WWII, British children's perspective.

E. wanted to re-read Goodnight, Mr. Tom, which she read last year, and so we're reviewing some aspects of World War II. Here is a site that provides excellent background reading for the book. Here, BBC provides letters of children who were evacuated to the countryside during the Blitz. Here is BBC's rationing challenge. This site also provides text and photographs for background on the Blitz.

For broader emotional context--such as "this is the sort of thing that grownups were coping with in Britain during the War"--this BBC site has an informative overview (including a good map, which always helps us) of the rescue at Dunkirk. Here is BBC's overall lesson plan page regarding what life was like for children during the War. And Masterpiece Theater did a powerful rendition of the book.

We begin the new year studying the concept of civil disobedience. Our lesson plan centers on emphasis on college students who disagreed with the Vietnam War.

We will also examine the protesters who spoke out against the design of the Vietnam Memorial but then ultimately found it a moving, fitting, and proper tribute to fallen soldiers. Open-mindedness is an important attribute of citizenship, and even protesters can change their minds. We, E's parents, were at the Memorial's dedication ceremony 25 years ago. Four million people now visit the Memorial each year.

Here is a recent Washington Post interview with Jan Scruggs, founder of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.

The VVMF's Lesson Plans for studying Vietnam and the Wall are provided here in PDF format.

We begin with Henry David Thoreau's 1849 essay, Civil Disobedience. Click here at thoreauserver.org for full text.

Hm. What IS "Social Studies," anyway?

Here are some helpful links we use for teaching history and "social studies" to a middle school home learner.

Mr. Kash's History Page

Today in History

DoHistory.com

Conversations with History (Berkeley)

Time's 100 People Who Shape Our World (arguable but worth a look)

Teaching Current Events

Colonial Biography Unit (Harvard)

National Geographic Lesson Plans and Activities

Mapmaking Guide (6-8)

Latitude and Longitude

Social Studies Lesson Plans (CalState Northridge)

Ben's Guide to the US Government for Kids (6-8)

Adeline Hornbek and the Homestead Act

The Moonlit Road (folktales of the American South)

Abraham Lincoln Research Site

Links to Lincoln on the Web (Education World)

World War II (Grolier summary article)

World War II History Test (Grolier) - 25 challenging questions

Lascaux Caves (art history)

The Middle Ages

An Introduction to the History of Time

China Social Studies:

Six Paths to China

China Unique

China: An Ancient Culture in a Modern World