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I'm looking for movies to supplement Sonlight's Core D - Intro to American History


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I'm looking for movies to supplement Sonlight's Core D - Intro to American History. I'm in college and my youngest one isn't reading very well yet and I was thinking if he could watch some short video's and movies to supplement Sonlight while I'm in class in the mornings it would give him something to do that is History related. Anyone know of a list already put together for me? :)

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Below are a few movies that should be fine for grades 3/4, and a little younger (I saw in your signature that 7yo is your youngest, so I geared accordingly). In parenthesis is the year the film was made, so you know which version I meant.

Also, if Christian-based is okay, then there is also the animated Hero Tales from Nest that are historical biographies -- many are of Americans: Pocahontas, William Bradford, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, Florence Nightingale, Helen Keller, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, Wright Brothers.

ETA:
I've added a few titles; they should be fine for a 9/10yo doing SL core D. Any that you may need to preview for a sensitive 7yo (or may not be of interest to a 7yo) I marked with **.

1600-1775
This is America Charlie Brown: Mayflower Voyagers (1988) -- animated -- Charles Shultz' Peanuts characters as Pilgrims
- Ben and Me (1953) -- animated; Benjamin Franklin
- The Light in the Forest (1957) -- Native Americans
- Davy Crockett; King of the Frontier (1955)
- Schoolhouse Rock: "Tea Party, No More Kings"

Revolutionary War
- Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
- Johnny Tremain (1957)
- Liberty's Kids -- animated TV series

1775-1800
- This is America Charlie Brown: Birth of Constitution (1989) -- animated
- This is America Charlie Brown: Smithsonian & Presidency (1989) -- animated
- Schoolhouse Rock: "Shot Heard Round the World" and "Fireworks: Declaring Independence"

1800-1860
- Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938) -- rural Southern life / life along the Mississippi
- Moby Dick (1956) -- whaling
- Fort Apache (1948) -- frontier west, Cavalry & Native Americans
- Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
- Little Women (1994)

Civil War
- Friendly Persuasion (1956) -- gentle Quaker family caught on the edge of the war
- The General (1926) -- Buster Keaton silent comedy (Civil War as backdrop -- a few shots were specifically set up to look like photographer Matthew Brady's panoramas of the battles taken during or just after actual battles)

1865-1880
- An American Tail (1986) -- animated -- immigrants
- Fieval Goes West (1991) -- animated -- western expansion
- This is America Charlie Brown: Building of the Transcontinental Railroad (1988) -- animated
- The Yearling (1946) -- post Civil War rural Florida
- Shane (1953) -- settler/rancher disputes in the west
** - The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence (1962) -- the civilizing of the frontier; a territory works for statehood
** - How The West Was Won (1962) -- the decades of westward expansion: Gold Rush,  Civil War, Transcontinental railroad)
** - I Will Fight No More Forever (1975) -- Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce resist reservation life by fleeing the US Army

1880-1900
- Young Tom Edison (1940)
- This is America Charlie Brown: Great Inventors (1988) -- animated
- The Gold Rush (1925) -- Charlie Chaplin silent comedy of the Alaskan gold rush
- Life With Father (1947) -- humorous turn of the century coming of age
- Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) -- musical; turn of the century
- The Great Race (1965) -- comedy; turn of the century international car race

1900-1940
- This is America Charlie Brown: The Wright Brothers (1988) -- animated
- This is America Charlie Brown: Music & Heroes of America (1988) -- animated
- Those Magnificent Men and Their Flying Machines (1965) -- early airplanes and pilots
- Spirit of St. Louis (1957) -- Lindberg's transatlantic flight
** - A Night to Remember (1958) -- sinking of the Titanic
- Cheaper By the Dozen (1950) -- large family in a small town misadventures in the 1920s
- Singing in the Rain (1955) -- comedy/musical; Hollywood of the 1920s, and the switch from silent to sound movies
** - It's A Wonderful Life (1946) -- rural town, from 1920s, through Depression and WW2
- Captains Courageous (1937) -- fisher life in the early 20th century
- Edison the Man (1940)
- Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) -- musical -- life of songwriter George M. Cohen, from Vaudeville up to 1940s
** - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) -- naive young congressman, and the political process

WW1
- Sergeant York (1941)

Depression
- Kitt Kittredge (2008) -- girl who dreams of becoming a reporter
- Boys Town (1938) -- Depression era urban street kids
- Modern Times (1936) -- Charlie Chaplin silent comedy; factory work
** - To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) --Depression, racism in the Deep South, coming of age
** - The Grapes of Wrath (1940) -- Dust Bowl families try to find work in California

