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Many adults, when asked, will tell you that Social Studies was their "worst subject" in school. They remember frustrating and often fruitless attempts to memorize long lists of facts, few of which seemed to be related to the others. Other adults, though, recall Social Studies as a favorite subject -- the one most likely to catch their interest and keep their attention. Because of changes in state curricula, today's students are required to learn and remember far more in the field of Social Studies than their parents did. As parents, we can help our children meet this challenge by helping them to develop the frameworks that hold all the facts together. Not only will this make remembering the facts easier, but it will build the interest that makes learning fun. Sharing family stories with your children can help them develop a "sense of history" -- a feeling for the interplay of continuity and change over time. Youngsters have little personal experience to draw on, so they can benefit greatly when parents and grandparents share their memories. Use photo albums as visual aids, and try to set stories in their historical context. Point out how certain things have changed while others have remained the same. Set an example of citizenship by voting and helping to make changes in areas that interest you. Bring the kids along to meetings of community groups and civic associations. Encourage your children to take part in school elections, and to think about ways their schools and their communities might be made better. Your willingness to listen will help them feel comfortable expressing their beliefs and ideas. Make sure that some of the books your children read for pleasure are non-fiction. While story books certainly are worthwhile, reading for information requires some additional skills that get much better with practice. Youngsters who develop these skills will get much more out of their texts and supplemental readings, both in Social Studies and in other subjects as well. If you use newspapers, news magazines, radio, and television to stay informed about the world, your children will want to do the same. Talk about current events and your ideas about them with your children. Explore different points of view. When current topics come up in the classroom, they'll be prepared. Watch television programs about historical topics with your family, and discuss the program as you watch. Get library books on the same topic and learn more about it. Check to see if the books and television programs agree on significant issues, and discuss their differences. It is especially hard for youngsters to understand that history is open to different interpretations. Help children discover that the makers of history are real people like themselves -- people who have ideas, work hard, and experience failure and success. Introduce them to local community leaders in person, if possible, and to national and world leaders via the media and biographies. Keep maps and reference books handy, and consult them frequently. Let your children use maps to "navigate" on family trips. Get into the habit of "looking it up" when your children ask questions -- if they see you trying to learn more about different topics, they'll follow your example. There's no denying that some Social Studies topics will be quite challenging, especially in the secondary grades -- but the success of our democracy depends on citizens who know enough about politics, economics, and history to make informed choices. Preparing our kids to succeed in Social Studies prepares them to be full participants in the future of our communities, our nation, and our world. Top of page