The Web as a Current Events Teaching Resource for Moms and Dads
With classroom budgets being slashed every year, parents have to pick up the slack and expose their children to learning opportunities. Fortunately, the online world is filled with teaching tools — if you’re savvy about searching for them. And since kids are so computer savvy, using the Internet for teaching is like second nature to them. I watched my 4-year-old nephew navigate YouTube looking for NASA launch videos and tornado pictures, so older kids should have no problem.
There are plenty of opportunities for learning in odd places, such as in the world of vintage art. Digital versions of antique advertising, postcards, greeting cards, posters and other ephemera contain a wealth of historical information that’s interesting and revealing. The following are just some of the online vintage images you can use for teaching:
Vintage Travel Art
Kids can learn a lot about the world from vintage travel memorabilia. These walks down memory lane instruct not only about the destinations themselves, but also the way that people used to perceive them.
Tall Sailing Ships Photos and Paintings
There’s a lot of fascinating information to be discovered when studying tall sailing ships. From sloops-of-war to caravels like Columbus sailed, there are interesting details bound to catch any child’s imagination.
Vintage American Icons Postcards
There was a remarkable selection of postcards printed that honored American presidents, statesmen and even heroines. In fact, these used to be very popular. From free pictures of George Washington to greeting cards with illustrations of Betsy Ross and John Adams to fictional American icons like Uncle Sam, the web is full of these antique historical images. Most tell some aspect of the featured person’s life story, making them mini history lessons.
Spoonerisms
Animal spoonerisms hail from the early- to mid-Twentieth Century, brought forth by Rev. William Archibald Spooner and made famous by Frederick Chase Taylor, a radio comedian, performing under the name Colonel Lemuel Q. Stoopnagle. These twisted fairy tales swap the first letter or phonetic sound of one word with the next word or a word that falls a few words away. Authentic examples from Spooner himself include “a blushing crow” for “a crushing blow” and “fighting a liar” for “lighting a fire”. In addition to being entertaining, these mangled mash-ups also give children the chance to play with words.
Victorian Era Fashions
Fashion isn’t necessarily trivial or just for kids who want to become designers, if it promotes an understanding of the way people used to live. Studying Victorian fashions will show children just how much things have changed since the nineteenth century. At the very least, they’ll get a better perspective on just how good their lives are now!
Current Events Teaching Resources
But history isn’t the only place you’ll find teaching topics on the web. You just have to make sure the materials, or at least your presentation of them, is impartial. For example, many parents don’t agree with President Obama’s policies. But that shouldn’t stop them from using free Obama clipart, President Obama photos or even Barack Obama paper dolls to create lesson plans. As a matter of fact, I know personally of a homeschooling mom who used all three to create a tote board for her kids during the election. She never let her own political views enter the picture, she just wanted to make sure her kids understood the American election process. As a result of her neutral stance, her children are now better equipped to make their own decisions when it comes to politics.
Remember, kids absorb the attitudes around them, so giving them balanced information is important. That impartiality will bear sweeter fruit for them later in their lives. You never know, one of the children you’re teaching could be the president some day!
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