Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.
Drive Thru History® is a name that has been pretty popular with my family members over the years. We were happy when we saw the opportunity to review a new Drive Thru product this semester, called Drive Thru History® Adventures, and the course title is Bible Unearthed. This is actually a course that has twelve episodes and accompanying worksheets/activities that allows a homeschool family to use this as a multi-week mini course on archaeology.
The videos feature Drive Thru History® favorite Dave Stotts, this time taking a "back seat" (haha! get my corny joke/pun?) to archaeologist Titus Kennedy; also present for the discussions is the head writer for the show.
When we watched these videos, they were very different from what we had expected, given our past experiences with the Drive Thru products. My daughter hit the nail on the head when she described them like a type of podcast--but a video podcast. This is the feel we got when watching these episodes.
Titus Kennedy gives a short lesson, almost like a show and tell, or an illustrated talk (for those of you taking speech right now!), using artifacts as well as video clips to teach a lesson about archaeology. Oh yes, that is the focus of these videos--archaeology--archaeology relating to the Bible, more specifically.
Dave Stotts is kind of like a fun comic-relief segment of these episodes, though some clips from his Drive Thru shows are included.
To go along with the videos, there is a complete course guide. This guide includes a weekly schedule to give a structure to the course, twelve weeks of using the materials.
Of course you can use your own plan, but this is a great guideline to stretch the course out for every day in twelve weeks. You will see from this suggested schedule that there are a lot of materials to go along with the course, and they are all available as downloads when you purchase this course, Drive Thru History® Adventures. There is a summary (which is also on the page beneath the video) which walks you through the material that is covered in the lesson. A good time to read this would be directly following the lesson; the website version of it contains some great visuals as well as the summary text.
There are discussion questions that encourage active listening and thinking. I know I listen better if I know I will need to answer questions after a lesson! These are short-answer type questions, so your student will have to think about the answers a bit.
Along with each lesson is a Scripture passage which relates to the lesson. There are also optional activities and recommended articles for further reading and ideas for further research. Depending on the age/interests/time available of your students, you may choose to do one or all of these.
SO--although this course was not what we had originally thought, it is still a well-made way to learn about archaeology and archaeologists, especially Biblical archaeology. It is not at all like the "regular" Drive Thru History® videos, but it does make a good history-type currriculum for a student.
We have reviewed Drive Thru History® videos before (Acts to Revelation and The Gospels) and have also viewed many along with our subscription to SchoolhouseTeachers,com ... any my kids used to watch them with a streaming TV service years ago. Our usual method of enjoying Drive Thru History® videos is basically just as entertainment, learning while not realizing we were :)
I think that for my family, this series is not so much a sit-in-the-living-room-and-watch-a-show-together-type series, but more an academic video series. Not that it is not interesting, it just does not have that same feel.
Before I go, here are some quick thoughts from my daughter: I have seen lots of drive thru history episodes before, so I was excited to try these new ones. Unlike the others, where Dave drives around and shows places that were mentioned in the Bible, these remind me more of a podcast. There is an archeologist, Dave, and the show's head writer, and they basically sit at a table and talk about stuff. These episodes had a lower energy level then the others, and were less interesting. If I was more interested in archeology, these would be nice. They were like lectures, but with Dave doing funny stuff in the background.
So--although this series is a bit different than other Drive Thru History® series that we have seen in the past, it is still a good quality, good educational series that is laid out in an easy-to-use format.
To read what other reviewers have to say about Drive Thru History® Adventures, please click on the image below!
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