My ds loves history .....

[ANunInMoss]

My ds, age 7, has developed a strong interest in history, he talks about the Romans, the Celts etc, etc.

He asked me this morning what happened to the Stone of Scone. I remembered that Edward I, "hammer of the Scots" stole it, but my knowledge is sketchy. What books/website have any of you found helpful for his age, and I am learning with him on medieval history.

I know Neil Oliver did a History of Scotland programme on BBC4. I need to watch that to get a grip on Scottish history.

I am very interested in history, and that together with Horrible Histories books and TV programme has sparked his enthusiasm.

If any history teachers read this, how is it taught at GCSE and A Level these days?

I remember history being taught by being given lists of dates, I hope the subject isn't ruined for him later on.

Watch the Neil Oliver programme with a pinch of salt - DH is a medieval historian, and one of his colleagues withdrew co-operation from that programme as he didn't think it was done very well at all. That said, DH reckons that anything that gets people interested in history is a Good Thing, and that watching and reading things with a critical eye is really the essence of good history.

ANIM

Is your child at school in Scotland? I am not an expert, but my DS has just started secondary school in England and I looked at the curriculum. There is not a massive amount on Scotland in it.

Google bbc schools history
Also try googling kids medieval history - that should get you loads of links for information, games and printable stuff

As far as I know the schools history curriculum is very limited re medieval history - here at secondary level they study WW2, guess what they study at A level?

WW2 - oooooh how origonal

Medieval history was the first topic my DD1 did in year seven last year. It was well-taught and interesting as far as I could see - the fact that she was interested was miracle enough. They followed a timeline from Edward the Confessor to the mid 14th century (Black Death) and took in quite a lot along the way.
She is starting the Tudors this term, so I will be interested to see how that is covered compared to the primary school version of the topic.

My DD2, like your son, is genuinely interested in history. She reads things like the Geraldine McCaughran Tales from History books, and the My Story series of fictional diaries (dull and badly written, but she likes them). She reads loads of historical fiction as well, but they are pretty girl oriented - things like the Historical House series and the Lady Grace mysteries.
The Roman Mysteries by Caroline Lawrence are good for either sex though, and there are quite a few My Story books aimed specifically at boys.
If he is interested in Romans and Celts, you need to track down Rosemary Sutcliff's books and Henry Treece's which are mostly out of print, but easy to find secondhand.

DS is in year 7 and is currently doing the princes in the tower.

I like to take the life of an interesting personnage from history and bring in a lot of historical background via that. Well written biographies are generally a nice place to start with primary school dc IMO. A narrative overview of some kind to pull together all the different bits and pieces he already knows and help him fit them into place might be a nice night-time read. I should think he would like Our Island Story (and you can google for more information where you see his interest has been fired). She also wrote a history of Scotland for dc come to think of it, I have never read it though.

Have a look online too at the Baldwin project. There are some nice books on there (Plutarch for Children might suit your son, you'd have to check it first though). You can download them for free or just print out. Many have been reprinted and can be ordered over amazon, for example.

I went through Galore Parks 3 books in the series "so you really want to learn junior history" with dd. Have a look online at the publisher's site. You can view chapters and get an idea of what they're like. Basically they are narrative history with a fair bit of written exercises and some other ideas for craft activities/follow-ups. Perhaps too spefically school textbooks for your needs.

Milly - we are nearer France than Scotland! On the South Coast.

Thanks all for help and suggestions. I want to do everything I can to encourage him.

ds2 (8) is a complete history buff. He particularly likes reading non-fiction.
His absolute favourite is Usborne Encyclopedia of World History which is a great book and internet linked, so when he finds something he particularly likes he can find out more about it.
Whereabouts on the SC are you?
We are near Rye and ds2 also belongs to YAC (young archaeologists club) They have a branch in Canterbury and have meet ups once a month. They also send out a magazine 4 x a year which is full of interesting stuff.

don't know the YAC but it sounds great

ingles2 - unfortunately we are in Hampshire, agree with ZZZen that YAC sounds great.

I know that Usborne are a superb educational publisher.

YAC link I'm sure there will be a branch near you.

Thanks for the link

We are recent new members of YAC too

Also, little known fact, if you live in Wales you can apply for free entry for your kids to all CADW sites - Our cards arrived yesterday, free entry until their 17th birthdays

There may be a similar scheme in England with English Heritage and in scotland too (Is that Heritage Scotland? I cant remember)
Here in Wales its CADW - all you do is download a form, fill it in send it off with photocopied birth certificates

I've had a look at the site, thanks ingles, there is also a branch in Southampton.

Laura, how are you finding the YAC?

Hi Nun - I only sent the cheque last week so no 'stuff' yet but we are in hope it will be great - £12 per year or £15 per family - children over 8

No local group near us but hey we could start one
Ds is loves timeteam - time team page in the yac magazine so he should be happy

They also run annual activity holidays that ds wants to go on!

If you are in london - it may be worth your kids becoming members of the british museum as they have museum sleepovers and event days

The £12 membership is worth it for the mag alone. It's really nicely done not childish iykwim. You get free entry to loads of local museums as well.

take him to the british museum