Learning, so we don't repeat it

When Pete and I first had conversations about the academic subjects* we would be teaching our kids, we tried to determine which aspects we thought were most important. Should math be a key focus? Or writing? Science? Ideally, of course, we would teach everything to our kids, but knowing there would be constraints of time, energy, etc., we wanted to see what we thought would be most significant and crucial to the development of our children as they entered adulthood. What did we most want to equip them with? (Clearly, not grammar, as I ended that question with a preposition!)

Math, we concluded, could always be aided with a calculator or Excel, spelling and writing would always have the benefit of the word-processing checkers available these days. Even the memorization of formulas and facts seemed less important with the advent of Googling and easy online research.

But what we keep coming back to is the importance of knowing HISTORY. As Strider and I read in his history book a couple weeks ago, the ancient Roman Cicero said,

"To know nothing of what happened before you were born is to remain forever a child."

And we concur.

So, ever since Strider was in kindergarten, the subject of history has been the main focus of our studies, and we try to weave other subjects in and around whatever time period we're looking into. One of the main benefits of this is that the younger kids can join in, to whatever extent they're able, as talk about people from different eras.

Along the way, we've discovered some really impressive books that people have written, giving us fascinating glimpses into windows of other civilizations and times. These are some of our favorites:

A Child's History of the World by Virgil M. Hillyer. This was the first one I read Strider in kindergarten and it gave a great overview of, well, the history of the world. Obviously it can't be completely comprehensive, but it included a lot of the main things. :) Unfortunately, it was written so long ago that some of the more recent main events (such as World War II!) are not included.
The Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer. We own almost all 4 of the volumes in this series now -- and our favorite versions are the CD's. Strider loves to listen to them in his room, or in the car.

"Augustus Caesar's World" by Genevieve Foster. This is the book we're reading this semester. I was a little skeptical at first, fearing it would be rather dry and narrow in its scope. But I, as usual, was quite wrong, and we've enjoyed learning through her "horizontal" approach, as we've read about all different groups of people and events that surrounded this man. Her writing is so conversational and story-like; the people are three-dimensional to us now.

I have loved learning all about HISTORY as I teach my kids. I somehow zoned out during my own childhood and missed most of this. Hopefully we're all gaining in wisdom and insight!

*I am not including "Bible" as an academic subject here. Of course we think that book is of the highest order and should be taught in all things.