On the Use of Real Books in the Elementary Curriculum.
The books listed under Overview of the era, in every reading level, in most cases, provide a narrative survey of the
time period under study. In these narrative surveys, the most important events, persons, and dates of the era are
highlighted. The other books listed under Specific events, Biography, and Historical fiction provide more detail on
the era’s important events and persons.
In the elementary curriculum, knowledge of these important events and persons is what children must learn: what
happened, who was involved, and where. Traditionally, history textbooks have been used to impart this information,
but that information is not only contained in textbooks. It is also contained in the reference books and narrative
surveys listed in each era. The parent or teacher can use the timeline of each era included in this book to construct
a list of the vital events, dates, and persons their children must learn, and read that information from the books
listed in the Overviews of the era. Include in your study the reading of additional books from Specific events,
Biographies, Historical fiction, Literature, and Culture to give children a broad picture and familiarity with the life
and times of the era under study. Review the important events and persons periodically to ensure each child’s
mastery of the vital information.
One way that I often tested my children’s retention of information was to write each piece of information that I
wanted them to remember on an index card; and every day, at the start of our reading, I would simply quiz them on
half a dozen or a dozen cards, taking no more than five minutes. If they were able to answer, orally, my questions, those cards went to the back of the stack, and any they had forgotten remained up front for more quizzing on
subsequent days until that information was “set” in their minds. This quizzing, or brief daily drill, reviews all
information learned throughout the year, so that it remains fresh and becomes truly retained, rather than learned for
a test, then forgotten. Another useful activity is occasionally having the children do an oral or written narration
about a particular event or person.
Children enjoy tracing, on butcher paper, a map of the area under study, coloring and labeling mountains, rivers, or
other physical features, and marking on the map important cities, places, or battles when they are encountered in
the narrative survey. Children also enjoy keeping a chronological timeline of the events and persons they are
studying, adding important events to their timelines as they learn about them. Both these activities are fun to do,
and also help children retain the information they are learning.
Books listed under the Culture section of each era also provide information on artworks or recipes, and many have
projects, crafts, or games to play which also give a fuller picture of a different way of life in a different time and place.
Using books from each of the sections listed under each reading level of the era will give children a more complete
understanding of the past than if they simply read chapters out of a textbook. It will also serve to keep a child’s
interest in learning about the past by making that learning as enjoyable as possible, rather than as dreary as possible,
as it often is when information is presented in a textbook, sterile way. And yet the objective, of learning a concrete
body of historical information, is still accomplished.
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