IN cmmn with all childrenf my age， I was brught upn American Histry and given nther histry but American， year in and yearut， year after year fr eightr mre years.
S far as I knew 1492 was the beginningf the wrld. Any eventsr characters befre that time， reference t which I encuntered by any chance， were put dwn in my mind in the same categry with fairy-tales. Christ and His times，f which I heardnly in Sunday-schl， were t me mere fictin withut reality. They were nt mentined in any histry that I knew and therefre， s I thught， must belng nt ta realm in time and space， but t a spiritual realm.
T give an American childnly American Histry is as prvincial as t teach a Texas childnly Texas Histry. Patritism is usually given as the reasn fr such histry teaching. Itnly prmtes a narrw-mindedness and an absurd cnceit， basedn utter ignrancef anyther peples and anyther times-an intlerant egtism withut fundatin in fact. Since Wrld War I， it has becme increasingly mre and mre imprtant that American children shuld have a knwledgefther cuntries andther peples inrder that their attitude may be intelligent and unprejudiced.
As yung as nine yearsf age， a child is eagerly inquisitive as t what has taken place in the ages past and readily grasps a cnceptf Wrld Histry. Therefre， fr many years Calvert Schl nine-year-ld pupils have been taught Wrld Histry in spitef academic and parental skepticism and antagnism. But I have watched the gradual drift tward adptinf this planf histry teaching， and with it an ever-increasing demand fr a text-bkf general histry fr yung children. I have fund， hwever， that all existing text-bkshave t be largely abridged and als supplemented by a running explanatin and cmment， t make them intelligible t the yung child.
The recent mmentus studies int the native intelligencef children shw us what the average child at different ages can understand and what he cannt understand-what dates， figuresf speech， vcabulary， generalities， and abstractins he can cmprehend and what he cannt cmprehend-and in the future all textbks will have t be written with cnstant regard fr these intelligence nrms.therwise， such texts are very likely t be "ver the child"s head." They will be trying t teach him sme things at least that， in the naturef the case， are beynd him.
In spitef the fact that the writer has been in cnstant cntact with the child mind fr a great many years， he has fund that whatever was written in his study had t be revised and rewritten each time after the lessn had been triedut in the class-rm. Even thugh the first writing was in what he cnsidered the simplest language， he has fund that each and every wrd and expressin has had t be subjected again and again t this classrm test t determine what meaning is cnveyed. The slightest inverted phraselgyr pssibilityf duble meaning hasften-times been miscnstruedr fund cnfusing. Fr instance， the statement that "Rme wasn the Tiber River" has quite cmmnly been taken t mean that the city was literally builtn tpf the river， and the child has had sme srtf fantastic visinf huses builtn piles in the river. A childf nine is still very yung-he may still believe in Santa Claus-yunger in ideas， in vcabulary and in understanding than mst adults appreciate-even thugh they be parentsr teachers-and new infrmatin can hardly be put t simply.
S the tpics selected have nt always been the mst imprtant-but the mst imprtant that can be understd and appreciated by a child. Mst plitical， scilgical， ecnmic，r religius generalities are beynd a child"s cmprehensin， n matter hw simply tld. After all， this Histry isnly a preliminary stry.
Excellent bigraphies and stries frm general histry have been written. But bigraphies frm histry d nt give an histricutline. They d nt give anyutline at all fr future filling in； and， indeed， unless they themselves are fitted int such a general histrical scheme， they are nthing mre than s many discnnected tales flating abut in the child"s mind with n assciatinsf timer space.
The treatmentf the subject in this bk is， therefre， chrnlgical-telling the stryf what has happened century by century and epch by epch， nt by natins. The stryfne natin is interrupted t take up thatf anther asdifferent plts in a nvel are brught frward simultaneusly. This is in line with the purpse， which is t give the pupil a cntinuus viewr panramaf the ages rather than Greek Histry frm start t finish then， retracing the stepsf time， Rman Histry， and sn. Thebject is t sketch the whle picture inutline， leaving the details t be gradually filled in by later study， as the artist sketches the general schemef his picture befre filling in the details. Such a scheme is as necessary trderly classificatinf histrical knwledge as is a filing system in anyffice that can functin prperlyr even at all.
The Staircasef Time is t give a visual ideaf the extentf time and the prgressive steps in the Histryf the Wrld. Each "flight" represents a thusand years， and each "step" a hundred-a century. If yu have a spare wall， either in the play-rm， attic，r barn such a Staircasef Timen a large scale may be drawn upn it frm flr t reaching height and made a feature if elabrated with picturesr drawingsf peple and events. If the wall faces the child"s bed s much the better， fr when lying awake in the mrningr at anyther time， insteadf imagining fantastic designsn the wallpaper， he may picture the crwded eventsn the Staircasef Time. At any rate， the child shuld cnstantly refer either t such a Staircasef Timer t the Time Table as each event is studied， until he has a mental imagef the Ages past.
