When you begin to do something that you’ve never done before, where do you start?
I’m working on putting together a series of books I would like my children to read over their 12 years in school in order to encapsulate a wide swath of world history. I’ve never done this before and I don’t want to follow a simple school’s curriculum. I want my kids to learn about the kings of the Assyrian Empire and the Jewish revolts of the century following the crucifixion of Christ. I want them to know the rulers of the Roman Republic and the difference between the Republic and the Empire. What was going on in China and the east during these years? How does it tie together? What about the rise of the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire and how those empires were altered by WWI? Alexander the Great, Captain Cook, Development of Islam, The Zagwe Dynasty, The French Revolution, The Spanish American War, The Moon Landing, Watergate, 9/11, etc…
There are so many incredible historical characters and events and they all seem to have some fascinating connection with each other. I almost think a school cannot possibly cover it all!
But I want to build a reading list that can introduce my kids to these things and create a good timeline in their minds of the history of the world.
So how do I begin? How do you build a house if you have no idea how to build the walls?
I think the answer is you build without concern for being efficient. You build an igloo. Pile stuff up and cut away the unneeded things.
To build this reading list for my kids, I need to build timelines and plot events and characters and movements throughout the history of the world and try to decide what I think is most important and most interesting. I'm looking forward to the task.
After this, I want to find important literature that I'd like them to read as well. They might hate me for this during their schooling years, but hopefully, they'll appreciate it later in life.