Monday, October 12, 2009

Meet the Ancient World: A Curriculum for the Very Young

One day last winter, when my twins were 4 1/2, they were fighting back exasperation as they explained to their obviously dense mother the differences between Radiator Springs McQueen and Cruising McQueen, two die-cast metal toy figures from the movie Cars. They could describe in great detail the different paint jobs and features each boasted, and could go on at length about when each appeared in the film.

Like many kids their age, Desmond and Nini had developed a fascination with the world of the Piston Cup and Radiator Springs. They had an encyclopedic knowledge of the movie's characters and personal histories and had developed the discernment to pick out small differences between the many diecast versions of each. The characters loomed large in their imagination and play life.

Well, I thought, if they can have this complex connection to Lightning McQueen, Doc Hudson, and Tow Mater, why not to Isis, Osiris, and Anubis? Or Zeus, Athena, and Aphrodite? At a time when they were so clearly eager to learn about the world around them, might it be possible to introduce them to its history in an age-appropriate and systematic way?

Over the weeks to come, I stayed up late nearly every night researching what resources were available to teach ancient history to the very young and sorting out what kind of approach I wanted to take. And over the months to come, as Nini and Desmond enthusiastically moved from one topic to the next -- dinosaurs, evolution, early humans, Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, the Old Testament, Ancient Greece -- I developed not just a great bibliography and set of resource lists, but also an approach that seemed to work extremely well for their age.

My research sample is of course tiny and unrepresentative -- early on, my friend Joanne Rendell and her son Benny decided to do the curriculum in tandem with us, meaning exactly three kids have tested it out. But I'm sharing it here in the hope that some of you will want to try it as well, and will post here about your experiences as you do, sharing new insights and resources.

Small children have no preconceptions about ancient history, no notion that it might be dry or remote or inaccessible. They also, however, have no real conception of time -- certainly not of millenia or centuries or even decades. Dates are meaningless to them, and all but the very vaguest chronologies impossible to grasp. Teaching ancient history to small children, in my experience, involves not trying to explain historical causation or even spending much time discussing historical change: It's a matter, instead, of making introductions to the marvelous, beautiful, and fascinating civilizations of long ago.

With each topic we explored, I read the kids piles of books, favoring well-illustrated picture books, and leaning less toward non-fiction than toward fiction -- either fictionalized accounts of the past such as, say, Jan Brett's The First Dog, or kids' versions of the myths and stories of a given civilization. We often found good films to watch in tandem with our reading and, living in New York City, we have been able to take marvelous field trips to institutions like the American Museum of Natural History or the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I will detail these resources in each topic I address.

Early on, it became clear to me that the key element in the whole learning process was play -- lots and lots of open-ended, imaginative play. I could always tell that the material was sinking in when it came alive in their play. Where possible and practical, I acquired toys that tied into what we were studying: little plastic figures of Egyptian gods and goddesses, for instance, and architectural unit blocks for recreating Ancient Greece or Rome. Often, though, the kids repurposed existing toys to fit the theme: their assortment of vintage Fisher-Price Little People became the Greek gods and goddesses, while one of those plastic Barrels of Monkeys enabled them to build the monkey bridge to Lanka described in the Ancient Indian epic The Ramayana. Other times, we created toys or props for their play out of simple materials, as when they "excavated" a tar pit for "fossils"; or they made the world around them into their ancient-history stage, as when they built a mud Mesopotamia in the local park or transformed one three-foot-tall rock there into Mount Olympus.

As much as possible, we've followed this course of study with our friends Benny and Jo; it has greatly enriched the experience for all of us to have a history-themed get-together one or more times a week. Jo reports that Benny, who is a single child, engages in ancient history play much more avidly after these encounters.

Our pace has been quite leisurely; we stay on a topic until it feels right to move on, usually not until three to six weeks have passed. There are no worksheets, quizzes, or anything else that would add stress or drudgery to this study. The central goal here, above all, is the same as you might want from a social introduction: to leave a positive impression, to have the kids come away with a sense that these civilizations they are meeting are fascinating, that learning about them is fun.

