Liberty’s Kids

What We’re Watching–Documentaries and Other Educational Films

I have shared a lot of different reading lists over the years, so I thought it was about time I shared a different kind of list…this time of the documentaries and educational and fine arts films we’ve watched, either to coordinate with our school work, or to learn something entirely new! (I didn’t include Doctor Who, even though it was originally created as an educational program to teach history, but it is also something we regularly watch!)

Nature

The British Monarchy

Other British Documentaries

The Space Program

Ballet

Baseball

Miscellaneous (Including travel, fine arts, and American history.)

Animated Shows

Over the years, I have found it really helpful to have some trusted films covering various topics and suitable for different grade levels that we can watch to supplement what we’re learning in school, or to give me a break from teaching school on the rare occasion that I’m sick. A lot of the time, we even end up watching something from this list just for the fun of it in the evening or during the weekend! What educational films do you like to watch?

Homeschool Review: “Liberty’s Kids”

We finished watching the Liberty’s Kids series on DVD last week, and I can’t find enough good things to say about it! It was a great introduction to early American history for Turkey and Bunny (and Ladybug, who insisted on watching with them)–they are now familiar with the major players and places in the Revolutionary War.

The story uses a group of fictional characters–mostly children–to interact with real people in American history to tell the story of the American revolution, often from the perspective of an aspiring journalist. Turkey and Bunny loved these characters, but even more than that, they loved learning about the real characters that fought and founded our country. Turkey is fascinated with George Washington and the Battle of Yorktown, while Bunny was thrilled to learn about women such as Abigail Adams, “Molly Pitcher,” and Sybil Luddington, who impacted the war in their own unique ways.

I discovered that I also learned a great deal from the series. I don’t know if I just forgot that much of what I learned in school, or if my education wasn’t that in-depth, but I picked up on many new details, and have a greater understanding of the bigger picture of the things that affected the war. I suppose I should be embarrassed that I learned so much from a children’s show, but learning is learning, and I’ll take it any way I can!

I highly recommend this series to anyone who has a child that they want to help learn about the key points of the Revolutionary War. I only hope that someday, the rumored Civil War edition of this show might be produced!

Almost Done

Next week is our last week of first grade. I can’t believe it. We’ve completed almost two full years of homeschool. Given that I wasn’t sure we’d survive one year, I’m still kind of surprised at how (mostly) smoothly this has gone.

I have plans for a special summer school unit again this year, this time focusing on the Colonial and Revolutionary War periods, and all things American. I’ve planned a few fun crafts, including creating old-fashioned shop signs and making silhouettes. We’ll be reading a lot of fun books, including the American Girl Felicity series and a great series about early American history by Betsy Maestro. I’m especially excited that we’ll be watching the Liberty’s Kids series on DVD. I bought it last year at an amazing price, and have just been waiting for the right time to introduce it. The funny thing is, when I was planning summer school, it didn’t even occur to me to use the series until *after* I’d planned our other activities. I love when things unintentionally work out like that!

So, we’ll be finishing up that last of our first grade materials (which, at this point in the year, is primarily math, with some other stuff thrown in), have a small break before “summer school,” and then a bigger break after before we start on Sonlight’s Core 1.

I’m going to have two second graders soon…how is that possible?