Newspaper History Lessons for Homeschoolers

For parents who are homeschooling, the newspaper provides a daily source of inspiration for history lessons. Current events can be used as a springboard for discussions and activities centering around today's world and how it compares to the past. You can further expand the history lesson by starting a current event scrapbook with your child or take a trip to the library to research the subject of a newspaper article.

Newspaper history lessons for homeschoolers: Relate current events to the past

It is said that "those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it." Use the newspaper to teach your child about how things were back when you grew up. Children are more likely to be interested in hearing stories about your past if they have something relevant to connect them to. For example, stories about the gas shortages in the 1970s have become much more impactful in light of the astronomical gas prices of recent years. The recent inauguration of Barack Obama provides many opportunities to discuss race relations in America and how society has changed in a relatively short period of time.

Newspaper history lessons for homeschoolers: Keep a scrapbook

To make your newspaper history lessons more interactive, start a scrapbook with your child. Clip any article that has caught your child's interest or has led to a good discussion. Have your child write a brief summary of the article and why it was interesting to them. Try to tie the current events in the newspaper to a historical occurrence or person. Ask the child for his or her opinion on why the event is relevant or whether it is likely to happen again in the future. Besides being a fun way to teach your children about history, the summary piece will help them work on their writing.

Newspaper history lessons for homeschoolers: Research related topics

If you notice that your child is especially interested in a certain current event, you can use this as an opportunity to teach them how to research related subjects. This can be a very useful lesson for older children who will soon be entering high school or college, where such research skills are expected. Encourage the child to look into historical events that were similar to the current event they are studying. Often, this research will naturally lead them into other aspects of history or politics that are related to the newspaper article. While the Internet is an easy source of information, you may want to combine your newspaper history lesson with a trip to the local library to teach your child library skills as well as the historical significance.