Comments on: How Do You Teach State History So It’s Not Boring?

By: Lois

Lois — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:49:40 +0000

My husband and I traveled a lot growing up, and then in the military we saw a lot of places, so we learned state history. When our kids were very young we moved from Illinois to South Dakota. They both claim SD as their home state and we studied Lewis and Clark, saw some landmarks near us, and also visited the Little House on the Prairie homestead in DeSmet. We moved to TX in 2007, and the first “school” we did was to make a TX-shaped booklet with each page containing different information: state flag, population (a big wow, coming from a state of 600,000 to one with 17 million!), native animals, the Alamo, etc. All of that was so new and different, but it gave the kids a great place to start in learning about their new home.

Frankly, studying any kind of history from a text book is B-O-R-I-N-G! But, explore around and see what grabs their attention. Have them write a travel brochure for an out-of-stater, explaining various land marks. Galloping Gertie comes to mind for Washington. We studied bridges with my 6th grader, and saw a video of that. Being told his parents had both driven across it numerous times, just doesn’t have the same effect as seeing it for himself.

By: Kara Duckworth

Kara Duckworth — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 01:40:06 +0000

I grew up and went to college in Virginia and majored in Historic Preservation. When we moved our family to Washington 3 years ago, I had to set about learning (and teaching my daughters) state and local history. I approached it by looking at the built environment and categorizing what I found into broader themes of American History. For instance, we have the dams, the National Parks, etc. that were all part of the New Deal; or the alphabet houses (in Richland) that tied into the Manhattan Project and WW2; parts of old highways (e.g. the “Yellowstone Trail” and the “Park to Park Highway”) and roadside architecture (e.g. my fave, The Teapot Dome) that tie into early automobile travel. I developed a class on this that I taught at my local homeschool co-op. Check out the website for the state historic preservation and archaeology office to find wonderful old structures and buildings in your city. This way, you are tailoring history to your own area, but tying it in to broader themes of world and US history that will be beneficial no matter where you live.

By: Leticia Barnes

Leticia Barnes — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 03:02:00 +0000

Consider checking out some of the great musems here in WA. Longview has one, so does Stevenson. The history of mount st. helens and a trip to bonniville dam. Make it real and tangible let them see the history of our state. We are a relitivly young state but their is still plenty to learn about it thats not boring. Speaking from experence these are the kinds of things they will remember.

By: Pam

Pam — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 02:56:17 +0000

We live in Vancouver, Washington. We study state history all of the time because we all love it now. When we started, we had no idea of how much facinating and important history there was here! Really!! And I know that a lot of people living here don’t know much beyond that we have Fort Vancouver.

I agree with Kristine. Go places. Visit as many things as you can. It seems to make it so much more interesting than just reading about things. We usually end up finding out about something else we’d never heard about.

By: Kristine

Kristine — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:10:46 +0000

For me, the topic and method might depend on the age of the student. I’m not big on specific state history, because it’s so limiting. I had four years of state history growing up in California, but I moved away in 1983, and it’s really of no use to me.

I generally teach state history within the context of U.S. history, perhaps expanding a little when possible/if desireable when we get to something pertaining to our state.

Elementary students might enjoy learning about Native Americans that lived in that area. You might expand on WA state history when studying Lewis & Clark.

Consider what interests your children and build on that. My kids heard a funny song about the Pig War. We discovered that it took place on San Juan Island–where my parents live, so my kids were interested in learning more.

It’s not necessary to have a written curriculum, even for high schoolers. What kind of field trips do you have available, and how does that tie into your state’s history? It could be as simple as a trip to the museum, but maybe your children would be interested in learning about the engineering of fish ladders in your area and the role fish have in WA history. Do they like ferries? What opportunities you have to learn about them! Lighthouses? The Navy? The Ballard Locks? When did your family move to WA? Could you tie in past generations with the timing of historical events? The possibilities are endless!

It’s important to have a well-rounded education, but it’s the interesting (and sometimes silly!) things that are often most memorable, that will tie into something your students hear or learn later in life.