tjreynoso

Can anyone recommend any websites (or videos/books)that have history
topics on a level that an 8 year old can understand? My son loves
history and has lots of questions that I can't answer. I am not
particularly fond of history so I don't know the stuff. He wants to
know more about WWII and Anne Frank and Hitler. I try looking things
up, but they're way beyond his level of understanding right now. I
end up having to research and read most of it and then answering his
questions. By that time he's lost some of the excitement. He's a
fairly good reader and I'd like to help him satisfy his curiosity
and maybe learn a thing or two myself :)

I'm not trying to separate it into adult and kid stuff. Just trying
to help him get info he can understand more easily on his own since
I work and am not with him all day.

Tanya

Ann and Eric Yates

The History Channel!
With the anniversary of D Day just passed, the history channel has been full of WWII stuff.
But, it has lots of stuff all year long....
My 11yr old has been watching it for at least 2 or 3 years, and loves it.
He has learned stuff I've never even heard of!

Ann
----- Original Message -----
From: tjreynoso
To: [email protected]
Sent: Wednesday, June 09, 2004 10:48 AM
Subject: [UnschoolingDiscussion] history for kids


Can anyone recommend any websites (or videos/books)that have history
topics on a level that an 8 year old can understand? My son loves
history and has lots of questions that I can't answer. I am not
particularly fond of history so I don't know the stuff. He wants to
know more about WWII and Anne Frank and Hitler. I try looking things
up, but they're way beyond his level of understanding right now. I
end up having to research and read most of it and then answering his
questions. By that time he's lost some of the excitement. He's a
fairly good reader and I'd like to help him satisfy his curiosity
and maybe learn a thing or two myself :)

I'm not trying to separate it into adult and kid stuff. Just trying
to help him get info he can understand more easily on his own since
I work and am not with him all day.

Tanya




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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[email protected]

I just found a great resource at wcny.org. They have videos on demand - you
can pull up any subject by grade - etc... Connie

writes:


The History Channel!
With the anniversary of D Day just passed, the history channel has been full
of WWII stuff.
But, it has lots of stuff all year long....
My 11yr old has been watching it for at least 2 or 3 years, and loves it.
He has learned stuff I've never even heard of!


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[email protected]

In a message dated 6/9/2004 2:34:29 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
hooperck@... writes:

The History Channel!
With the anniversary of D Day just passed, the history channel has been full
of WWII stuff.
But, it has lots of stuff all year long....<<<<<


Yeah, We call it the Hitler Channel---always seems to be something on WWII



~Kelly







[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

debbie

The Anne Frank Center - http://www.annefrank.com/- presents an online scrapbook of her life:
http://www.annefrank.com/af_life/story_intro.htm

The BBC web site has a really comprehensive WW ll section, with all sorts of interactive elements - maps, audio and video galleries, also an archive of BBC wartime coverage. You can find it at http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/wwtwo/.


debbie


tjreynoso <tjreynoso@...> wrote:
Can anyone recommend any websites (or videos/books)that have history topics on a level that an 8 year old can understand? He wants to know more about WWII and Anne Frank and Hitler. I try looking things up, but they're way beyond his level of understanding right now....
...
I'm not trying to separate it into adult and kid stuff. Just trying to help him get info he can understand more easily on his own since I work and am not with him all day.

Tanya

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Cynthia

Hi,
We have some books at home that my oldest daughter (11) read this
year, she being very interested in the Holocaust which then led her
to want to know more about WWII (which she didn't find so
interesting)... Anyway, these books got her thumbs up.
The Good Fight: How World War II Was Won (author: Ambrose)
WWII for Kids: A History with 21 Activities
I Have Lived a Thousand Years (story of 13 yo holocaust victim,
highly recommended!)
Fireflies in the Dark ... This is the a short story of the Terezin
concentration camp children and the art teacher who chose to take
suitcases of art supplies instead of belongings to the camp in order
to help the children cope with the trauma of their internment. This
is the camp that the Nazis used for propaganda films/Red Cross
inspection re: treatment of the Jews.
Also, the National Holocaust Museum has a very interesting web site
with a unit study on Hidden Children of the holocaust. Disregarding
the curriculum, the story part of the site is very good.

