History was my least favorite subject in high school. (Why, by the way, do we say least favorite? Why don't we say most disliked or one of the subjects you need 4 years of but would really like to take 0?) In fact, it was probably the only subject I didn't like. (Yes, I was one of those weirdos who loved school.) But I've really noticed how much I'm drawn to history lately. My mom has always liked watching documentaries about Egyptian archeology or the Civil War or whatever. But me? No thank you. Then we started homeschooling. I'm amazed at how much I've learned and how much I've changed since we started this journey last year. After all, isn't schooling supposed to be for the children??? Really though, I find myself longing to know more, wanting to learn more. I want my kids to enjoy history and excel in their knowledge of it. That's why I was pleased to receive a Learn Our History movie in the mail.
The Learn Our History company was co-founded last year by Governor Mike Huckabee and Brad Saft. It is their mission to help children get excited about learning American history by making history fun. How do they do that? Through an animated DVD series called "Learn Our History: TimeCycle Academy." It follows the journey of a group of students who travel back in time and learn history as it's taking place. (I bet if I used a bicycle time machine when I was a teenager, I would have liked learning history too!)
So far, the company has released 5 movies and has plans for many more. Currently, you can get your first DVD for $9.95 plus s&h and receive a second DVD free. After that, you'll receive (no obligation necessary) another movie for $11.95 plus s&h. Also, once a DVD is shipped, you'll have the option to stream the title directly from the LearnOurHistory.com website.
The movie we watched is "The Birth of a Revolution." It's the first of a three-part series on the American Revolution. My kids knew practically nothing about it before watching this. With them being only 6 years old and 3 years old, I haven't focused on the politics of why the colonists separated from the British. The movie though assumes the viewer understands some facts about it. We paused the movie many times to discuss things like taxes, Acts, and a bit of vocabulary. It became a good teaching tool for more learning, but certainly not a "pop it in the player for the kids and leave" kind of movie.
My 6 year old definitely enjoyed it. He's even begged to get part 2. My 3 year old really didn't care. Personally, I didn't really like it too much myself. I do like that it's educational, but the picture quality was poor, like old cartoons or kinda like a comic strip in motion. But more than that, I didn't like the way the characters spoke. I understand the creators were trying to make a story-line, but I did not like the attitudes or the mean remarks or the name-calling between the characters.
Honestly, even though my son would love to see the next part of the story (since this one ends with a "to be continued") I don't think it's worth the $16 it would cost to receive it in the mail.
If you'd like to read more reviews, be sure to stop by the Crew blog HERE.
* I was given a copy of this movie in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
Those were our family's thoughts, too, Erika...and I have 12- and 14-year-olds! The girls really didn't like some of the kids' negative attitudes, and the artistic quality was something my girls said that they'd never pay that much money for. I don't know if you were able to watch the 2nd video we were allowed to watch (the 9-11 movie), but it was much better in artistic content, and the girls liked it a lot better. However, they still said that they wouldn't pay more than $5 for each episode, in the hard copy/DVD version. I thought that was interesting. I was thinking the same thing, but I wanted to hear what they had to say before sharing my thoughts with them. :)
ReplyDeleteJulieanne
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