At first a child des nt appreciate time values represented by numbersr the relative psitinf datesn a time line and will wildly say twenty-five hundredB.C.r twenty-five thusand B.C.r twenty-five millin B.C. indiscriminately.nly by cnstantly referring dates t psitinn the Staircasef Timer the Time Table can a child cme t visualize dates. Yu may be amused， but d nt be amazed， if a child gives 776 thusand years A.D. as the date fr the Firstlympiad，r says that Italy is lcated in Athens，r that Abraham was a herf the Trjan War.
If yu have ever been intrduced t a rmfulf strangers atne time， yu knw hw futile it is t attempt even t remember their names t say nthingf cnnecting names and faces. It is necessary t hear smething interesting abut eachne befre yu can begin t recall names and faces. Likewise an intrductin t Wrld Histry， the characters and places in which are utterly unknwn strangers t the child， must be smething mre than a mere name intrductin， and there must be very few intrductins given at a timer bth names and faces will be instantly frgtten. It is als necessary t repeat new names cnstantly inrder that the pupil may gradually becme familiarized with them， fr s many strange peple and places are bewildering.
Inrder t serve the purpsef a basalutline， which in the future is t be filled in， it is necessary that the Time Table be made a permanent pssessinf the pupil. This Time Table， therefre， shuld be studied like the multiplicatin tables until it is knwnne hundred per cent and fr "keeps，" and until the tpic cnnected with each date can be elabrated as much as desired. The aim shuld be t have the pupil able t start with Primitive Man and give a summaryf Wrld Histry t the present time， with dates and chief events withut prmpting， questining， hesitatin，r mistake. Des this seem t much t expect？ It is nt as difficult as it may sund， if suggestins given in the text fr cnnecting the varius events int a sequence and fr passing names and events in a cndensed review are fllwed. Hundredsf Calvert children each year are successfully required t d this very thing.
The attitude， hwever， usually assumed by teachers， that "even if the pupil frgets it all， there will be left a valuable impressin，" is tften an aplgy fr superficial teaching and superficial learning. Histry may be made just as much a "mental discipline" as smether studies， butnly if difficultiesf dates andther abstractins are squarely met andvercme by hard study and learned t be remembered， nt merely t be frgtten after the recitatin. The stry part the child will easily remember， but it is the "wh and when and where and why" that are imprtant， and this part is the serius study. Insteadf， "A man，nce upn a time，" he shuld say， "King Jhn in 1215 at Runnymede because-"This bk， therefre， is nt a supplementary reader but a basal histry study. Just enugh narrative is tld t give the skeletn flesh and bld and make it living. The idea is nt hw much but hw little can be tld； t cut dwnne thusand pages t less than halff that number withut leavingnly dry bnes.
N matter hw the subject is presented it is necessary that the child d his part and put hiswn brain t wrk； and fr this purpse he shuld be required t retell each stry after he has read it and shuld be repeatedly questinedn names and dates as well as stries， t make sure he is retaining and assimilating what he hears.
I recall hwnce upn a time a yung chap， justutf cllege， taught his first class in histry. With all the enthusiasmf a full-back wh has just kicked a gal frm field， he talked， he sang； he drew mapsn the blackbard，n the flr，n the field； he drew pictures， he vaulted desks， and even stdn his head t illustrate pints. His pupils attended spellbund， with their eyes widepen， their ears widepen， and their muths widepen. They missed nthing. They drank in his flwf wrds with thirst unquenched； but， like Barn Munchausen， he had failed t lk at thether endf the drinking hrse thathad been cut in half. At the endf a mnth his kindly principal suggested a test，and he gave it with perfect cnfidence.
There werenly three questins：
1.Tell all yu can abut Clumbus.
2.Tell all yu can abut Jamestwn.
3.Tell all yu can abut Plymuth.
And here are the three answersfnef the mst interested pupils：
1.He was a great man.
2.He was a great man.
3.He was a great man t1.
