A Moment with The Homeschool Minute~ Deborah Wuehler- Make History Come Alive!

Am I making history come alive? Unfortunately, so far this year, I have been remiss in two areas: history and handwriting. The guilt has always chewed at the back of my mind like a little mouse, until I realized the school year was almost over, then that little mouse turned into a lion!

So, I prayed. How do I fit these two subjects back into an overcrowded life? I asked for wisdom, and God answered (He promises to give wisdom to those who ask.) He showed that I could ditch the curriculum right now and do something different. I could put history and handwriting together and add them in twice a week. We keep it very simple. We look at our timeline and talk about it, and then practice our handwriting with what we have learned. (We are using Adam’s Chronological Timeline, which is partly based on Ussher’s The Annals of the World). I am so relieved and the children really love this!

Although I haven’t been getting in the history curriculum this year, we have read a lot of history books. We read historically true “living” books from men and women who have lived through different periods of time and tell us about their personal experiences. We prefer these books that give us a broader and deeper view to see into the heart and personal convictions of men and women who made decisions that affected mankind whether good or bad. We also use biographies like the Christian Heroes Then and Now, and Heroes of History series.

Whenever you have the opportunity, introduce your children to living history by introducing them to those who have lived it, whether in a book or in person. Take a day trip to your own local historical places and then go home and look at your timeline to see where it fits in history. Have your children see where they themselves fit onto the timeline of history. Take your children to the library or other venues where they have a special speaker who talks about his family history. This kind of history is never boring!

And of course, start at the beginning where God is (“In the beginning, God . . .”). It will be life changing for your children and their future generations. One of God’s continual appeals throughout Scripture is, “remember . . .” Let’s look back at Him and His deeds; His Story. And then look to Him today for wisdom as we obey His commands, and trust Him with our future. At the end of our own story, we want our names to be written in God’s history book–the Lamb’s Book of Life.

The decisions you make today with and for your children, will be the living history written for this generation and the next. And, the best history happens as we keep our children Home Where They Belong.

~Deborah

TOS Senior Editor

SeniorEditor@TheHomeschoolMagazine.com