Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Mike Smith:
Diana, you wrote a history curriculum intended to allow students to explore their individual interests as they study history. So how do you balance their area of interest with the need to understand history as a whole?

Diana Waring:
Well since history includes everything that’s ever happened, from the moment of creation until now, we find that every area one might enjoy studying is contained within a historical context. Whatever you care about fits somewhere in a moment of history, whether it’s space shuttles or horses or ballet or ballistics—it’s all there.

What we do then is provide the students with an introduction to each time period in history and from there provide opportunities to do further research in what interests them. Students dive into a time of discovery, propelled by their own self-motivation, which will take them deeper than we might normally expect. For example, a project on Alexander the Great. A student might find they were reading about different cultures that Alexander conquered, military strategies, international commerce, horsemanship, world religions, geography, even Bible prophecy. They will retain history more deeply because they’ve been exposed to it in the pursuit of their own interests.

Mike:
Diana, that&rsqo;s tremendous! Thanks for providing a great history resource for our listeners! And until next time, I’m Mike Smith.