Bringing History to Life
Like adults, children can remember facts and figures, for a time, but they are better at remembering stories, images, personal connections, triumphs, and tragedies.
If you want your child to remember something forever, don't just give her the facts and details. Tell her a good story. Our literature-based curriculum aims to do just that.
U.S. Immigration from 1850 to 1900
An an example, let's take U.S. immigration during the late 1800's. Introduce this topic to a ten year old, and you can practically hear her eyes rolling into the back of her head as she whines, "Who cares?"
"But wait," you earnestly exclaim, "this issue not only shaped our nation, it is also relevant to the immigration debate today!" And then you roll out numbers, tables, facts, and laws. Twelve million people, increasing every decade. Fleeing wars, famine, and religious persecution. Arriving with unrealistic expectations. Encountering bias, discrimination, and racist laws. The list goes on... At the end of the lesson, your child is weeping on the floor, not because of the plight of the 12 million immigrants that entered the United States between 1850 and 1900, but because the weather is nice, and she just wants to go outside and play.
A Thousand Words
A great alternative to this dilemma is to paint a picture in your child's mind. This can be done not only with actual pictures and drawings, but also with words and stories. In our social studies unit for 9-11 year olds that covers immigration, we include two books that help paint a vivid picture of what life was like for immigrants to the United States. One is called If Your Name Was Changed at Ellis Island, a book written by an author whose grandparents had their name changed at Ellis Island from Nochomavsky to Levine. The pictures she paints with drawings and words are memorable:
- Escaping in the dead of night
- Running from thieves
- Separating families at the border
- Enduring unsanitary conditions
- Picking worms from food
- Getting seasick alongside hundreds of other passengers in a cramped room
- Enduring humiliating medical exams
The plight of these immigrants will be remembered long after the actual number of immigrants is forgotten.
The second book, Immigrant Kids, contains a plethora of amazing photographs that will change your child's perspective. Here are some examples of photographs from the book:
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Can you imagine working all day in a factory? |
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Would you enjoy sharing a single room with your entire family? |
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How would you fare on these rough and dirty streets? |
A good picture has emotional resonance, and this book is filled with them. It gives a child a chance to imagine herself in a situation and wonder what life would have been like if she had been born under different circumstances.
Children Learn Through Story
Painting a picture with words and images is a great first step, but by integrating our social studies program with language arts, Moving Beyond the Page takes this process to a whole other level. From elementary through middle school, your child's language arts program is integrated thematically with science and social studies. The entire language arts program itself is built on a foundation of literature unit studies, and the themes correspond with what your child is learning in science and social studies. For the immigration study we have been discussing, this takes the form of a literature unit for the novel A House of Tailors.
A House of Tailors brings Brooklyn in the 1870's to life. A young German girl named Dina is mistaken for a spy and must flee to her uncle's home in the United States. She expects a life of luxury with her rich uncle but finds a life of hard work, cramped conditions, and even a pandemic. Like so many others before and after, she sets her sights on making a life for herself and turning her new country into her new home.
As children learn the facts of immigration in the 1800's, they come to understand that these things happened to real people that feel, hurt, and love just as they do. They see a character running for her life, excited about the new and wonderful life that awaits, coming face to face with the reality of her new situation. Immigration becomes more than just a number. Immigration becomes a face and a person.
Wrapping Up
Coach Higgins was the head baseball coach at my high school in Arkansas. He also happened to teach World History. He was quiet and unassuming. You wouldn't think much of him if you saw him in the hallway. He was a pretty good coach, but he was an amazing teacher. For an entire year, he stood in front of our class, bringing to life the story of the world. (I can still see Hannibal in my mind, bringing elephants across the Alps to attack the Romans.) The stories he told lit a fire in my mind that I have been fanning ever since. History would never again be a dry list of battles, names, and dates. Instead, it has become a rich and engaging story. This is the experience we want for your child as well.
Purchase These Units
If you are interested in purchasing the two units discussed today, you can do so by following these links. Each package includes the literature unit and all required literature.
