I remember when our country had a state funeral for John F. Kennedy. In fact, I specifically remember watching the black and white TV image of the horse drawn carriage pulling President Kennedy’s casket down the grieving streets of our nation’s capital. Now, that may not be the happiest of times from my childhood, but compared to remembering how we were taught in first grade to hold our heads between our knees if we were bombed to smithereens … (as if that would have made a difference), remembering an honorable and stately funeral for a beloved American president might not be so bad after all.

Like me, you most probably have some part of history, in all probability several defining events or times in history, that played an important part of your own childhood. From John F. Kennedy’s funeral to man’s first step on the moon, and even to the first episode you saw of Saturday Night Live or hearing Ronald Reagan’s famous “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall” speech, there are parts of history that will remain forever fixed not only in our brains but in our hearts as well. Remembering those defining points of history from our own lives may be the best place to start when teaching our children History, Social Studies, and a Godly worldview of life overall.

Children love to hear stories about their birth. Sometimes they will even come right out and ask where they “came from”. It’s important to a child to know where he or she came from. It means something to them; they can relate it to who they are today. After all, it is THEIR history.

We parents have an even larger base of history in our own lives. We have events that shaped us and made us who we are today. Like our children, we can related to those events personally. Perhaps better than our children, we understand how our own history has ALSO played a part in who our children are today. We also have the depth of understanding to appreciate even earlier historical events, ones that occurred before our own time and their effects on our lives and the lives of our children today.

However, while our appreciation of earlier historical events might be keenly or at least partially developed, we parents are not that much different than our children who ask where they came from. We have a personal interest in our own past because we can personally relate to it. It’s what we experienced. It means something special to us. After all, it is OUR history. And boy, can we remember parts of our history!

Why not share those parts of your lives, events, and times of historical significance during your lives, with your children as they grow in their own awareness and appreciation of the historical events and times that have shaped the world in which they live in today? Your children have an interest in you. They see you, and you mean a lot to them (whether they admit it or not). They can also see you standing right in front of them, and that makes the events you speak of seem a little more real to them, a little more believable. The additional excitement you will naturally have from speaking about those things you actually experienced and can probably remember having feelings about can help bring those events and historical situations to life in the eyes of your children as well.

Whether you have children who are studying history by making “All About Me” books out of construction paper or children who are studying history through high school or college level textbooks, sharing a part of yourselves, those special times and events from history that occurred during your own life, can help your children develop an excitement, awareness, and appreciation of times beyond their own understanding. It’s also just a fun thing to do together which is always nice in and of itself when it comes to parents and children! You might even be lucky enough to discover your children are glad you were not blown to smithereens in the first grade after all!

Chris Stevens has two grown daughters as well as a teenage son, two dogs, three cats, and a multitude of backyard birds. She and her husband have led Christian marriage and family seminars both together and individually, and both have spoken at home school conventions and curriculum fairs. While Chris loves helping couples and families have a better life together, her favorite activity is traveling somewhere in the car with everyone packed in, so long as the driver gives her time for her decaf coffee and potty stops! One of her daughters doesn’t like making stops though, which can be quite challenging for the entire family!