Parents
Helping Students Learn Social Studies
You can
help your child become excited in history and the
humanities!
Most parents
of elementary students feel comfortable helping their child
with basic reading, spelling and math. But often as
parents we feel less confident about what we can do to
assist our child with social studies.
We know that
student achievement in social studies improves when students
apply what they learn in school to real life situations.
You have opportunities each day to encourage your child to
apply the ideas and concepts learned in social studies at
home. When we use ideas we make them real. Your
home is an exciting laboratory for applying social studies
knowledge.
The goal of
social studies is to create responsible citizens.
Responsible citizens use knowledge from history, geography,
economics and government; thinking skills; and a commitment
to democratic values to make informed choices and decisions.
The social studies curriculum encourages student to actively
participate in their community.
We believe
that many parents are already doing a variety of things that
connect what students learn in social studies with their
daily lives. Keeping a family calendar, watching
specials on the History Channel or public television,
discussing whether to save or spend a gift of money all
reinforce social studies ideas learned at school.
Every time you make a connection between the world at home
and an idea learned at school you are contributing to your
child's success.
Here are some
fun and interesting ideas you can use. You don't have
to do them all. We have listed many ideas so that you
can choose ones that interest you or are easy to
incorporate into your family routine. Ideas marked
with a '*' are particularly appropriate for early grade
children.
Have fun!
If
you have a computer, bookmark some websites that
are family-friendly for easy access when a
question pops up that needs an answer.
If
you have subscriptions to news magazines, a daily
paper or specialty magazines like National
Geographic or the Smithsonian choose one article
to read together and discuss.
If
you do not subscribe to magazines and newspapers
show your child how to access them using the
Internet at home or the public library and choose
an article to read together and discuss.
*Choose
books that have social studies themes to read
aloud to your child.
Visit
historic sites and museums in your community and
on family trips, get on their mailing lists so
that you are aware of special programs and events
planned for children.
Use
family pictures to construct a family history for
your child.
Discuss
your family heritage with your child.
Ask
older members of the family to tell a story from
when they were young to your child.
Your child can make a book of the story. A
collection of these stories can become a treasured
part of your family history.
Observe
and question things in your environment like: How
did your street get its name? How were other
streets in your city named?
*Make
a timeline for your kitchen or child's room and
record birthdays of all family members, holidays
and events important to your family.
Discuss
how do your family's religious or cultural values
effect the decisions that you make as a family?
These decisions are an important part of their
cultural heritage; discuss them with your child.
Make
a penny box with your child. Save up pennies
for several weeks so you will have a selection of
years. Your child should decorate the penny
box with designs that are meaningful to him/her.
Establish with your child the year of their birth.
Find a penny that was made that year and put it in
the box. Now look for a penny that was made
the year your child was one and put that in the
box. Continue for each year until now.
Have the child try to remember what happened each
year, and write it down. If you have a
computer, you could begin a computer log, if not
keeping the log on a piece of paper is just fine.
You will have to supply information for the early
years. On the child's birthday they should
add another penny representing that year and add
more to their log.
Make
a scrapbook with your child about his/her life.
Before you start discuss with them what might be
kept in the scrapbook. Certificated from
school, photographs, religious awards, ticket
stubs to amusement parks or museums, sports
awards, a piece of music that was mastered, or the
like. It is important that your child's
personality is reflected in the scrapbook.
There is no "right" way to do this
activity. It should be fun and include what
is important to him/her.
*Mark
your child's height on the edge of a door and
record the date.
When
you are in the car: Ask questions about the
commercial vehicles on the road. What is the
truck carrying? Where is the truck from?
Who will use what is in the truck?
Repeat
directions to where you are going when in the car.
Post
a map of Indiana or Michigan (or your state) in
your home. Use it to show distances and
where things are happening.
Plot
your family vacation or trip on a map.
Watch
the TV news together and talk about the stories
represented.
When
at a store or restaurant show the receipt to your
child. Show them where the tax is added.
Discuss the ways that the local community, state
and national governments use taxes.
*Know
the name of your state's governor and the
President of the United States and use them so
that your child will use them.
Know
who the leader of your community is.
Know
who your state and national representatives and
senators are.
Vote
and tell your child when you are going to do it.
Take them with you when you vote!
Engage
in a community service project with your child.
*What
is your work? Do you provide a good or
service? Talk to your child about your job.
Tell them what you do.
*While
you are putting together meals for your family
have your child read labels and discover where
things in your home were made. What country?
Look at the labels of the food you eat.
Where did it come from? Find the state or
country on a map.
*When
you are in the car identify the businesses that
you pass as ones that produce goods and ones that
provide services.
Take
your child with you to the bank and talk about the
services that are advertised in the bank while you
are waiting in line.
*What
do things cost? Collect change over a few
days. Ask you child to count the change.
Now have your child look around the kitchen
cupboards and discover what they could buy with
the money on the table. To fully understand
the concept of "money" children need to
find out how we get money, and what it buys.
adapted
from Michigan Department of Education's "Curriculum
Framework"
