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History
http://forum.homeschoolchristian.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=5120		 Page 2 of 2
Author:  LisaTX [ Wed Jan 28, 2015 8:23 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: History
Martha R. wrote:
I have to tell you that I'm no fan of the Drive Through History series.

Would you consider some of the picture filled books by DK and others? Perhaps he could look at those and listen to some history biographies, etc.

The Teaching Company has a terrific series on American History on DVD/VHS. See if your library has it.


Thanks, I'll check about the American History series. We do have the DK Children's Encyclopedia of American History, which has some pictures and we're going through that book. I try to have him look at the pictures and talk about what's happening and I really have to engage him in conversation about it because that's the only way he pays any attention. It's pretty time consuming and slow going, but that's what it takes right now.

Can I ask what you don't like about the Drive Thru videos?
Author:  Martha R. [ Thu Jan 29, 2015 8:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: History
I did a review of them some time back.
http://www.homeschoolchristian.com/curr ... vethru.php

I wouldn't use them except for a basic overview. I'd be really concerned about accuracy. Napoleon said that history is a set of lies agreed upon. I try to use as many primary sources as possible to get close to the truth.
Author:  Anna1111 [ Fri Jan 30, 2015 5:48 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: History
Wow - that's a pretty disturbing review, Martha! I sure wouldn't want a history program bringing up partial birth ab0rtion with my DD! I'm trying to keep her reasonably inn0cent in this modern culture. And the inaccuracies and irreverent tone would not be my favorite approach to history, either.

History is naturally just so interesting - why do people want to gum it up with stuff like that?
Author:  Martha R. [ Fri Jan 30, 2015 8:47 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: History
John Stossel has a sensationalist TV show on Fox. It's his style, and I guess people must like it because he's still there.
Author:  Anna1111 [ Fri Jan 30, 2015 8:56 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: History
I remember John Stossel's bogus report on organic vegetables. If I knew it was him I'd've known enough.
Author:  Briva [ Sat Jan 31, 2015 11:32 am ]
Post subject:  Re: History
One of the things I used for history that both my daughters enjoyed was the Beautiful Feet Books booklists. They have an online catalog that lists the books used with their study guides by time period.

http://bfbooks.com

I bought the timeline they could color in, but you could just as easily print out something and create your own. Say you want to learn about the presidents. Print out George Washington, print out their picture here

http://m.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents

There is also a short bio, but an age appropriate library book would be helpful. One of the biggest disappointments my kids had was after reading a good historical fiction book the 'Hollywood' movie based on it was a waste of time. 'Johnny Tremaine' set during the War of Independence (American Revolution) is one example. All their favorite scenes in the book didn't make it into the movie.
Author:  LisaTX [ Tue Feb 03, 2015 11:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: History
Martha R. wrote:
I did a review of them some time back.
http://www.homeschoolchristian.com/curr ... vethru.php

I wouldn't use them except for a basic overview. I'd be really concerned about accuracy. Napoleon said that history is a set of lies agreed upon. I try to use as many primary sources as possible to get close to the truth.


Thanks for that information. I'm glad I checked here about these videos first!
Author:  LisaTX [ Tue Feb 03, 2015 11:15 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: History
Briva wrote:
One of the things I used for history that both my daughters enjoyed was the Beautiful Feet Books booklists. They have an online catalog that lists the books used with their study guides by time period.

http://bfbooks.com

I bought the timeline they could color in, but you could just as easily print out something and create your own. Say you want to learn about the presidents. Print out George Washington, print out their picture here

http://m.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents

There is also a short bio, but an age appropriate library book would be helpful. One of the biggest disappointments my kids had was after reading a good historical fiction book the 'Hollywood' movie based on it was a waste of time. 'Johnny Tremaine' set during the War of Independence (American Revolution) is one example. All their favorite scenes in the book didn't make it into the movie.


I've heard of Beautiful Feet, but never really checked it out. Thanks for this info!
Author:  Anna1111 [ Mon May 02, 2016 9:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: History
I wanted to add to this thread.

I got Drive Thru History Greece Vol 1, and Drive Thru History Holy Land Vol 1 from the Library. I was pretty delighted with them. DD LOVED them!

The humor is corny - no doubt about it. Some of the humor went over DD's head, while at the same time making me roll my eyes. But, OTOH - the little jokes now and then kept DD interested. There ARE some inaccuracies (Goliath was said to be 6'9 rather than 6 cubits and a span - big difference!) - but the ones I spotted were at minor points.

Overall I'd say that the series is extremely beneficial. I've never been very good at Holy Land Geography - and I loved that the Holy Land series showed the places, explained where they play a role in the Bible, and how they played a role in history. There was a consistent Biblical worldview that was wonderful : ) I'd much rather watch a Christian video that made a mistake on Goliath's height than a secularist video that denies David ever existed and uses terms like "BCE"

The Greek pronunciation is all wrong - but I've never seen an English language history that DIDN'T totally mess up the Greek - so I won't hold a grudge for that.

All in all, I'd say it was an EXCELLENT way for a young kid to dip a toe in a part of history without the unnecessary pain of slogging thru poorly written textbook chapters. DD BEGGED to watch 2 hours of this stuff today - and learned a whole lot from it. I learned a lot, too (and I was a history major, so not every kids' video I encounter is informative for me.)

I really liked that the scenes driving thru traffic and along highways looked SO much like what we actually see when we travel!

All in all, a corny, occasionally inaccurate at minor points, but very beneficial series.

The Holy Land series DID talk about the tragedy at Masada - which may be too disturbing for some young kids. I didn't see any discussion questions - so if those are also too mature in this series - we missed them : )

I'd say this one is a a winner : )
Author:  LisaTX [ Fri May 06, 2016 9:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: History
Thanks for that review. Great to know!
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