History and Social Science
History and Social Science tests children’s understanding of family, community, civics, geography, economics, and history in PreK–2. Items ask how to build inquiry, chronology, and respectful diversity into concrete activities.
Core rules
- History: chronology, past and present, change over time, primary sources (photos, artifacts, interviews), secondary sources.
- Civics: rules and laws, authority, rights and responsibilities, community helpers, voting, conflict resolution.
- Geography: maps and globes, location, direction, land and water, human-environment interaction; map skills need spatial experience.
- Economics: wants and needs, goods and services, scarcity, choices, saving and spending.
- Culture: families and communities differ; avoid a single-story or holiday-only approach.
- Inquiry: ask questions, gather evidence, compare perspectives, explain.
Worked example
Children compare a historical photo of their town’s main street with a current photo. Reasoning: this uses primary sources and chronology. The teacher asks, What is the same? What changed? What evidence do you see? rather than lecturing dates. Children can draw a then-and-now chart; the goal is evidence-based comparison, not nostalgia.
Traps
- Presentism: judging past people by today’s norms without context.
- Teaching culture as food, festivals, and costumes only.
- Treating maps as coloring pages rather than spatial tools.
- Confusing wants with needs or goods with services.