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Need HISTORY suggestions for 4th & 5th grade (Videos would be great)


1GirlTwinBoys
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Here are some video ideas to get you started. We've watched all of these via Netflix or Amazon and my 10 year old liked all of them. Some might call them edu-tainment, rather than purely educational, but we found them worthwhile and DS learns well from video/visual sources.

 

Liberty's Kids

America: The Story of Us

Mankind: The Story of All of Us

The Men Who Built America

Drive-Thru History

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Is Drive Thru History (having trouble with phrasing) made by/for a specific religion prespective?

 

Yes, it's a Christian perspective. Here's a link with more info if you're interested. We school secularly and we enjoyed it. Don't recall anything offensive towards other religions or beliefs. I view it as cultural/social awareness woven in with history. The host is engaging and likable, has moments of slightly goofy humor - my DS really likes him. All the videos provide a good overview of each topic, not terribly deep.

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Yes, it's a Christian perspective. Here's a link with more info if you're interested. We school secularly and we enjoyed it. Don't recall anything offensive towards other religions or beliefs. I view it as cultural/social awareness woven in with history. The host is engaging and likable, has moments of slightly goofy humor - my DS really likes him. All the videos provide a good overview of each topic, not terribly deep.

 

Yes, this!!! We all loved these as a family. I wish we could find his America series on netflix. I'm dying to see them but they're pretty expensive to buy.

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Have your kids played the Horrible Histories games on the BBC website? They have Tutors, Medieval and Egypt, I beleive. It's a fun way to get a little content as a supplement.

 

Also games like that old crusty stand-by, Oregon Trail. We like the version with the real people talking. Just last week, dd read Hunger Games for the first time, and she commented on Katniss' realization that she could eat dandelions--my dd said she already knew that from Oregon Trail...lol

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Are they mature enough yet for things like John Adams PBS adaptation of McCollough's biography? As a mix of history and science my son loved Connections on DVD. And everything we have seen on history done by Terry Jones (of Monty Python) has been interesting,

 

Your boys may be too old, but the Magic Tree House fact trackers were good, sometimes history related, and usually had sources for more information in the back that included websites and sometimes films.

 

When we were on Vikings, a PBS (I think) DVD The Vikings not only gave a lot specific to that subject, but also taught a lot about How Do We Know what we think we know, what do historians do, what do archaeologists do? For this and other subjects, we have started with something that is of interest for some reason, and then just gone and found lots via library, Netflix, Amazon...until he feels done with that subject for then. For example, I just came across a film on Viking Swords that would probably have interested him during his Viking phase, but now, not.

 

I shared just a bit of the book Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen with my son (now age 11), which was helpful in teaching him to question things and try to sort out fact from myth or propaganda.

 

The book 1491 now is available in a children's version and was excellent, in both the children's and adult form.

 

My son loves Young Indiana Jones fiction story parts, but not the learning bonus features that go with them, which makes them only slightly useful for history and more just entertainment. Though at least he has heard of certain things for when he comes to it again (such as, he learned about Tolstoy a bit).

 

Reading Rick Riordan books (Percy Jackson, Kane Chronicles), led to trails into Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythology and history, at least briefly. Lloyd Alexander fiction did the same for India, and Celtic interests.

 

I have played some Great Courses tapes which are sometimes over the head of ds, or too boring at this point, but sometimes I notice he is listening and will comment on it or ask a question about it. This is especially so if the GC lines up with something he already knows something about. They do have a couple of history programs meant for high school age students, but which apparently some elementary school students like.

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My 4th grader and I enjoy the Crash Course videos on youtube. You will need to watch beforehand for sensitivities/ maturity: these are high-school level videos, presented with animated mock-ups that do include blood/gore and references to mature themes. However, we find them to be wonderfully presented, quick, informative and laugh-out-loud funny. They're also nice and short: about 10-13 minutes for each one.

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I have a free History curriculum listed on my blog and have Liberty's Kids and/or Horrible Histories scheduled in for many of the terms. My blog: http://themommywriter.blogspot.com/2013/04/free-charlotte-masonliving-bookshands.html Just click on the term you're interested in on the right side.

 

There is a SOTW video blog out there as well that pairs up the chapter with a video related to that chapter. That is here: http://sotw-videolinks.blogspot.com/

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