When I was homeschooling my girls, it occurred to me that I remembered almost no history (social studies) from my own education. I barely even remember taking any history courses. But if you look at my report cards and transcripts, I took it for 12 years, every semester (plus college)… and mostly got A’s in it. But why don’t I remember any of it? So I tried to think of anything that I did remember related to history/social studies.

My earliest memory is fourth grade. I wrote a brief essay on the exports of Bolivia. It was supposed to be for extra credit, but it did not show up on my report card, so my parents called the teacher and made a stink about it. Could I tell you a single export of Bolivia today? No. But boy do I remember the interaction between my parents and the teacher!

My next memory is from American history in high school when we studied the Salem witch trials. I found it fascinating, and it was basically local history because I was from the area.

And my third and final memory related to history is from college: a course on the Caesars of Rome. Two memories actually… First, having to do my first oral report which was terrifying (I don’t remember the topic, only that I was shaking so bad in front of the class), and the second was this huge epiphany that this time period was when Jesus walked the earth as a man—Actual historical context for the stories I had grown up hearing in church.

At the time I was homeschooling my kids, I didn’t stop to figure out why I didn’t remember so much, or why I did remember those few things. But after doing some studying recently on the topic of memory, I can see exactly why I remembered those particular events. It’s twenty years too late to help my children, but maybe it can help yours!

It isn’t entirely true that I didn’t learn history when I was school-aged… I just didn’t learn it in school. As a teenager I discovered historical romances. This is a romance story set in a specific time period and a specific location. I learned about the history and culture of early America, Scotland, England, and India. I learned about pirates on the high seas and slaves being brought to the Caribbean islands. I remember the 49ers rushing to California for gold and the influence of voodoo in New Orleans. I learned about archaic laws (eg. dueling) and historical fashion terms (eg. reticule). I was ravenous in absorbing all of this information that I do remember to this day. Now granted, I said these were romances… and they were trashy. But if somebody had just put a historical fiction book in my hands, it would’ve done the same job without the moral issues.

So the question is, how do we help our children to remember? I’m not referring to the kind of remembering so they can get the questions right on the test the next day, but the kind of remembering that shows true learning has happened.

This may sound obvious, but it wasn’t to me… In order to truly remember you need to make a memory. So the next question is, how are memories made? There has been tremendous research done on this, and it is understood now that memories are made only in certain circumstances. It explains why we actually do not remember a lot of our own past: because the circumstances were not met.

The elements needed to form a memory are character, conflict, relevance, and emotion. So character (who?), conflict (what was the problem?), relevance (why do I care?), and emotion (how does it make me feel?). Not all are required to make a memory, but the more that there are and the stronger the category (intense emotion or huge conflict, eg.), the more powerful (and permanent) the memory.

If we return to my examples of what I do remember from school history, let’s look at fourth grade… my report on exports from Bolivia. There are no characters involved, no conflict, no relevance to my life, and it triggered no emotion. Therefore I remember none of it… A memory was not made. However, when my parents contacted the teacher (characters), about my missing extra credit (conflict), I was very embarrassed about how my parents handled it (emotion), and concerned on how it affected my grade (relevance). Therefore I made a memory!

The Salem witch trials were very relevant to me because it was local history, and the topic in general contains high conflict and strong emotion. The Caesars of Rome in and of themselves weren’t overly interesting to me (there are astonishing stories in that history, but so many Caesars and so many dates), however the pure terror of doing an oral report (strong emotion) cemented that particular memory, and then the epiphany crossover with my Bible learning (high relevance), bam! Memory!

Also interestingly, memory is firmly tied to story. A good story has all of the elements required to make a memory. The Bible is an excellent example. What do we remember most and what do we teach children? The story of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, Noah and the flood, Jonah and the big fish…all stories. What we don’t teach young children from the Bible are the genealogies or the dietary laws in Leviticus. If we did try to teach them, they wouldn’t remember them because they truly are unrememberable without relevance or emotion attached to them. Once the children get older these parts become more relevant if they are studying something along those lines, and therefore become memorable. (1)

So story. I learned all of that history as a teenager while I was reading stories (historical romances). And I learned zippo history reading textbooks. And all the learning I did from the stories… I did it without memorizing a thing. I just made memories seamlessly as I read. I was engaged with the characters, and there would be tons of conflict that created an emotional response in me. Bingo—memory!

Historical fiction author GA Henty really had this figured out. Not only does he put historical events into a story form with engaging characters and lots of conflict, but he adds a fictional young person to the story, making it more relevant to the young person reading it. An adult reading about the adventures of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce in Scotland’s fight for independence would be fine. But Henty adding a fictional young man to the story draws in a younger reader to these adult-themed political machinations going on. It’s brilliant!

So my first recommendation for teaching history to your students: have them read age-appropriate historical fiction and then biographies, (biographies generally contain some of the elements—It is historical nonfiction) of the era you want them to learn. These they will remember. They will learn. (2)

So throw out the textbooks? Nope.

