Learn Our History Videos Review

I have now watched four of the videos from Learn Our History.  Four videos!  I think that makes me very qualified to post this review.  We received the first one for free as a part of their promotion and then we were billed monthly for the next three videos before I felt like I had given the videos more than a fair chance and called to cancel.  I really wanted to like these videos!!

I had read several of the negative reviews and decided to take my chances anyway after going to this website.  Mike Huckabee is the co-founder of this company and that made it all the more appealing to me.  I felt that if he was backing these videos that they must be good.

We have the following videos:

One Nation Under God
The Adventures of Lewis and Clark
The Mayflower and the First Thanksgiving
Columbus and The Great Discovery

Today we watched The Adventures of Lewis and Clark.  It was definitely better than the last video.  I can't remember the name but one of the characters called another stupid.  I know it is not a really bad word but if  I wanted them to hear that kind of dialog I would turn on Sponge Bob.

Like other reviewers, I felt like the characters in the stories leave a lot to be desired.  There is a country boy who wears overalls with a strong country accent, a mean boy who says mean things all the time, two nice, preppy girls, and a nerdy boy who talks nasally kind of like Steve Urkel from the old TV show Family Matters.  What they should have done is created characters like those from the Magic Treehouse. Those two are likeable and believable.





I felt like more time could be spent in actual history than in dealing with the characters who travel back in time.

The animation is not that great.  I had read that in other reviews but I was hoping that the content would make up for it.

Maybe their later videos are better.  I'm not spending the money to find out though.

You can read more about my Learn our History review here.   (This is a site where I get paid to post!)

You can check out more reviews below:

Review 1 from Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Review 2 from A Spirited Mind

Review 3 from Homeschool Circus

Review 4 from Debbie's Homeschool Corner

United States Worksheet

I found this worksheet on the Super Teacher Worksheets website.  It has a lot of free worksheets including this one on the states.  Each of the states is numbered on the map.  Your student has to write the name of the state on the numbered sheet that corresponds to the map.

This would be great practice. Use it along with a map with the states written on it.  Or you could use it as a quiz or test on the states.  If you'll look closely at the picture below you'll notice that Hawaii is #51.  I was a little confused by this at first.  Did I miss something recently,  I thought.  I looked closer at the sheets and noticed it does say states and US capital.  That is the reason for #51.  : )

Homeschool Science First Week of School

Water Absorbing Polymers "Mad Science Super Growing Crystals Kit"



My kids were given this as a gift a long while ago and I finally got it out. There are three packets of "crystals" and we put them in separate glass cups.  The review on Amazon is based on the fact that the person who bought them thought that they were actual crystals, not water absorbing polymers.



This turned out to be our first science experiment of the year.  The kids had fun watching them grow and observing that some of them were connecting.  Then they wanted to find out what would happen if different colors were placed together so we added a 4th cup.

Because this was so much fun I started researching more about polymers which lead me to The Magic School Bus Slime and Polymer Lab.

 

After checking out the kit above I looked at some of the other Magic School Bus Science Kits and the "Human Body"  all have great reviews.

Please share if you have any experience with these cool science kits?  Or have you done any polymer experiments?  Please share in the comment section.  : )