Learning about History and Civics starts early!

History and Civics are very important subjects and deserve to be studied as early as possible. Many argue the need to study history and give it less importance than science and math. I think history teaches us about leadership, trials and triumphs, failures and successes, cultures and customs, of people all over the world. History lessons can be applied to the present and future. Reading about Harriet Tubman's perseverance to save as many slaves as possible, about Gandhi's non-violence movement, about Queen Hatshepsut's reign as a "king" of Egypt, about Mother Teresa's relentless efforts to help the poor, about Pele's rise to becoming a great soccer player, about Abraham Lincoln's love for reading, allows a child to use history as a guiding tool in his own life. I am able to teach my children and students strong values using history.

History can be taught in a story-like manner. Children love to listen if the story is exciting. When I first talked to my kids about the Boston Tea Party, they cleverly compared this to an earlier history lesson I had with them--Gandhiji and his famous march to Dandi in order to make salt. I was able to talk about several topics while we had discussed the Dandi March. We talked about civil disobedience, the meaning of taxes, the meaning of a democracy and the power of the people, about great leaders and so on.
I remember learning about the Boston Tea Party much later in school. By then, learning unfortunately was only to get good grades on the test!