Textbooks contain a lot more information than a story does. It’s not that you should not use textbooks, it’s just how you use them that is important.

I like to think of history like a coat rack with hooks spaced out along it. The hooks are important eras. Later we add more hooks with important dates. Once we have the hooks, then anytime something new is learned it can be placed on one of these hooks. However, if your child learns something and there is no hook to hang it on (no context), the information will be lost. Of course, this is basically a timeline, but I think of it like a coat rack because I can hang things on it!

I remember trying to teach my girls about the Mayflower Compact in first grade. I was teaching it to them because it was in the textbook. And I was following the textbook. I even knew while I was teaching it to them that there was no way they were going to comprehend or remember it. But it was in the textbook so I taught it. And they forgot it.

Here would be a better way of doing it: If I had started with a historical fiction book about a pilgrim girl. This would draw my kids in with the character, the conflict she’s trying to solve, and the emotions surrounding this. We put a hook on our coat rack for early American history—Pilgrims.

Next, I would read to them a biography about a pilgrim child or family. Biographies, being more realistic, tend not to have as much drama (conflict/emotion) as fiction, but my child has the context from the first story to apply to the biography, and her understanding of the time period and issues grows. Hang that on the hook. 

This would be a good time to add in something hands on to help with remembering and relating to the topic. Does your child like to cook? Find some pilgrim recipes. Do they prefer crafts? Research making wax candles. Or put together a model of the Mayflower. Cater to your child’s natural interest in this way in order to facilitate remembering . You may have to try a few different things to discover what that interest is, since these children were unhelpfully born without user manuals. My father learned history through his love of coin collecting as a very young boy. He would research the date and country of a new coin he’d gotten until he knew as much history (the story behind it) as possible.

Now we can pull out the textbook and supplement information. Because now it will mean something. There is context for it. We have a hook we can hang it on. Would I jump to teaching the mayflower compact at this point? Probably not in great depth in first grade, but we can cover the concept that these people (who they have been reading about) promised to allow themselves to be governed in this new land.

So as the child gets older, textbooks become more and more useful. Their coat rack is getting nicely filled out with hooks and things hanging on them, providing them the context for the information to be relevant. I think historical fiction and biography have a place throughout learning, continuing through adulthood. But as foundational knowledge increases, textbooks provide that information to fill in the gaps.

Nothing I have said here is actually new or revolutionary. There are curriculums in existence that do this. You can get literature-based history curriculum (even if you don’t want to use their curriculum for whatever reason, you can snag their booklists for age-appropriate, historically themed reading), or geography-focused history curriculum, or hands-on history curriculum. If your child is musically or artistically interested, you can teach history using artists and musicians as your starting point. Whatever is relevant to your child will be memorable… They will remember it… They will learn it. (3)

End Notes

1. I read a missionary story once that surprisingly showed the genealogies of the Bible is what led to the tribe becoming Christians. Their own history taught them they had descended from a banana tree. They found an actual recorded lineage back to Adam so astonishing and relevant that it had a profound effect on them. So the point being, what might be relevant in one culture is not relevant in another. Or from one person to another.

2. If your child is very young, struggling to read, or learning disabled in some way then read to them or use audiobooks. It doesn’t matter… Story is story!

3. Sometimes you’ll hear from your older child… “Why do I have to learn _______ (fill in the blank)? I’ll never use it!” What they are saying is, this subject holds no relevance for me so it will be a monster to remember (learn). I think we should take this complaint seriously. If it’s legally a non-required subject (eg. PreCalculus or Physics), and the child really doesn’t seem likely to enter an occupation that uses it, then skip it. Substitute a subject that will be relevant to them (eg. Consumer Math) or interests them (eg. Forensic Science). Forcing them to take the non-relevant course will likely lead to resistance and frustration. They could actually pass the course, but they won’t remember it in the long term if they never connect to it. But they WILL create a memory of how much they hated it (emotion)!

If it is a required course (eg. Biology or Geometry), look for publishers with a different approach to it (maybe less intense or using real-world problems to solve—something the child can relate to). As a homeschool parent, you have the latitude to get creative and teach to your child’s strengths.

As you can see, the memory idea applies to more subjects than History!

4. The media is well aware of this phenomenon. Eg.: You read an article on the statistics of police brutality. Most people’s reactions (to any statistics, really) will be *yawn*. Even if you mentally comment on it (“that’s awful”), you likely won’t remember it a few days later, and you certainly won’t act on it.

But, what if instead you are presented with a story showing police brutality?

Recent history brings to mind the summer of 2020 with the George Floyd riots. The media gave the people a story with characters, high conflict, and strong emotion. Truthfulness wasn’t of particular concern here by the storytellers (remember fiction is often more dramatic than nonfiction), but making an impression was the goal. Not only did this create a memorable event, but it led to a response, even in other countries! We had riots, burnings, renamed streets, statues erected, and successful prosecution of the villains. It was a storyteller’s dream. An article on statistics of many incidents vs. a story of one example—no contest.