By taking this literature class it has opened my eyes to so many different genres. I have never really thought about the importance of historical fiction was to young children. I know that sounds dumb because of course history is very important. But this genera, I believe should be more focused on then all of the rest. Children need to know about their past and how it got them to where they are now the “present”. They need to be comfortable with their past and realize that just because there ancestors or other people don’t look like them, children need to know they have more in common then they think. It’s a wonderful to know about different cultures and to be opened minded and have the ability to see things differently and I believe this genre does do that and it gives facts along the way so your not just reading but your learning along the way.
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I agree that children in todays generation are lacking in historical information. I think this is because this generation is very focused on todays trends and what is going on in the world. Before communication advances that we have today were invented, people didnt have enough knowledge of different cultures to have books set in the same time period in a different country. I dont think that historical fiction is more important though. I think all main genres are of the same importance as long as readers read books from all of them. There is danger in reading books just from one genre. For example, if someone only read historical fiction, they wouldnt know a lot about recent events. Likewise, it is frequently said that not knowing history could lead to repeating mistakes. Science fiction could be dangerous because it may lead to dissatisfaction in the present world in extreme situations. Most importantly, I think children need to be open to reading all genres and to learn to appreciate all of them.
I agree with you Katherine! Curriculum today is so focused on preparations for the future, which can all agree on is essential. But as the "Shift Happens" video explains, technological advances happen so quickly that it will soon be hard for educators to keep up! History never changes. Period. Perspectives may change as time passes, but as a history specialization student, I feel that it should be just as essential for students to understand their histories as well as broaden their horizons with knowledge about other cultures. This knowledge will be helpful for the future for anyone, no matter what field you work in.
Here's the Shift Happens video. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljbI-363A2Q
I can definitely agree with you there. History is very important to a person's education and the only way to prepare for the future is learn from the past. Historical fiction stories start giving showing that theory to children. They understand history in a lighter way then they begin to learn about the world around them and how things work in society. I agree today kids want to explore the new trends and just know about tommorow. It should be ok for them take a step back and learn about the past. What better through historical fiction stories. They tell history in a lighter maybe colorful way so children can relate to them maybe as a regular picture book. The story will obviously not give the whole truth because we probably don't need to tell kids at that young age the whole truth just yet. If we tell the story about the native americans and the europeans we don't need to tell the whole truth to kids because they might find out things that make them think we are bad people. But it is good for them to understand the main jist of our history and what better through historical fiction.
I completely agree and have done some thinking on this subject as well.
One of my minors in Education is History. I think that, if I one day become a history teacher, then I will incorporate Historical Fiction books into every unit. Why? Because it gives students a third opinion on history. Not mine, not the textbook's, but some other source. It would build upon their reading skills in general. And it might entice students who aren't naturally attracted to history as a subject, to become more involved.
I think it's extremely important to know your history, where you came from, how you got here, etc. It is just as important to see it through an opposing viewpoint. While teaching the Holocaust from an American, Christian perspective, read about it through a Jewish perspective, or a German perspective. What about the World Wars? I'm sure there are Historical Fiction Novels out there that involve a viewpoint on the World Wards that is not our own (America's). Even everyday life. Little House on the Prairie. Those titles could be used when teaching in that time period. Using Historical Fiction throughout history instruction would give students another outlet to learn the material. I would also try to incorporate art projects, or hands on projects, in history units as well. Throw in the whole scope there. History is an important part of our lives, and teaching it to our students is crucial! :)
I agree that there should be more historical fiction. Even though historical fiction is not what really happened it does give a general idea of what it was like. Not to mention it gives the kids a connection to a character or to a story and makes it fun to learn history or where they are fun. I think that a lot of books are trying to get the idea of spreading diversity and only focusing on that. Which is good and all spreading diversity to kids, but we need to also like you said “show them where they came from.” Maybe if we had them read historical fiction we could also through diversity in there and get both. But also it is important to know that just because we do not see a lot of it or it is lacking that children are not reading it or having it read to them. For instance I love history so real or fake I will read it and a lot of kids are like that so I would always go and find either historical fiction or history books. What im saying is if kids want to read it they will find it.
I also agree with that there should be more historical fictions for children to read. However, after I read the article “Writing Backward: Modern Models in Historical Fiction” I was little surprised because that too much historical fiction for children is stepping around large slabs of known reality to tell pleasant but historically doubtful stories. The article stated that “even highly respected authors snip away the less attractive pieces of the past to make their narratives meet current social and political preferences.” Thus, I think from my experience historical fictions helped me a lot to understand the big concept of the history and made more interesting to learn history compare to just fact information from textbook.
I completely understand the importance of historical fiction use in schools but I wouldn't say it needs to be focused on more than all of the rest of genres. Students need to have a balance of genres in their curriculum and some history needs to be learned through text books and not through general historical fiction novels because of the question of accuracy.
I agree that children today need more knowledge about the history. I think to offer children a way to undersatnd and know about the history is very important to help them build up the conception about the world, and also themself. children could learn alot from the historical story because knowing the things and events that happend before could largely help them to understand now and future. And one of the question is how can we, as an adult, using a proper way to inffuse the history in the children's literature. As children always has limit to understand very complex things and ideas, we should simplify the history and make it more approachable to children who read it.
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