The Key to Turning Kids on to History? Never Force It
History Turned On
The group’s lead teacher and I had been working since October 2014 to prepare the perfect program: lunch at a famed Paris bistro; a cruise on the River Seine; dinner at the Eiffel Tower; picnic in the Palais Royal gardens followed by a performance at the Comédie Française; a treasure hunt in the temple of impressionism, the Musée d'Orsay; and a guided tour through the vast Versailles gardens, with mini history lessons throughout.
Read MoreThe Power of Community
One week ago today, on the last morning of our 38-day Kickstarter campaign that involved four live events and uncountable networking meet ups, taking me first to Florence, then from London to Nashville to New York to Rhode Island, back to New York, then to London, then Paris, and back to London again, I awoke at 4:30am GMT with a start.
It had become commonplace for me to sprint for 16-18 hours a day between dog walks and 4-5 hour nightly naps. Some nights I didn’t really sleep at all, merely rested, while going over the to do list again and again in my head. I was running on sheer adrenaline by this point – that and the fumes of way too much caffeine ingested for way too many days that coursed through my veins and caused my nervous system to fritz out at even the slightest provocation. I was exhausted, but exhilarated and unwilling, unable to stop, because one thing was clear: The crowd was behind me. YOU were behind me. I now had a responsibility, not just to myself, but also to the TTT&T Team, who had all worked so hard and given me so much, as well as to a community of supporters that was expanding daily with every new campaign backer, twitter follower, and Facebook friend.
On the penultimate night of the campaign, I stopped work early – at about 8:30pm. I couldn’t hold my head up any longer, couldn’t will my fingers to type another word. As I closed my computer, we had only $750 left to raise. I felt certain we would make that goal by midnight GMT the next day. I fell to sleep quickly and slept soundly...
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10 Ways to #TurnHistoryOn
In my work as an author and publisher, I am motivated by a simple, observable truth: many young people — and even some adults — find history boring.
They bridle at the suggestion that they might enjoy time at a museum.
They tolerate the family tour of a historic destination, anxious to get back to their friends both online and off.
The truth is, all they lack is a little context.
History is a collection of great stories: Stories of extraordinary adventures, incredible innovations, revolutionary breakthroughs, horrid acts of injustice. If told well, such tales can capture even the youngest imaginations.
So how can you help #TurnHistoryOn for the young people in your life?
Here are my Top 10 Tips...
Read MoreBreaking Boundaries: The State of Children’s Apps in 2015
At this year’s Bologna Children’s Book Fair (29 Mar – 4 Apr), I had the pleasure of experiencing the top five BolognaRagazzi Digital Award winning apps before they were announced to the public. All beautiful works developed specifically for the screen, they prove that 2014 was the year children’s apps truly broke from the boundaries imposed by the page.
The five are all beautifully rendered, technologically innovative, and intuitively engineered. They are all developmentally appropriate to their target age.
What's more, they get extra kudos for putting the power of choice and exploration at the tip of the child user’s finger. But the operative word here is “user,” not “reader.” Indeed, all the gab around these titles at the Fair used the verb “play,” not “read.”
Read MoreTime Traveler Tours & Tales Signs Acclaimed Author Mary Hoffman
History is Made: Sarah Towle and Mary Hoffman ink TTT&T's first author agreement, Oxfordshire, UK, 23 May 2015.