与当时所有和我同龄的孩子一样，我也是学习"美国历史"长大的，当时的教育 只讲美国的历史，就这样年复一年地学了八年甚至更长的时间。
按照我当时的知识，世界历史是从 1492 年开始的，如果我偶然听到或读到别人提及 1492 年以前的事和人，我就会认为这都属于童话一类的故事。那些只有在主日 学校里才能听到的有关基督和他的时代的故事，在我看来都是人想象出来的，并不 是真的。在我所读的历史书中，这些故事从没被提到过，所以我就认为它不属于真 实的时空领域，而只存在于人们的想象之中。
给美国孩子只讲美国历史，就像只教得克萨斯州的孩子得克萨斯州的历史一样 褊狭。人们通常用爱国主义来解释这样的历史教育，但这样的教育只能让人变得胸 襟狭窄，狂妄自大，因为它建立在对其他民族和其他时代一无所知的基础上--这 是一种虚妄的、偏执的自我主义。第一次世界大战以后，人们越来越认识到美国孩 子应该对其他国家和民族有所了解，有了这方面的了解，他们看问题才能有明智的态 度，不带偏见。
孩子从 9 岁开始就迫切地想知道过去时代所发生的事，欣然领会世界历史的概念。因此，多年以来卡尔弗特学校的学生从 9 岁开始就上世界历史课了，尽管有些 教师和孩子的父母表示怀疑和反对，但我注意到，人们渐渐接受了这样的历史教学 计划。随着这种态度的转变，对世界通史儿童读本的需求日益增长。然而，我发现， 为了便于孩子理解，所有现行的历史课本，都需要大幅度删节，并且还要补充不断 的解释和评论。
最近对孩子天生智力的一些重大研究让我们知道，一个普通孩子处于不同的年1 "t"为错词，应为"t"。
龄时什么是他可以理解的，什么是他无法理解的；哪些日期、修辞格、词汇、一般 原则和抽象概念他能理解，哪些他无法理解--将来所有的课本在编撰时都必须始 终考虑到这些智力标准。否则，这样的课本很可能超过孩子的理解能力，孩子学习 这样的课本，至少有些内容他肯定看不懂。
尽管作者多年来不断接触到孩子的智力问题，他发现每次课文在课堂上试讲后， 他在书斋里所写的那些东西还是不得不修改甚至重写。尽管作者自认初稿用的是最 浅白的语言，他还是发现每个词语和短语都必须先在课堂上反复试用，然后才能确 定这些词和短语向孩子传达了什么意思。措词稍有倒装或可能存在歧义或多义都会 引起孩子们的误解和困惑。比如说："罗马城在台伯河畔"，由于这句话在英语中用了 介词"n"，就很容易被理解成城市就建在河上，而且孩子们还会异想天开，想象罗 马的房子都建在水里的木桩上。一个 9 岁的孩子还很幼稚--他可能依然坚信有圣 诞老人的存在--他在观念、词汇和理解能力方面比大多数成年人意识到的还要幼 稚--即使这些成年人是他们的父母或老师。因此，新知识表述得越简明易懂越好。
因此，课本中选择的题材并不总是最重要的，最重要的是里面的内容孩子们能 看懂并感兴趣。无论文字叙述多么简单易懂，大多数的政治学、社会学、经济学和 宗教上的一般原则都超出了孩子们理解力。毕竟，这本历史课本只是对历史的初步 叙述。
本书撰写了世界历史中极为精彩的传记和故事，但历史中的这些传记无法勾勒 出历史轮廓，也根本不能为孩子们将来补充历史知识提供一个大纲；事实上，如果 不能将这些传记纳入历史发展的总纲里，这些传记只不过是浮现在孩子们脑海里的 许多孤立的故事，与时间或空间没有丝毫联系。
因此本书按照时间的顺序来论述题材--一个世纪接一个世纪、一个时代接一 个时代地述说历史事件，而不是按照各个国家的顺序。一个国家的历史叙述还没有 结束就停下来，又开始了另一个国家的历史叙述，就像小说里让不同的情节同步展 开一样。这样做和编撰本书的目的是一致的--就是让小学生们看到各个时代连续 的全景图，而不是把希腊历史从头到尾说一遍，然后从时间上返回来，再讲述罗马 历史，这样不断继续下去。本书的宗旨就是要勾勒出整个历史画面的轮廓，而详情 则有待孩子们在以后的学习中逐渐补充，就像画家先粗略勾勒出草图，然后再补充 细节。要把历史知识有条理地归类，需要这样一幅轮廓图，就像任何一个运作平稳 有序的办公室，需要一个能将各类文件归档的系统。