WW2
- Flying Tigers (1942) -- US airmen over China
- The Fighting Seabees (1944) -- US Navy in the Pacific
- Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo -- noted for use of actual war footage; American forces in the Pacific theater
-  McHale's Navy --  light/humorous, with WW2 as a backdrop
- Father Goose  -- 
 light/humorous, with WW2 as a backdrop
** South Pacific --  musical
, with WW2 as a backdrop
** Stalag 17 (1953) -- American POWs in German camp work on escape

1945-1970
** - The Jackie Robinson Story (1950) -- Civil Rights
** - The Russians are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! (1966) -- comedy; Cold War
** - October Sky (1999) -- teen boys launch early rockets

1970-2000
** - Apollo 13 (1995) -- manned flight

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Below are a few movies that should be fine for grades 3/4, and a little younger (I saw in your signature that 7yo is your youngest, so I geared accordingly). In parenthesis is the year the film was made, so you know which version I meant.

 

Also, if Christian-based is okay, then there is also the animated Hero Tales from Nest that are historical biographies -- many are of Americans: Pocahontas, William Bradford, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, Florence Nightingale, Helen Keller, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, Wright Brothers.

 

 

1600-1775

This is America Charlie Brown: Mayflower Voyagers (1988) -- animated -- Charles Shultz' Peanuts characters as Pilgrims

- Ben and Me (1953) -- animated; Benjamin Franklin

- The Light in the Forest (1957) -- Native Americans

- Davy Crockett; King of the Frontier (1955)

- Schoolhouse Rock: Boston Tea Party

 

Revolutionary War

- Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)

- Johnny Tremain (1957)

- Liberty's Kids -- animated TV series

 

1775-1800

- This is America Charlie Brown: Birth of Constitution (1989) -- animated

- This is America Charlie Brown: Smithsonian & Presidency (1989) -- animated

- Schoolhouse Rock: Shot Heard Round the World

- Schoolhouse Rock: Fireworks (Declaring Independence)

- Schoolhouse Rock: Constitution

- Schoolhouse Rock: I'm Just a Bill

 

1800-1860

- Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938) -- rural Southern life / life along the Mississippi

- Moby Dick (1956) -- whaling

- Fort Apache (1948) -- frontier west, Cavalry & Native Americans

- Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)

 

Civil War

- Friendly Persuasion (1956) -- gentle Quaker family caught on the edge of the war

- The General (1926) -- Buster Keaton silent comedy

 

1865-1880

- An American Tail -- animated -- immigrants

- Fieval Goes West -- animated -- western expansion

- This is America Charlie Brown: Building of the Transcontinental Railroad (1988) -- animated

- The Yearling (1946) -- post Civil War rural Florida

- Shane (1953) -- settler/rancher disputes in the west

 

1880-1900

- Young Tom Edison (1940)

- This is America Charlie Brown: Great Inventors (1988) -- animated

- The Gold Rush (1925) -- Charlie Chaplin silent comedy of the Alaskan gold rush

- Life With Father (1947) -- humorous turn of the century coming of age

- Meet Me in St. Louis -- musical; turn of the century

- The Great Race (1965) -- comedy; turn of the century international car race

 

1900-1940

- This is America Charlie Brown: The Wright Brothers (1988) -- animated

- This is America Charlie Brown: Music & Heroes of America (1988) -- animated

- A Night to Remember (1958) -- sinking of the Titanic

- It's A Wonderful Life (1946) -- rural town, from 1920s, through Depression and WW2

- Captains Courageous (1937) -- fisher life in the early 20th century

- Edison the Man (1940)

 

WW1

- Sergeant York (1941)

 

Depression

- Kitt Kittredge (2008) -- girl who dreams of becoming a reporter

- Boys Town (1938) -- Depression era urban street kids

- Modern Times (1936) -- Charlie Chaplin silent comedy; factory work

 

WW2

- Flying Tigers (1942) -- US airmen over China

- The Fighting Seabees (1944) -- US Navy in the Pacific

 

1945-1970

- The Jackie Robinson Story (1950) -- Civil Rights

- The Russians are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! (1966) -- comedy; Cold War

- October Sky (1999) -- teen boys explore early rockets

 

1970-2000

- Apollo 13 (1995) -- manned flight

 

This is an awesome list! I was going to add some ideas of my own but they're already on this list. :) BTW, my kids loved Liberty's Kids.

 

ETA: I did think of a couple that aren't here. ;) Horrible Histories has some videos on Youtube about early America plus there are some great ones there called "Crash Course History" that are really good as well.

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