Resources for Activity

One reason why teachers have hesitated to use Place and Time in a structured way in the curriculum is the paucity of appropriate materials for their activity in these areas. The maxim that young children, and many older pupils and adults, learn best by ‘doing’ or experiencing, cannot be denied, but the study of places outside the school, often in distant countries, and the study of times and people both far away in time and place, presents difficulties in the very nature of the subject areas. Many educationalists in the past have therefore dismissed Place and Time as too difficult; no publishers or commercial firms have provided materials which children could use. This is a real problem and has led many good teachers to limit Place to a study of the near environment and not to tackle Time at all. Enthusiastic teachers have of course created their own resources, and to some extent this will always be the case, but more needs to be done commercially, and teachers of 5 to 9-year-olds need much support from specialists. When Place and Time gain a sure footing in the curriculum and teachers demand materials, publishers will react accordingly. There should always be a teacher responsible for Humanities work in First Schools with an allowance allotted to this work; she should collect and dispense resources as required in the school as a whole. Adapting materials suitable for children aged 9 to 13 is possible, especially if what is used is well-illustrated and used by bright 8 to 9-year-olds but adaptation is time-consuming and the whole process impractical with infant-age children.