9.1 History and Social Science Introduction
For many educators of young children, the terms history and social sciences conjure up images of children studying past presidents, learning about other countries, and exploring related topics during the primary school years. Yet, a look at young children’s emerging sense of identity, their growing interest in the larger social world in which they live, and their developing understanding of time and place shows that history and social sciences are relevant to them also.
Figure 9.1: Early childhood education programs are Social Science in action.[1]
Young children are natural historians when they talk about their experiences and enjoy hearing family stories of “long ago.” They are intuitive geographers when they recognize the route to the grocery store and create a map of the preschool room. Children are simple ecologists when they worry about a plant that is wilted or a bird’s egg on a nature walk. They learn about democracy through their participation in shared decision making and taking turns on the playground. Their interactions with other children acquaint them with the diversity in culture, languages, backgrounds, and abilities in society. Young children are also everyday economists as they begin to understand how money, bartering, and exchange work in the world around them.
Preschoolers’ understanding of history and social sciences naturally derives from their expanding knowledge of the world and their place in it. It also provides a foundation for the study of history, culture, geography, economics, civics and citizenship, ecology, and the global environment that begins in the primary grades and continues throughout life. Those topics are important because they provide a basis for understanding the responsibilities of citizens in a democratic society, the legacy of past generations who built society, the importance of caring for the natural world, and the rich diversity of other people.
In preschool, they are introduced to these important issues through everyday activities such as caring for a plant, remembering a recent trip to the zoo, deciding as a group on a name for the class pet, creating a shoe store, engaging in imaginative play with adult roles, or sharing family traditions from home. In other words, young children learn about history and social sciences from personal experiences, as they are enlisted into a preschool curriculum, and also from their experiences at home. [2]
References
- Image by the California Department of Education is used with permission
- The California Preschool Curriculum Framework, Volume 3 by the California Department of Education is used with permission
This page titled 9.1: History and Social Science Introduction is shared under a CC BY license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Jennifer Paris, Kristin Beeve, & Clint Springer.
: Introduction by Jennifer Paris, Kristin Beeve, & Clint Springer is licensed CC BY 4.0.
A thoughtfully designed early childhood program includes many activities that contribute to children’s understanding of history and social sciences. Some activities are carefully planned by a teacher to help children learn about weather patterns, bartering for goods and services, responsibilities as a class member, adult occupations, and many other ideas and concepts. Other activities emerge from the opportunities created by children’s spontaneous interests and a teacher’s capacity to build these into teachable moments. Taken together, they reflect the assumption that young children develop knowledge of history and the social sciences as they are encouraged to enact their understanding in everyday interactions with other children and adults. This knowledge helps young children understand themselves in a wonderfully expanding world. Here are some guiding principles on how to help children gain this knowledge.
Build a cooperative, inclusive preschool community by ensuring that the curriculum maximizes children’s opportunities to work together in ways that require responsible conduct, fairness, and respect for others.
Create activities that will actively engage children’s social skills and understanding. Affirm children’s home cultures, experiences, and values.
Build on preschool children’s natural interest in their social world, and in the similarities and differences among the people in it. Model social behavior and attitudes with explanations.
Actively teach and practice the essential skills of democratic participation.
Encourage children to incorporate their knowledge of adult roles and occupations into their dramatic play.
Observe and converse with children during play in order to learn about their current understanding of time and history. Help children deepen their own sense of place.
Nurture children’s sense of wonder about nature.[1]
References
Figure 9.2: Part of good citizenship, even in preschool, is using your voice to vote.[2]
- The California Preschool Curriculum Framework, Volume 3 by the California Department of Education is used with permission
- Image by Airman 1st Class Kathleen D. Bryant is in the public domain
This page titled 9.2: Guiding Principles for Supporting History and Social Science is shared under a CC BY license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Jennifer Paris, Kristin Beeve, & Clint Springer.