How to Teach History

• What Is History and Why Study It?
• The Relationship of History and the Liberal Arts
• The Unique Role of History in Classical Education
• Problems and Challenges in the Study of History
• Developing as a Student of History
• Essential Qualities and Practices of a History Teacher
• Important Books for the Study of History
• A Survey of Two Ancient Historians: Livy and Bede

Wesley Callihan grew up on a farm in Idaho and graduated with a degree in history from the University of Idaho. He has taught at Logos School, New Saint Andrews College, and Veritas Academy. In 1997 he founded Schola Classical Tutorials where he teaches online classes on the Great Books, Astronomy, Church History, Greek, and Latin. He is now working with Roman Roads Media to produce Old Western Culture, a 4-year integrated humanities curriculum designed to equip homeschoolers and their families with the tools to tackle the Great Books that shaped Western Civilization.

Wes and his wife Dani have six children, four of them married, and five grandchildren. Wes and Dani live in an old farmhouse in northern Idaho near Wes’s parents, where they all use the cold winters as an excuse to read, and the hot summers as another excuse to read. Wes likes to read, garden, watch movies, fish and hunt, travel (he offers tours most summers for his students and their families to Greece and Turkey), write, and read some more.

Please Note: ClassicalU is currently developing a certification to accompany our course offerings. The certification credit component of this course is now active but also undergoing refinement and testing.

To obtain a certification credit for this course, simply complete the quiz that follows each presentation in the course, and then also take the certification test at the end of the course. The quizzes are designed to ensure that you have understood the essential content of each presentation, and they can be taken more than once if necessary. The cumulative certification test at the end of the course is given as a pass/fail test and requires that you upload one short essay (of 600 to 750 words) demonstrating your understanding this course. When you have completed the course, a certificate that you can print or email will magically appear under the “My Courses” section of this website.

For this course the essay assignment is:

In 600 to 750 words, explain why the study of history is valuable for the cultivation of virtue in the lives of students.

Please allow approximately 2 weeks for essay submissions to be reviewed.

By taking the course for certification credit, you also will be on your way to obtaining a Level 1 certification.

Please log in or register to enter your course code.