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Every summer while I was growing up was spent with my grandfather quizing my cousins and I on our history facts.  He would ask us the captials of states and information about other countries. He would often bring out the atlas and have me search for places in it. My grandfather was a history teacher. As I was growing up he instilled a love of history in me and none of it was from a book.

Today, history is very textbook based. It can be hard for teachers to take history off the page and still manage to cover all the material in the state standards. It is also a subject that can be "glossed over" in order to spend more time on Language Arts or Math. For this reason, history can be perceived as “boring.” But it doesn’t have to be that way. Here are a few ways to bring History to life.

Take a Virtual Field Trip
Many museums have virtual tours you can do online, with kids-only areas. For example, The Smithsonian Institute and the White House both have sections where kids can check out exhibits and see photos.   Check out some of your local museums too, they often have areas for kids on their websites.

Turn Your Child Into a Fact Detective
Find out what your child is studying in school and then send them on a hunt for more information. It can be a physical hunt (the library) or a virtual one (the web). Most of the time 2nd graders are studying "Community" and you can take them to your local city hall to find info.  Ask questions for your child to research and help them find the answers if they aren’t old enough to search on their own.

Foster a Love of History
Your past and your family’s beginnings are history, too. History isn’t only about famous people and countries. Talk to your kids about it. Old family photos are a great way to explore the fashion, cars, or architecture of the past. Explore places in your town or your state that have historic significance. Children often have no idea how history has built upon itself to make the world we live in today.

 By helping bring History off the page, your children can learn that it’s a living breathing thing, passed on from generation to generation. My grandfather taught me more than I could have ever learned in school because he gave me more than the facts. And in doing so, he inspired a lifelong passion.