| Author | |
JennGM
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 17702
|
| Posted: June 19 2010 at 4:50pm | IP Logged
|
 |
|
In teaching history, I know Charlotte Mason advocated using source documents, primary sources and well-written history books.
I see lots of discussion on living boooks, but not much about using primary sources.
I know each period the sources would be different, but I'd love to brainstorm on different ways to incorporate them into our history.
Please share!
__________________
Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
CrunchyMom
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 03 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6385
|
| Posted: June 19 2010 at 5:02pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Interesting idea!
This is scattered, but I thought of
The Federalist Papers, but definitely a late high school things.
And them when trying to think of it from an Elementary perspective, I thought of The Gettysburg Address.
Which made me think speeches were a good source for younger students, and a lot of the Usbourne History books are Internet linked, so at least in modern history, you can watch original newsreels and listen to or watch original speeches, especially for more recent history.
Recently, after reading Trianon, I was fascinated to read Louis XVI's last will and testament where he pledges his faithfulness to Holy Mother Church and the Pontiff in Rome, etc... It was really interesting.
I guess memoirs are a good primary source as well.
__________________
Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Mackfam
Board Moderator
Non Nobis
Joined: April 24 2006
Location: Alabama
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 14656
|
| Posted: June 19 2010 at 5:58pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
The log of Christopher Columbus is interesting reading.
The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere includes within the original of Paul Revere's deposition and copies of a few other historic documents.
The American Revolutionaries - A History in Their Own Words by Milton Meltzer is another excellent compilation of first hand accounts.
There are so many others! As far as incorporating, I do so liberally wherever they fit and whenever reading level is appropriate.
********************************************
There are a few history narratives I use that I like. Rather than collections of dry facts gathered together on pages with graphs and blurbs and textbook style, these are stories of history. So, they accomplish the effect of offering a broad view, and are great if a family likes to make use of a spine. I do consider them living books. They're written by one author with a passion for history and in a narrative form. I'm sure this is an incomplete list, but here is an idea of some that we enjoy:
** A History of the English Speaking Peoples by Winston Churchill
** The Book of.... books by Dorothy Mills - she has written books on: (I have only a couple of these, and for those on topics that directly concern our faith I would research carefully before I read)
The Book of the Ancient Greeks
The Book of the Ancient Romans
The Book of the Ancient World
The Book of the Middle Ages
The People of Ancient Israel
The Book of the Renaissance and Reformation
** Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer
** A Child's History of the World by Hillyer
** A Child's Geography of the World by Hillyer
** A Little History of the World by E.H. Gombrich
** Uncle Eric books by Richard Maybury
** A Basic History of the United States by Clarence Carson (5 volumes)
** The Americans - The Colonial Experience by Daniel Boorstin
** A History of Knowledge by Charles Van Doren
*****************************************
It might be fun to try to compile a list from everyone's knowledge base and resources of narratives of history.
__________________
Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JennGM
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 17702
|
| Posted: June 19 2010 at 6:07pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Mackfam wrote:
| It might be fun to try to compile a list from everyone's knowledge base and resources of narratives of history. |
|
|
I've been drafting a list like this this week, but most seem to be American narratives.
__________________
Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
lapazfarm
Forum All-Star
Joined: July 21 2005
Location: Alaska
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6082
|
| Posted: June 19 2010 at 6:16pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Love using primary docs wherever possible.
We have definitely used and loved the original Lewis and Clark journals (fascinating!!).
This year we are reading a lot of speeches. A good book full of famous speeches is Lend me Your Ears by William Safire, though many of the speeches can be found free online.
Lend Me your Ears by Safire
Another book I found very interesting and will be using this year is a book called Eyewitness to History which is full of fascinating first-hand accounts of historical events.
Eyewitness to History Neat to read about events from folks who were there.
__________________
Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JennGM
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 17702
|
| Posted: June 19 2010 at 9:33pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
These are great ideas! It seems obvious in the older years to look to primary, but I wanted to start with a mindset of both narratives and primary sources to flesh out.
Maps of the time, art, diaries, journals, letters. I keep thinking of the letters between John and Abigail Adams which are such treasures!
I found a few websites that might give me more ideas, although I am not found of using the computer, it gives me a hint where to go.
Primary Sources on the Web
The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts presented cleanly (without advertising or excessive layout) for educational use.
History Primary Sources
__________________
Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Paula in MN
Forum All-Star
Joined: Nov 25 2006
Location: Minnesota
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 4064
|
| Posted: June 21 2010 at 7:43am | IP Logged
|
|
|
We are a few hours from Duluth, MN. They have an awesome museum, Karpeles, that focuses on documents.
They are one of ten other museums (Buffalo, Charleston, Jacksonville, Tacoma, Shreveport, to name a few) around the country and every few months the displays are changed. We have seen many original documents, which really helps my kids visualize our studies.
__________________
Paula
A Catholic Harvest
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JennGM
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 17702
|
| Posted: July 12 2010 at 9:51am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Not sure if this was mentioned here before, but I just discovered this awesome site:
Avalon Project which is rich with primary sources.
It's arranged by eras, also collections arranged chronologically, like American History: A Chronology 1492-Present and American Revolution: A Documentary History.
But it is not limited to America, as it goes back to Ancient Times.
Very helpful. Dh and I were having discussions about the Civil War, and to pull up the primary sources, especially on secession and read the "cause" helped our conversation.
__________________
Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Angel
Forum All-Star
Joined: April 22 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2293
|
| Posted: July 12 2010 at 5:30pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Jackdaws are interesting. There are lots of packs covering many different periods of history.
__________________
Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
4Real Forums : Across Time and Place
Topic: Using Primary Sources
