Today is the day in which schools celebrate the International Day of Peace. One of my sons asked me to explain why this day had been chosen, and I had to tell him the story of Gandhi. Here more questions began to arise, and I understood that children have to explain the biography of historical figures to them in a different way.
Fortunately I found a lot of documentation on how to bring children closer to these heroes or people, and I would like to share it.
The importance of meeting great men and women
There are numerous material on the Internet, series and books that are designed, written and illustrated so that children know the life of the great characters. They speak mostly of men, but this is changing and you will also find stories about important women scientists, painters or inventors.
The importance of knowing the lives of these people is because they with his actions marked a history. A way of understanding our culture and our society. At the same time they become authentic references for boys and girls. With this vision of the hero and heroine, children will broaden their vision of the environment and the lives of these characters will inspire them.
With these stories from the life of the characters told in an entertaining and funny way, we will get a real and effective approach of the child to this type of content.
Always take into account the level of curiosity and the age of your son or daughter when explaining some topics or some characters. For example, to explain the whole subject of Gandhi to him, my son barely understood what a colony, an empire, the castes were ... so I had to resort to material made specifically for elementary school children.
Characters to meet
I propose some of the characters whose biographies we have found and that you will find them very useful to help your children. We have selected characters from different eras, but all of them marked ours.
- Cleopatra A unique way to learn about life in Egypt is through this queen who also influenced the Roman Empire.
- Leonardo da Vinci. The man who was everything: cook, inventor, painter, writer, scientist, philosopher ... a true example of the Renaissance.
- Napoleon Bonaparte. Who has not dreamed of being a great conqueror like Napoleon. Well, since he was very little he already liked to lead his gang.
- Mahatma Gandhi, is one of the most beloved characters in all of history. On January 30, the World Day of Non-Violence and the Culture of Peace is celebrated, because precisely that day he was assassinated.
- Marie Curie, the scientist who won two Nobel prizes in different categories. His life is an example of love and improvement.
- Amelia Earhart, a very brave and adventurous American who was the first woman to fly an airplane in 1923.
- Valentina Tereshkova, she was the first woman to travel into space. It circled (orbits) the Earth 48 times.
- Pele. The best soccer player in the world, that is what he says in his biography, did not always have an easy life.
- Gloria Fuertes. Almost certainly your children have recited more than one poem of her and know almost nothing about her life.
- William Shakespeare. The name of this writer is familiar to everyone, but you knew that you really don't really know who he was. A life full of intrigue.
These are our proposals, but knowing what interests the boy or girl the most, you can access the biographies of other characters who, although the great things of humanity have not changed, have made life more entertaining and beautiful. Although some did change our way of perceiving the world such as Velázquez, Sorolla, Stanley Kubrick, Orson Welles.
You can also solve their doubts about the characters that at this moment they change history like Bill Gates, Greta Thunberg and other contemporaries.