If you achieve that, you'll meet another goal as well: helping your kids acquire a kind of basic, broad cultural literacy that will help them understand and navigate the world around them. Most people in my generation didn't get this kind of education; I certainly didn't, even though I attended excellent schools and read avidly throughout my life. No one thinks that your child will remember all she learned about the ancient world at age five when she reaches adulthood. But by acquainting her at an early age with cultural figures from Thoth to Moses to Ganesh, imparting a familiarity with Buddhism, the Bible, and Babylon, you'll soon see her finding references to these cultural basics everywhere and delighting in the experience.

Finally: We began this curriculum nearly a year ago, and I'm just now getting around to writing some of it down. Homeschooling twins often leaves me exhausted at the end of the day, with little time or energy to write. So it may be a while before I get it all down, and I will almost certainly jump back and forth between what we're doing now and earlier material. I hope you'll be inspired to give it a try -- it's been extraordinary fun, and I've learned at least as much as my kids have in the process.

24 comments:

  1. This sounds so fun! I can't wait to hear more. My kids already pretend to dig for dinosaur bones and fossils in the back yard I think this will fit into our days nicely.

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  2. Thank you for reminding me about Jan Brett's book, The First Dog. Your ideas are inspiring!

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  3. Thanks! Jill, I'm looking forward to exploring your History for Children blog -- looks great. http://historyforchildren.blogspot.com

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  4. thanks for sharing your historical adventures! i'm looking forward to going down this same path with my son as he gets older and it's great to start getting some ideas on how to do that. can't wait to hear more. :)

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  5. Are you using Story of the World? We started it with a couple friends and lost our way when they couldn't meet with us anymore. I wish we had friends to join us us but you have inspired us to start again. I can't wait to hear more about your adventures.

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  6. We have definitely used Story of the World, but it hasn't been central to what we've been doing. Over time, I came to the conclusion that it really is better suited to the older audience it's recommended for. Some chapters have worked really well, but a lot of it is too event-driven for wee ones. More details to come ...

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  7. I'm not a homeschooler and I'm not even a mother...but I became interested in your site after reading your husband's article on homeschooling in Salon about a month ago. All I have thought the whole time is how lucky your children are to have such a involved parents to instill a love of learning in them that will serve them the rest of their lives. I will never have children of my own (by choice) but I enjoy reading about your little ones' journey to understanding the world around them. Keep up the amazing work!

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  8. I *Love* N's look of concentration behind those goggles - you can tell she is So Freakin Into It!

    Way to go super-mama!!!
    xo,
    j

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  9. Thanks for writing about this - I'm hoping to do something similar with my kids (which aren't yet even conceived) and have been wondering how to approach it. This looks great. :)

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  10. I agree that mythology is an excellent way to begin a child's historic education.

    I began by just purchasing a couple of books off Amazon when my oldest was 4. He wasn't too interested until he stumbled across some kind of synthesis between Hollywood superheros and Gods. So we've had to by more books. At 6, he had to learn to use the internet by scanning Netflix for God shows. Then it was Youtube, Google and now the History Channel "Clash of the Gods" series. He now knows way more than myself and has an excellent context for his first grade history and geography classes. I'm sure this is building a solid base for all the social sciences. Our 4 year old in now catching the God fever. (I almost thought he'd never get beyond his truck obsession.)

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  11. Thanks for posting! This is very interesting. Can you post a list of books you read with your kids on Ancient History? Especially the picture books. Very interested to start checking these out.

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  12. wow! i absolutely love this! i'm going to try it out with my guy. he's 8 but he's special needs so this may be the perfect pace for him.

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  13. Hurray, Leslie! I'm eagerly looking forward to your "lesson plans". I, too, used "Handwriting without Tears" for my girl (now 6). And I'm "afterschooling" her using Susan Wise Bauer's classical stance as a jumping off point. We have D'Aulaires, but I started with Aliki's introduction of the Gods and Goddesses, which gave a one-page overview of the denizens of Olympus, before starting on the myths themselves. Please continue to share your journey!

