The essential elements of history as story are records, narration and evidence.
Records
History is a permanent written record of the past. In more recent times, history is also recorded on film, video, audiotape and through digital technology. You might tell your child that the time before we had any way to record events is called prehistory. It was in prehistorical times that dinosaurs walked the Earth. She should also know that before written languages were invented, humans told stories as a way to preserve their identity and important events in their lives. Over time, however, the stories changed as details were forgotten or altered to fit a new situation. Written languages allowed people to keep more accurate records of who they were and what they did so this information could be passed down from generation to generation.
Narration
Narration is storytelling, a way that people interpret events. History, with its facts and evidence, is also an interpretation of the past. George Washington, in his Farewell Address in 1796, said: “Though in reviewing the incidents of my administration I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors.” Your child needs to be aware that events can have more than one cause and can produce more than one effect, or outcome, and that there is more than one way to look at the relationship between cause and effect.
Evidence
All good histories are based on evidence. Your child needs to learn the importance of evidence, and she needs the critical thinking skills to evaluate historical accounts and to determine whether the they are based on solid evidence or rely too heavily on personal interpretation and opinion.
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