As the summer draws to a close many students are excited about going back to school to hang out with their friends and share their stories of vacations and adventures. But, there’s always that one subject that they dread. For some it’s math, for some it’s science. But for some, there is nothing more obnoxious than having to sit through a history class.

Yes, I must admit, that even I have had moments when I would have rather wrestled an alligator or a man eating shark that deal with my history class. But, for me it was a short-lived annoyance. If you know of a student with a life-long aversion to the study of history, here are some ideas to help assuage the fear or, more likely, boredom that are hindering progress into the past!

First, start now! Don’t wait until student and teacher a pitted firmly against each other in an epic struggle… If you know your child had a rough time in a previous history class, make arrangements to sit down with the teacher and outline a strategy for success this year. Find out their teaching style, the topics to be covered this year, how the texts will be used – and make sure the teacher is aware of your efforts to make this year better! This strategy also works if you’re starting to notice your child isn’t having as much fun with history as they have been in the past.

Second, don’t rely solely on textbooks. Let’s face it, there are very few people who actually LIKE to read textbooks. They’re very useful for covering a lot of topics, but they’re just not that exciting. Look for ways to include history into your everyday routine – watch a movie or read a novel set in a historical time period, or about a historic figure. Find or invent a game with a historical theme. Visit a historical site that you can tie into the studies, or find a website that has pictures or music from the time.

Also, don’t forget to use the things your child does like to help them learn history. Because history is all encompassing, it’s easy to find something appealing if you’re willing to look. If your child loves art find pictures and paintings from that time, or that depict the events that are being studies. What about music? From the dawn of time, humans have sung and created musical instruments – why not find some music from the time and relate it back to their studies? Fashionista? Why not look at the clothing of the era, who was designing and wearing it and to what events. If you’ve got a science lover, look at the innovations and inventors from the period. Remember, it’s a lot easier to remember the material if it’s connected with something you love.

Finally, make it personal. In some cases, you may have family stories that relate to the topic – maybe your great uncle fought in one of the World Wars, or you remember a story about a family member fighting in the Civil War. Perhaps you can tell of how your family came to America. With all of the resources and information available online, studying genealogy is easier than ever. It might be possible to find a family member that lived through the historical period that your child is studying – you can relate their daily lives, or the events they lived through to the material.

Or, if you have no luck with historical family members, relate it to something the child is familiar with from their own life. If they’re studying an election or a past president, relate it to current political figures. Remind your child that there were children back then seeing the world, and learning about the past like they are doing today.

One note about relating current events to those in the past – try not to use things that will be too scary or traumatic. When studying past wars, be careful which images of current wars you show. When talking about the Cold War, watch how closely you relate it to current world events. Make sure that you’re choosing information that matches your child’s age and abilities.

If you can find a way to make history a fun, meaningful, personal study, you’ll find your kiddo is rewarded with better grades and, maybe, a life-long love of history.