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  14. I love your approach! I started homeschooling my younger two (7 and 10) this year. How I wish I would have made the decision as early as you did! I find their natural love of learning so refreshing and contagious.

    My children also love and are fascinated by Greek Mythology. I found a wonderful old book at a used book sale..."The Magic and the Sword...Greek Myths Retold". I doubt it's still in print, but it's a very well-written book that makes the myths come alive. If you can find a copy, you should check it out!

    I'm happy to find your blog. Can't wait to read more!

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  15. I found your blog from your husband's article in Salon, and this seems like it will be a really great curriculum. I love the Bauers' Classical Education curriculum, but am not impressed with the religious overtones in the Story of the World. I am definitely bookmarking this to use in a few years, when my kids are older!

    You guys seem awesome and when the time comes, I hope to find other homeschoolers near me who are more like you guys.

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  16. Hi there,
    I love your blog, found it from your husband's article. Have always wanted to homeschool my children in their ounger years. Your curriculm sounds fantastic and your twins obviously seem to really engage in it. Good luck with your adventures together!

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  17. Fabulous! I can't wait to hear more about what you're doing! We're diving into Ancient History for the first time right now, too... well, unless you count six years of dinosaurs, Sunday School, and what we've learned about mummies from Scooby Doo. LOL.

    I found you via your hubby's article via Susan Bauer's blog... love the mesh of unschooling, CM, and classical as that's exactly where I am right now.

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  18. I can't access all content. Please advise and thank you for a wonderful website. I'm really looking forward to reading all content.

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  19. Leslie, I think you're probably referring to the non-links under the "Meet the Ancient World" heading in the right column. I put placeholder text there so folks would know what's coming ... but being the perpetually exhausted homeschooling mom of twins, I haven't gotten many of the actual units up yet! The text will convert to live links as I add the content.

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  20. I am a post-homeschooling parent. My eldest is now at the University of Chicago and my youngest is a sophomore in High School. They both decided they wanted to go to "real" school for high school. I homeschooled each of them through the 8th grade. It worked well for us. We came at it mostly because we lived in a not very good school district and couldn't afford private school. I was already at home due to a big move and a need for a career change at the wrong moment. It's exhausting but, I found, ultimately very rewarding for parent and child alike. It's definitely not for everyone but our family found it to be worth the lack of two incomes. Good luck with it!

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  21. Thanks for the "placeholder" info...I get it now!

    I have begun the Learning about the Past unit and we are reading and digging like crazy.....the cornstarch tar pit is next....

    Thanks for writing about your adventures with your children.

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  22. We were oh-so-fortunate to visit both Egypt and Greece when the children were smaller and we were going through ancient civilizations. For them to remember the stories of Egypt and then touch hieroglyphics; know the Greek gods and goddesses, and to tell remember the stories of Athena when visiting the Parthenon; to read Paul's Christian appeal while standing on Mar's Hill -- truly priceless.

    And while we haven't been able to travel as much since then, still the daily rhythm of life -- reading, talking, learning. . . visiting museums and just PLAYING. I wouldn't trade homeschooling for anything. I'm glad y'all have discovered that joy.

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  23. What great ideas you have given me; I will definately incorporate your style as I continuously search for ways of making teaching Greek language fun.
    Penny
    http://bilingualandpassingiton.blogspot.com

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  24. I love your blog -- I just stumbled across your page today, and I love what I see. I'm really excited at the prospect of putting your suggestions into practice with my own two children (3 and 6). And for great reinforcement of "the way things were" - I highly recommend if you get a chance, taking the children to Living History events (or for a more kid friendly and hands on experience, to your local SCA events!)

    Thank you for the book suggestions... they are definitely now on the must buy list! I'll be reading - please keep sharing your experiences!

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