What's missing from most homeschool history curriculum?
If you have spent any time sifting through the plethora of homeschool history curriculum out there you will find plenty of book lists, hands on crafts and timelines. However, you will have a much hard time finding primary source analysis geared towards homeschooling families. This is something I am trying to rectify at A Tailor-Made Feast.
First we need to define what a primary source is. Charlotte Mason talked about the importance of using primary sources when she said,
“Let them get the spirit of history into them by reading, at least, one old Chronicle written by a man who saw and knew something of what he wrote about, and did not get it second hand.”
When she talks about something written by a man who did not get it second hand, she is talking about primary sources. A primary source is a piece of evidence created during the time period being studied by someone who actually experienced or witnessed the events. These pieces of evidence can include letters, diaries, maps, photographs, speeches, newspaper articles, documents, artifacts or art from that era.
While some other history curriculum may include primary sources to read, they don't bring any analysis to it. This is problematic because primary sources reflect the perspective, biases, or limited knowledge of their creator at a specific time. Without analyzing the historical context you might take them at face value and misread intent or meaning. If you are only reading one primary source about an event, you might perpetuate the bias of the author of the primary source not realizing that other primary sources might tell a different story of the past. Relying solely on a conquistador’s account of the Americas might glorify conquest while ignoring native suffering. Finally, because primary sources are often incomplete (for example, a single diary entry doesn’t capture an entire event), if you don't read multiple sources or secondary research, you will miss the full picture.
I want to help you feel empowered to start analyzing primary sources with your kids. The key is to introduce primary source analysis for kids with engaging, age-appropriate activities that foster critical thinking and historical curiosity. Learning how to analyze primary sources doesn't have to be complicated. It can be very simple for younger children and increase in complexity as they get older.
For example, a young child can start with something simple like a photograph, a piece of art or a simple diary entry while an older child can read more complicated documents. There are a few important steps you need to go through during a source analysis and you can ask simpler questions for the younger child and move up to more complex and in-depth questions for the older child.
First, you need to SOURCE the document--ask who made it, when, why and what their perspective was.
Second, you need to CORROBORATE it--compare it with another source to see if it lines up or not, if it doesn't you might need to check further sources. This is a fact checking type exercise.
Third, you need to CONTEXTUALIZE it--discuss what was happening at the time and place it was created.
Finally, you need to do a CLOSE READING where you pay attention to the details, the tone/style, figure out what they included compared to what they left out, what words/images/symbolism did they use, etc.
The goal of all of this is to find an answer to a historical question and determine whether or not the primary source you are analyzing is a reliable piece of evidence. This method builds critical skills, avoids shallow conclusions, and makes history fun.
If you want to add this type of activity in your homeschool history lesson, check out these Primary Source Investigation Guides. In them you and your child will be guided through these steps as you analyze different primary sources focused on different topics and historical questions.