Historical fiction?

[BlessedMom]

What do you feel is the benefit or value of using historical fiction in your homeschool History curriculum?

[jonesloonybin]

We use some fiction for our studies. My daughter is 12, so she understands that the "facts" my not be accurate but it gives her a real feel for the time period. She really enjoys them so I feel they do have a benefit.

[Dayle in Guatemala]

some, while good reading, aren't really well-written or they don't work too hard to make things historically accurate. It's too far fetched.

There are others that are well-written and has really good historical detail. You can tell the author researched well and put it into the story. Those are the ones we use in our historical studies as a supplement.

[HollyDay]

It depends upon the age of the child and their ability to understand the difference between fiction and fact. This is one reason I did not use SOTW vol1.

Now that my dc are older (4th and 7th), I do incorporate historical fiction into my history program. There is some very good fiction available. We enjoy The Royal Diaries and that goes along well with our studies of middle ages. We have also read Robin Hood, 3 Musketeers, King Arthur, Beorne the Proud, amoung others.

I think historical fiction can give a great "word picture" of the period. Sometimes it is hard to imagine what life was like in previous years. We also enjoy reading "period literature" like Anne of Green Gables.

[Carol in Cal.]

it also assists in remembering the facts.

I can hear or read that pioneers walked next to their stuffed wagons, but I am more likely to remember it if I read a story in which someone describes what it feels, looks, and smells like to walk through the endless prairie beside dusty oxen pulling a wagon that they can hardly move.

I think it's a matter of vividness making it easy to remember things.

Also, assuming that the literature is well-written, it cleverly collapses literature, history, some writing, and often vocabulary and geography as well into one subject; making for a more efficient educational experience.

[nmoira]

I'm doing History Odyssey Level 1 with my 6yo, but try to add in an historical novel (plus folktales/myths/legends/epics as applicable) for each lesson. Essentially, she learns enough history to "get" the novel and the novel cements the history and gives a feel of the time period. I like using historical novels because they excel at give the feeling of involving living, breathing people.

[Michelle T]

long after the facts are mostly forgotten. I want my son to have a good feel for different times in history. While we do of course also read nonfiction and factual information on those same times, the reality is most of those facts will be forgotten. After all, do you remember every detail of history (or any other subject) that you learned many years ago, and have no need for on a daily basis?

DS really enjoys historical fiction, and retains much more from a good story than he does from some dry entry in the Kingfisher encyclopedia.
Michelle T

[Closeacademy]

What do you feel is the benefit or value of using historical fiction in your homeschool History curriculum?

I think that since good writers draw the reader into the story that the child who reads historical fiction is more likely to feel closer to the period of time that they are reading about and the goal is to see them read more about that period.

Basically, if they like the story then they will like reading more about that time and they will remember what they learned because they liked it. Textbooks just go in one ear and out the other unless they are very engaging.:001_smile:

[BlessedMom]

Thank you for your responses & I have a couple of other questions if I may.

How do you go about determining if a fictional book is "well-written" or "historically accurate"?
Is there a resource you use that recommends such books?

[Mom to Aly]

Library lists are good for that, and reviews (amazon or B&N are sometimes good) or word of mouth. Some authors are known for being good. I don't know how old your kids are, but a couple of authors that are well known for careful research and trying to be as accurate as possible, while being wonderful writers are Jean Fritz, who writes for probably 4th and up, and Ann Rinaldi who writes for tween to teen.

Also, I agree, historical fiction is a wonderful teaching tool--it really helps to put the reader in the situation, to better understand the situation. People like the two writers above, and also Scott O'Dell, use young characters so that the kids can better sympathize, which I think is wonderful.

[Donna T.]

What do you feel is the benefit or value of using historical fiction in your homeschool History curriculum?

We read a good bit of historical fiction just because we enjoy the stories. It's just fun.

[phathui5]

For me, I remember historical fiction better than I remember a history text, because I get into the story.

[mcconnellboys]

Well, I don't really consider it part of my history curriculum, in general. We read historical fiction that goes along with whatever we're studying in history as part of our literature study. I think making our literature study comport with our history study helps to cement remembrance and understanding of history facts. It's like giving a "for instance" accounting of what things might have looked like in a particular point in time.

So, a book like Rifles for Watie, for instance, gives a little reported perspective of what the Civil War was like in some of what were then the more western states of the U.S. Native Americans were also more involved in this arena of the war and any part they had in this war is also under-reported. Sometimes these sorts of books are jumping off points for us to do more research on a particular area, or look for it in our non-fiction books.

A book like The Singing Tree helps provide perspective on what ordinary folks in Europe might have thought/felt during WWI, how they dealt with the hardships of war and loss of loved ones, etc.

So while we talk a lot about what the author was trying to do with the book they wrote, we also talk a lot about the historical information that's brought out or reinforced in the book.

[BlessedMom]

Thank you all for your time, I appreciate it very much. Your responses are very helpful.

[JaneGrey]

A word of caution:

I have always loved to read -- especially fiction. However, reading fiction is much easier than reading nonfiction. As a mom, I don't just want good readers; I want to encourage my eager readers to enjoy nonfiction. For some people, reading fiction (even good fiction) can be a form of escapism. (...dodging rotten tomatoes here...)

With that in mind, I prefer biographies to historical fiction. This means that I'll rely heavily on biographies (various ones, checking facts...groan, groan) and not so much on historical fiction when we study history.

I watch out for...

(1) "historical novels," which are dramatizations of historical figures. For example, Stonewall by Dwyer is a great read. However, it is a dramatization (read: based on fact but mixed with fiction) of a real person's life. When fact and fiction are blended so seamlessly, it's easy for anyone to be confused regardless of age. see Ftnt 1
(2) "biographies" that take too many liberties. For example, I haven't liked Ten Boys who.... (can't remember which version I have) because someone (Calvin or Augustine) is quoted in conversation with his young pals. Now, I know we can reconstruct stories from diaries and letters and anecdotes. However, to make up imaginary conversations is too much for me. (Remember, mine are young, too.) I also didn't like the colloquialisms used. I felt like the conversations were added to dumb down the information. You could, of course, discuss all these things with your children as you read aloud. However, I went to find books that relied less on imagination and were better written. see Ftnt 2
I'm good with:
In some books, an historical figure plays a minor role in the historical fiction. The good books will have an explanatory note at the end. Examples: Fritz's fictional Cabin Faced West does this; Clyde Robert Bulla also puts a nice note at the end of his A Lion to Guard Us.

Fritz has written many biographies (not so much historical fiction, as far as I'm aware), and we enjoy her books.

Ftnt1: To confirm whether a book is an historical novel or a biography, look at the Library of Congress data at the front of the book. For example, Dwyer's Stonewall says "fiction" while Fritz's Stonewall says "biography."
Ftnt2: Fritz has been great for this, because she has written so many biographies for young children. In her bio, it even says: In her books about real people of the past, Jean Fritz never makes up dialogue. Instead, she draws on the real letters, diaries, and journals of those people, using only words that they actually wrote or spoke. This practice can make writing scenes and conversations difficult, but Fritz feels it keeps her writing true to the people involved. http://www.eduplace.com/kids/tnc/mtai/fritz.html

[CoffeeBean]

I love to add historical fiction to my history. It was my favorite part of homeshcoolng over the past few years. I think it really renforces what we have learned as well as letting them picture the day to day lives of ordinary people in that time period. I prepead all the books up until 7th grade when DD started to pick her own. If I didn't like it, we didn't use it, the same for nonfiction which can be innacurate at the early elementary age as well.
CoffeeBean