Cindi

joylyn

We love HOmeschooling Companion! It's on the internet, but also a magazine.

joylyn

Ikatae@... wrote:

> I just found a great resource at wcny.org. They have videos on demand
> - you
> can pull up any subject by grade - etc... Connie
>
> writes:
>
>
> The History Channel!
> With the anniversary of D Day just passed, the history channel has
> been full
> of WWII stuff.
> But, it has lots of stuff all year long....
> My 11yr old has been watching it for at least 2 or 3 years, and loves it.
> He has learned stuff I've never even heard of!
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> "List Posting Policies" are provided in the files area of this group.
>
> Visit the Unschooling website and message boards:
> http://www.unschooling.com
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
> ADVERTISEMENT
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Ann and Eric Yates

LOL, I've called it the same thing to my DH..... :)
But they love it anyway.
Ann
The History Channel!


Yeah, We call it the Hitler Channel---always seems to be something on WWII



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Julie Bogart

Note of caution. Check your facts when watching the History Channel. They make some of
the grossest errors of scholarship!

Julie B

--- In [email protected], "Ann and Eric Yates" <hooperck@a...>
wrote:
> LOL, I've called it the same thing to my DH..... :)
> But they love it anyway.
> Ann
> The History Channel!
>
>
> Yeah, We call it the Hitler Channel---always seems to be something on WWII
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Ann and Eric Yates

Really? Like what?
Ann

Note of caution. Check your facts when watching the History Channel. They make some of
the grossest errors of scholarship!


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Julie Bogart

The one that comes immediately to mind is that the Homeric tales (Illiad, Odyssey) were
what caused ancient Greeks to create their alphabet.

There are more.

I asked about it at university, too, and my professor was saying that he has spotted many
errors with regard to ancient history (his field).

So, from then on, I've wanted to be sure to confirm things if they strike me as interesting.

Julie

--- In [email protected], "Ann and Eric Yates" <hooperck@a...>
wrote:
> Really? Like what?
> Ann
>
> Note of caution. Check your facts when watching the History Channel. They make some
of
> the grossest errors of scholarship!
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

nellebelle

I would not approach this primarily as which resources will present history
in an age appropriate way. Instead, I would help my child explore specific
things in the past that interest her.

For instance, dd was fascinated by the story of the Titanic after seeing the
movie with Leo and Kate. I grabbed any Titanic resources I could find. We
watched an older Titanic movie, a couple of documentaries, read lots of
fiction and non-fiction accounts of the voyage and the ship, AND! went to
the traveling exhibit at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, about 4 hour
drive from our house, but as near as it got to us. That was really awesome.
As we walked in, each person was handed a ticket with a real passenger's
name. At the end, there was a list of survivors, so we could find out which
of us made it, or didn't. One of the women we attended with was Captain
John Smith. We knew her fate right away!

It turned out that dd did pick up a lot of history (and science and social
studies and math and movie making magic and...) along the way, but it wasn't
because she wanted to learn history. It was because she was interested in
something that happened in the past.

Mary Ellen

[email protected]

[I'm not saying who said because I'm not trying to pick on a person for
writing quickly and sensibly! The note below makes sense. People *should* check
facts. But I'm going to jump from the larger statement.]

<< Note of caution. Check your facts when watching the History Channel. They
make some of the grossest errors of scholarship! >>

The channel itself probably doesn't "make gross errors of scholarship." They
run shows about history. Maybe some of the scriptwriters or historians or
archeologists involved in individual shows have made errors. Maybe someone
subscribes to one theory over another which (within one theory) is a gross error
of scholarship.

It was accepted by scholars for a long time that spices were so popular in
Europe in the Middle Ages because they were trying to hide the smell of rotten
meat, because they had no refrigeration. Huh. That's insane. But because
scholars said it and publishers published it, it was "fact" for fifty or a
hundred years.

People who lived before ice boxes and the manufacture of ice knew perfectly
well not to even TRY to preserve raw meat in a raw state. They cooked it, and
sometimes cooked it again later that day or in a day or two, but the first
cooking was preservative. Or they dried it or salted it or pickled it. But they
didn't leave it lying around raw and then need to disguise the fact that it
was rotting.

