Histories of the Unexpected

This is the first in what promises to be a special series of Histories of the Unexpected Episodes geared towards homeschooling, as the United Kingdom and much of the globe enters into lockdown, schools close, and the world begins a period of isolation and educated online and at home. Over the next few weeks, we will endeavour to record a series of history podcast episodes catering for kids, parents and teachers, with the intention of providing interesting history material readily available to anyone interested in history, and with access to a device capable of receiving a podcast, and with access to the internet. It is aimed at audiences from 8-108!

In this first HoTU Homeschooling Episode, James introduces the idea behind the new mini-series, talks about the awakening of his own childhood interest in history, his experience over the last week or so of home-schooling his 8 and 10-year-old daughters, as well as the incredible resources easily available online line for making history exciting for kids: podcasts, virtual tours round museums, fabulous books, and brilliant websites, packed full of free resources.

The episode also launches the campaign to make our budding young historians interested in oral history, by encouraging kids to create their own history by interviewing their grandparents about their own lives, memories and reflections on their past. Not only is this a great way to capture the imagination of young kids, but also at a time when elderly people, such as grandparents are self-isolating this is the perfect way to encourage social contact online with groups of people who are alone and isolated. All you need is some kind of device for communicating, such as a phone, tablet or computer and away you go. Looking forward to hearing about all your stories. Stay tuned for many more ideas!