Children are born into history. They have no memory of it, yet they find themselves in the middle of a story that began before they became one of its characters. Children also want to have a place in history—their first historical questions are: “Where did I come from?” and “Was I always here?”
These two questions contain the two main meanings of history: It’s the story of people and events, and it’s the record of times past. And because it’s to us that they address these questions, we are in the best position to help prepare our children to achieve the lifelong task of finding their place in history by helping them learn what shaped the world into which they were born. Without information about their history, children don’t “get” a lot of what they hear and see around them.
Although parents can be a positive force in helping their children develop an interest in history, they also can undermine their children’s attitudes by saying things such as: “History is boring,” or “I hated history class when I was in school.” Although you can’t make your child like history, you can encourage her to do so, and you can take steps to ensure that she learns to appreciate its value.
To begin, you can develop some of the following “history habits” that show your child that history is important not only as a school subject but in everyday life.
— Mrs. Lynne V. Cheney
Author and Wife of U.S.
Vice President Dick Cheney
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