Learning is fun!
When children have difficulty making a connection with a subject it is usually caused by them not being able to find any meaning for them in what they are studying. When we take the time to connect the themes then students can begin to see how the different subjects interact.
The geography of an area has a great deal to do with how their history developed. High mountain regions that were hard to get to were very seldom invaded by hordes of hungry people looking for food, however, if there was gold in them there hills then that changed the dynamics. If the people in the mountains were hungry then they were the ones doing the raiding, and their area was easier to defend so they could have ended up being the bosses. L agricultural. People have valued metals for the making of utensils, jewelry and weapons for a long time which makes it a great trading medium for establishing wealth. Whoever has the best trading goods amasses the most wealth and therefore can buy protection for themselves and their people.
That is a very simplified view of how History, Geography and Economics go together. There are only a few factors that figure into the whys of history.
- Power
- Religion
- Economics – which goes hand and hand with power
- Fear of being conquered
- Food supply – which refers back to power
Let’s take a look at the American Revolution. England raised the taxes on tea (Economics) and the people didn’t like it. Their reasoning was “Why should we have to pay taxes to a country that is all the way across an ocean from us?” (Geography) England also demanded that the colonist only go to churches that England sanctioned (Religion). So the stage was set for a revolution. The American colonist started drinking more coffee which helped out a different portion of the world and hurt England economically because they had control of the tea trade. England was the most powerful country when the revolution started, but it takes money to wage a war. When people in America quit paying tea taxes and started shipping their goods to other countries then England lost a lot of their power and America gained some. Simplified view, yes, but a good starting point for a student to begin an investigation of how the three subjects influenced each other.
Students in public school usually do not get to separate or combine the subjects in any meaningful way and therefore they just learn them well enough to get a grade. With a home school student you can help them to understand why all of the subjects go together to form intelligent understanding of each one. No wonder home school students out test public school students on the SAT scores!
Challenge your home school students to make the connections and they will reward you with a desire to learn even more about the world and how it works. Bring the process forward to today’s world and have them investigate and discuss what is happening now.
