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Connecting with History

Connecting With History is a history-based unit study for Roman Catholic families and schools published by www.rchistory.com This site is designed to answer common questions about the Connecting with History program. If you have questions you'd like to see answered here, please let me know!

Monday, April 10, 2006

Learning History by Stages

Years ago, when I was a new homeschooling mom, a friend handed me a photocopied handout from a talk she had attended by a woman named Laura Berquist. The handout explained the idea of classical education and referred to "The Lost Tools of Learning" by the English scholar, Dorothy Sayers. Just a couple of years earlier I
had gone back to college to try to complete a degree in Developmental Psychology. I hadn't managed to graduate because baby number four came along and my oldest being only five, I was just too busy (and tired!) to finish those last few credits for my diploma. But what I appreciated in both of the essays by Berquist and Sayers
was the recognition of the developmental stages of learning in children. This focus on the needs and abilities of students at particular ages was something I hadn't seen emphasized in other homeschooling books or programs.

Now, a few undergraduate courses in child psychology do not an expert make, so please take this only as the idea of a mom of seven (ages 22-6) who has home educated her children for the past sixteen plus years; in other words, with a grain of salt. Taking into account the developmental stages of your children will enhance their ability to learn as well as their enjoyment and will make your task
as teacher an easier one! And since I write and sell history resources I'm going to illustrate how the classical stages of learning can color your approach to teaching history in your homeschool..... Read more here