本书的时间阶梯是要让孩子们在直观上了解时间的长度和世界历史发展的阶段。 每一段阶梯代表一千年，每一个台阶代表一百年，也就是一个世纪。如果你有一面 空墙，不管是在游戏室、阁楼还是谷仓里，你可以将"时间阶梯"放大画在墙上， 从地面一直画到手够得着的高度。如果再精心配上有人物和历史事件的图片或绘画， 那就很有特色，更吸引人了。如果这面墙正对着孩子的床，那就更好了。因为早晨或其他时间孩子醒来躺在床上时，他就可以不去想象墙纸上稀奇古怪的图案，时间 阶梯里挤满的历史事件足以让他构想出各种情景。无论怎样，在学习每一个历史事 件的时候，孩子就应当不断参考这样一个时间阶梯或时间表，久而久之，过去时代 的印象就会留在他脑海中。开始，孩子们领会不到历史年表上数字表达的时间长度 或各个时期的相应顺序，会将公元前 2500 年、公元前 25000 年和公元前 2500 万年 混为一谈。孩子们只有不断地将历史时期归入到时间阶梯或时间表里相应位置。这 些时期才能在他脑子里形成具体的印象。如果一个孩子说公元 776000 年举办了第一 届奥运会，或者意大利位于雅典，亚伯拉罕是特洛伊战争的英雄，你可能会觉得好 笑，但千万不要感到惊讶。
如果有人一次介绍你认识一屋子的陌生人，你知道记住他们的名字根本就是徒 劳，更不用提将他们的名字和长相对应起来。在记住他们的名字和长相之前，你听 一点每个人的趣事是很有必要的。同样，讲述世界历史，就不能仅仅介绍人名和地 名，因为这些对于孩子来说就像是不认识的陌生人；而且，一次还不能介绍太多， 否则他马上就把"名字"和"长相"都忘掉了。为了让小学生逐渐熟悉新名字，不 断重复新的人名和地名也是必要的，因为，这么陌生的人物和地点是令人困惑的。
一个基础的历史大纲应当在将来不断被填充。为了达到这个目的，有必要让学 生把时间表完全记住，终身不忘。因此应当像学习乘法表那样去学习这个时间表， 直到学生能百分之百地记住，永久不忘，直到学生能像所希望的那样详尽地讲述与 每个时期有关的主题。我们的目标就是要让学生在没有别人提示和提问的情况下， 自己能够不犹豫，不犯错地从原始人开始，把从古至今的世界历史概述一遍，包括 其中重要的历史时期和事件。这个目标是不是听起来期望过高了？如果采用课本所 给的建议，把各个历史事件按先后顺序联系在一起，再把重要的历史人物和事件集 中复习一遍，那么达到这个目标就没有听起来那么难了。每年卡尔维特学校数百名 孩子都按照要求成功地达到了这个目标。
然而，教师通常持有这样的看法："即使学生忘记了所有的内容，脑子里总要留 下一点有价值的印象吧。"这种看法常常成为对草率肤浅的教学和不求甚解的学习的 辩解。历史课可以和其他学科一样成为一种"智力训练"，但是其前提是：不回避在 学习历史年代和抽象概念时遇到的困难，而是正面迎接，通过刻苦的学习克服这些 困难，并学会记住这些年代和抽象概念，而不是在背诵之后忘得干干净净。凡是讲 故事的内容，孩子总是很容易就记住了。但是，"人物、时间、地点和原因"才是重 要的，这部分是需要认真学习的。他不应该说，"从前有个人"，而应该说，"约翰王 在 1215 年在兰尼米德，因为……"因此，这本书不是一本补充读本，而是一本基础历史教科书。书中对历史事件给予了充分的叙述，让历史的"骨架"有了"血肉"，使本书读起来生动有趣。撰写 本书考虑的不是篇幅要多么长，而是要多么短，所以把 1000 页缩短到 500 页，而留下的内容却不至于是干巴巴的骨头。 无论历史在本书中是怎样被呈现的，孩子都必须尽自己的努力，学习时多动脑筋思考；为了这个目的，应该在孩子阅读每个故事以后，要求他们复述一遍，应 该反复问他们故事的内容和其中的人名和日期，以确保他们记住和吸收了所听到的 内容。
我回想起很久以前一个大学刚毕业的小伙子教第一堂历史课的情景。他满腔热 情，像足球场上刚射入一球的后卫那么兴奋。他又说又唱，把一幅幅地图画在黑板 上、地板上、操场上。为了说明要点，他画了一些图，用手支撑跃过一张张课桌， 甚至身体倒立。学生们听他的课都入了迷，个个都睁大双眼，竖起耳朵，张着嘴巴。 他们全神贯注地听着，如饥似渴地吸收他滔滔不绝的话语。但是这个小伙子就像闵 希豪生男爵，只顾着给马饮水，却未能看到马的后半身早已被砍掉。过了一个月， 和蔼可亲的校长建议他进行一次测验。他信心十足地出了考卷。
考卷上只有三个问题：
1. 说说你对哥伦布了解多少。
2. 说说你对詹姆斯敦了解多少。
3. 说说你对普利茅斯了解多少。 下面是其中一个孩子的回答，这个孩子是那些对他的课最感兴趣的学生之一： 1. 他是一个卫大的人。
2. 他是一个卫大的人。
3. 他业是一个卫大的人。
