Social Studies Begins at Home
Every parent and guardian wonders how they can best equip their children with the tools needed to navigate an increasingly complex world, and often it’s hard to know where to start. Yes, reading, writing, and arithmetic are essential for future success, but social studies is an underrated and essential subject area that contains the secret sauce for raising compassionate, engaged citizens ready to tackle tomorrow’s challenges.
What Is Social Studies?
Depending on your local school district, the social studies curriculum could be a catch-all for courses like humanities, economics, history, the arts, and civics. However, the National Council for Social Studies recently defined social studies as “the study of individuals, communities, systems, and their interactions across time and place that prepares students for local, national, and global civic life.” It doesn’t get much more important than that.
Why Is Social Studies Important?
Social studies isn’t just about memorizing facts and key dates; it’s the launchpad for lifelong civic engagement and human understanding. By delving into human experiences, geography, and history, kids learn to navigate their surroundings, contribute to democracy, and prepare “for a lifelong practice of civil discourse and civic engagement in their communities” (NCSS). Through exploring different cultures and historical events, young people develop empathy, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. Without this foundation, they miss out on understanding the world around them and shaping a brighter future. Imagine a world where your child confidently navigates diverse cultures and perspectives and understands the past to shape a better future.
How Does Social Studies Begin at Home?
Most school-aged children will not begin an official social studies curriculum until third grade or later, and as many school districts struggle to meet reading and math standards, time spent on social studies continues to decrease. While much of this can be taught in the classroom, social studies goes beyond the classroom walls.
It actually begins at home with you.
Whether intentional or not, your views of the world, how you relate to others, and your engagement with your local community provide the foundation for your child’s understanding of their environment and set the stage for how they will contribute to society. Your role in shaping their worldview is profound.
7 Ideas for At-Home Social Studies
So how can you foster an appreciation for social studies without adding one more thing to your never-ended parenting to-do list? Check out the seven ideas below.
1) Take your child on errands.
Child-free errands might be faster and easier, but, by letting kids tag along, you organically expose them to their local community and see how different people and systems interact. Whether it is the grocery store, the bank, or the post office, exposure to local services is often the first introduction young children have to social studies.
While you’re running errands, engage your child in discussions about the services available. For younger kids, explain how mail service works, ask farmer’s market vendors about their local farms and products, and point out community helpers like firefighers.
For older adolescents, bring them along when you vote, identify local organizations that support marginalized groups, and bring donations to your local food bank. Quick errands are a quick and easy jumping off point for social studies conversations.
2) Explore your local community.
From local festivals to farmer’s markets, there’s a world of wonders waiting right in your neighborhood. Keep an ear out for upcoming high school and community college performances, rallies, cultural events, and volunteering opportunities. At cultural events, you and your children will have the opportunity to immerse yourselves in a culture that is different from your own, which will broaden their worldview and build empathy. Depending on where you live, your local Chamber of Commerce likely may maintain a calendar of local events.
3) Discover the lay of the land.
Whether you’re hiking local trails, kayaking nearby waterways, or biking through the city, make geography come alive for your child. If you live near a national park, plan a stop at the visitor’s center to talk with a park ranger and sign your child up for their Junior Ranger program.
Learning about geography is an important step to understanding the environment, how human behaviors affect climate change, how to prepare for or prevent natural disasters, and how to create resilient communities.
4) Unearth family roots.
You don’t need a DNA test to learn about your ancestry, although that can be a fun way to learn more about your lineage. Instead, if you are fortunate to have living ancestors (parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles), plan a visit so your children can spend time with them. Invite them to share stories about what it was like growing up in the 1900s. Some questions that your children might ask them could be:
- Where did you grow up?
- Did you get an allowance when you were growing up? If so, how much, and what did you like to spend it on?
- What were your parents like?
- What was your first job?
- Did you, your parents, or your siblings enlist in the military?
- What is your favorite childhood memory?
- What was your house like?
And if you no longer have older generations with you, find old family photo albums and let your children flip through them. Tell them stories you heard about the childhood of your grandparents and parents.
5) Visit your local library.
Public libraries are a great place to learn about local history, heritage, archaeology, and preservation. Start by asking a librarian if there is a special section dedicated to local history. Depending on the library, there may be appointments available to explore local artifacts like ceramic, glass, bones, and metals that have been discovered within your community.
You may even be able to take your ancestry exploration a step further with the local genealogical society that is typically part of local library systems!
6) Check out local museums and visitor centers.
Museums provide a wonderful backdrop to deepen your exploration and understanding of historical and current events. Small, local museums provide access to artifacts and exhibits speak to the lore and idiosyncracies that make wherever you live unique, while larger museums build more global perspectives. Keep an eye on nearby museums’ websites for information about upcoming free and low-cost events for children to teach the younger generations about important pieces of their local history.
Something most people don’t realize is that you don’t have to be from out of town to benefit from a trip to the visitor center! They are an excellent resource to learn more about your local community and discover events that might be of interest.
7) Teach your children financial literacy.
Equipping a child with financial literacy is one of the most valuable things a parent or guardian can do. Financial literacy is an important aspect of social studies, as it greatly helps people contribute positively to their community.
The best way to start is to simply talk about money. This is especially important in today’s society where most spending is done online or with a debit or credit card, making spending and saving habits less visible. Having honest conversations about money, spending, and budgeting is important for children, laying the groundwork for a secure financial future. Check out this Forbes article for five fun resources to aide in equipping kids with financial literacy skills. The Consumer Protection Financial Bureau has resources available to help you get started, regardless of how old your children are!
Nurturing Citizens of Tomorrow
By embracing social studies in everyday life, you’re not just shaping your child’s academic journey — you’re nurturing compassionate, engaged citizens ready to tackle tomorrow’s challenges. Developing citizens focused on human rights and understanding their responsibility to contribute to the world in a positive and healthy way is a parent’s greatest responsibility. Introduce your child to their local community and watch as your child’s understanding of the world blossoms.
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