If you’re using the Discover Texas history program for the first time, please allow me to dedicate a few posts to some features I think you’ll appreciate. This program was written with kids in mind–ALL KINDS of kids: boys and girls, young and older, wiggly and readers, homebodies and outdoor types, visual and audio and tactile. We’ve included something that will appeal to every way kids might learn and remember. The first feature I’d like to highlight is STORY. The articles in each weekly chapter are, in essence, telling the story of Texas. We try not to get bogged down in details. Not that the details aren’t important. They certainly are! That’s why we’ve included literally hundreds of websites in the program so that, once their interest in piqued, students can browse to fill in the details. This does two things:

• It keeps the story simple enough to be remembered.
• It invites students to experience the adventure of discovering new information on their own, encouraging them to “learn how to learn.”

In addition to the articles, you’ll find plenty of great books listed in each Teachers Tips section for a range of reading levels. Some are folks tales, many are biographies or adventures, and others focus on an interesting aspect covered in that volume.

We think STORY is a big part of hiSTORY…and almost every child loves a good story!