on a hill to be an example to other nations. However, I think we’ve fallen short of that in many ways, particularly during the 20th century. It becomes a case of removing the log from our own eyes before trying to take the splinter from others. I also think democracy and freedom should extend to more than just wealthy white males.

In a politically polarized climate, I felt it was important to mention these things so that you can be aware that there is a political slant.

I believe that this study is a great start to learning about modern history, but certain things will need to be clarified, supplemented, or modified to make it more complete and unbiased.

Free Guide from Beautiful Feet

You can download a free copy of the guide 5 Ways to Know if a Book is Worth Sharing with Your Kids by Josh Berg when you sign up for their email list.

Sara
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