Yet even now, in some history textbooks, that myth remains.

So if someone repeats it, is that a gross error of scholarship?

No matter what the source of history, we should all be cautious about
believing something based on one single source, or a single interpretation.

Sometimes someone writes something about unschooling that's all askew, and
nonsensical. I'd hate to read somewhere, though, something like "<< Note of
caution. Check your facts when reading yahoogroups postings. They make some of

the grossest errors of scholarship! >> or << Note of caution. Check your
facts when reading unschooling.com. They make some of the grossest errors of
scholarship! >>

"They want you in the office."

I always just LOVED those moments in school, when some kid-aide would show up
at the door of a classroom and say "They want you (a student or the teacher,
depending) in the office."

"They." Like guys in trenchcoats with the collars up.

They used to say that spices were used in the Middle Ages to cover the smell
of meat. Were "they" wrong? I bet one single guy pulled that idea out of his
ass to answer a question once about why it was so important to find a trade
route to India, and one of his students respected his professor so much that
years later he mentioned it in a book or article, and someone was so in awe of
him that it went into a textbook, and...

Not even a "gross" error. An offhanded comment gone wild.

Sandra

Julie Bogart

Points well-taken. :)

Agreed too that sometimes what is perceived as one scholar's error is another scholar's
firm conviction.

Julie B

--- In [email protected], SandraDodd@a... wrote:
> [I'm not saying who said because I'm not trying to pick on a person for
> writing quickly and sensibly! The note below makes sense. People *should* check
> facts. But I'm going to jump from the larger statement.]

Danielle Conger

I know the original poster was asking questions about history specifically
for a boy, but I thought I'd throw these out there anyway.

People have already referred to the American Girls books, but American Girls
is also putting out a series of young adult fiction called "History
Mysteries." I haven't read them, but they seem pretty cool and may be worth
checking out. There's also the "Dear America" series that I would assume
has books for the WWI and II periods. And for European history there's the
"Royal Diaries." I think that's the name, anyway.

--Danielle

http://www.danielleconger.com/Homeschool/Welcomehome.html

Julie Bogart

--- In [email protected], "Danielle Conger"
<danielle.conger@c...> wrote:
> I know the original poster was asking questions about history specifically
> for a boy, but I thought I'd throw these out there anyway.
>
> People have already referred to the American Girls books, but American Girls
> is also putting out a series of young adult fiction called "History
> Mysteries." I haven't read them, but they seem pretty cool and may be worth
> checking out. There's also the "Dear America" series that I would assume
> has books for the WWI and II periods. And for European history there's the
> "Royal Diaries." I think that's the name, anyway.


Danielle, you just reminded me. My daughter and I are really enjoying the "Girls of Many
Lands" from American Girl. The books are actually nice to read (a cut above the American
Girl American books).

We've read the one from China, India, and Turkey. They sent us on a goose chase for more
history about all three places. :)

Julie B

Robyn Coburn

<<The channel itself probably doesn't "make gross errors of scholarship."
They run shows about history. Maybe some of the scriptwriters or historians
or archeologists involved in individual shows have made errors. Maybe
someone subscribes to one theory over another which (within one theory) is a
gross error of scholarship.>>

There is one cool program on the history channel where they show a movie and
then have a couple of history professors discussing the accuracy or not of
the picture. I wish I could remember the name.

I also love "Time Team", with the archeologists constantly being surprised
and delighted and super-enthusiastic. They go into raptures over a tiny
shard, and they often have to completely revise their current theories about
the history of a particular location. They just love finding out that they
were utterly wrong about something!

Robyn L. Coburn

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[email protected]

In a message dated 6/10/04 5:39:41 PM, dezigna@... writes:

<< I also love "Time Team", with the archeologists constantly being surprised
and delighted and super-enthusiastic. They go into raptures over a tiny
shard, and they often have to completely revise their current theories about
the history of a particular location. They just love finding out that they
were utterly wrong about something! >>

Fifteen years or so ago they did a dig on the banks of the Thames in a really
old part of London. They found two things that "changed history." A folding
knife (like a pocket knife) and a banana peel. Both were from before
historians had thought they should've existed there. So that's one way "truth"
changes!

Sandra