Tie History to Coinage and Kids, and you’ve got a winner. Nothing gets a kid’s attention more than an interesting physical object, and if it has definite “street value”, such as a bright, shiny penny, so much the better. In order to teach a child anything, you HAVE TO have his or her attention first, or whatever you think you put into that kid’s brain will NOT BE THERE when you check the contents with a spot-quiz or a verbal test. I can tell you how to teach history and make it stick. Check this out….
You tell a 6th-grader about the Old West, the gunslingers, cowboys and lawmen, the famous and infamous women — and there were plenty who made history, changed history and were part & parcel of history — and then you finish with the saga (it may be a simple history to you, but it’s a saga to me) of the most famous gunfight in the history of the world…The Gunfight at the OK Corral.
“You might not know it,” you hear yourself saying, “but the odds were four lawmen against five outlaws, all of whom were deadly with a pistol. The main character on the side of the law was the fastest draw alive, the legendary Wyatt Earp.
“His brothers Virgil and Morgan were with him, and quickly sworn in as a deputy was the infamous tubercular dentist, “Doc” Holliday, one of the most dangerous men you would ever hope to meet. He was born in Griffin, Georgia, August 14, 1851 — about ten years before the Civil War.
“Oh, I happen to have here a copper one cent piece from that year, 1851, the year Doc Holliday was born. He could easily have carried and spent this very penny. Would you like to hold it for a few moments? Maybe you can feel the time of the Old West coming through the penny…???” You proffer the penny and wait for the student’s response.
“The famous gunfight I mentioned happened back in 1881 — how many years ago is that, excactly? Here’s a coin that was struck in that same year…which year was that again???” you prompt.
“Um, 1881?” the student says.
“Yes, good,” you respond. “…and how many years ago was that, exactly?”
“131 years,” the student says with just a touch of hesitation, but now you’ve got him or her involved directly in the unfolding of the story.
“The gunfight happened on a Wednesday; it was October the 26th, just about a week before Halloween, at about 3:00 in the afternoon. The issue was about rustling in general, and some stolen mules in particular. Would you like to hear how it came out?”
Of course, if you’re a competent educator, you’ve done exactly this a million times. What makes this so exciting is that it uses coins, and they pack a psychic whallop that other items just don’t. Every psychic knows that a coin is the ideal contact item, because you tend to carry a coin for a while, and you sure would have back then, when a penny bought what ten dollars buys today.
You offer the coin to the child in such a way that they must reach for it to get it. When they hold the coin, they will feel a “tingle”, whether they’re aware of it or not. They may not touch the coin, but they can hold it in its identification holder. They are holding the coin.
What this does is form an instantaneous “Emotional Wormhole” between “now” and “then” — which is of course the Target Event, and the “coupling factor” is now definitely “in”, and with a vengeance!!! The students will actually “feel” the prior lifetime through the coin, and may even tap into their own life at that period in history.
In addition, the coins themselves are art objects and they have interesting individual and group histories that can be developed along with the main story, by bringing in the mint system, mail deliveries, stagecoaches, Wells Fargo and Pinkerton Detectives.
The trick in this style of history education is to have the coin already in hand, and to be able to hand it over to the student so they can get an intimate reaction to it, but at the same time, doesn’t risk the integrity of a rare coin, because the coin protector lets the “vibes” come through, but keeps the coin safe from skin oils and acids that could etch and eat the coin away.
“Wow, I can feel it!” you’ll hear them say.
That’s the beauty of my Coinology.org Coin History System. It gives an emotional base to intellectual learning, and makes history REAL.
Check it out on these pages and afford yourself the opportunity to gather some historical coins in great attractive packaging for your classes, your shop or your gallery.
See You At The Top!!!
gorby