Introducing Children to History
Education can be made more fun and more engaging by bringing it to life. Disconnected dates and facts can be hard for a child to remember, but if you can help them to experience the history this can really help.
Bringing history to life can be achieved by visiting historic sites, looking at family histories, focusing on local history, watching films set in various periods or going to see stage plays.
One of my own children was recently struggling with studying the industrial revolution. Packed with key inventions and inventors. Railways played an enormously significant part and of course trains in those days were all steam powered. So I suggested that we pay a visit to the Bluebell Railway in Sussex where they continue to operate steam locomotives.
We took a one and a half hour round trip on a beautiful old locomotive through breathtaking country scenery. We were lucky to be seated near a wonderful old chap who engaged my two youngsters with tales of what the rail system used to be like in the 1930s and 1940s. It was a magical trip.
My son was so inspired that he was badgering me all the way home to get him a model railway system, which he now has. He is still struggling with his history but our little trip has sparked a whole new interest in model railways.
