Drive Thru History® Adventures Review

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.

We've been reading a lot about early Church history, as well as the history of the Roman Empire, but we haven't learned much about the archaeological discoveries that have shaped historians' views of how people lived in these times. Learning about history through archaeology, particularly how that pertains to Bible history, was an exciting prospect! Drive Thru History® Adventures gave us access to their new Bible Unearthed course, and it was engaging and fun for all the kids, ages 5-11.

Per our usual "routine" of screens (since we limit them pretty heavily), I set everybody up with their lunch (and apparently all their sewing things, because they've been on a serious crafting spree lately) and rigged up our Duplo kindle stand + bluetooth speaker, and got things going. They were convinced it was going to be seriously boring when I told them what they'd be watching! But I think they were pleasantly surprised - they immediately asked for more!

 

Right off the bat, the theme music was catchy and well-done, nothing that sounded dated (which, let's me honest, can sometimes be the case in homeschool materials). The hosts of the show are incredibly engaging, and my kids who thought this was going to be boooooooring were moving closer to the screen and asking me to turn the volume up!

I asked them what they liked, and what they learned, and here's what I got:

"I liked the thing at the beginning where somebody hit a rock and then it turned into letters" - Cecilia, age 9

"I liked the in-depth explanation of archaeology." - John Paul, age 11

"I liked the music" - Mary Claire, age 7 (almost 8)

"I liked the pictures" - Elizabeth, age 7 (almost 8)

 

"I learned about the pile of stones, which was covering some king's bones." - John Paul

"I learned about archaeology tools." - Cecilia

"There's an archaeology tool called the pick." - Mary Claire

"And there's a trowel." - Elizabeth

"And there's a brush." - Peter, age 5 (almost 6) 

Not too bad... But I bet they could have done better if I had asked immediately following the video. And I think that, going forward, we'll use the linked articles from the hosts, since they correspond pretty well with what we've been studying anyway. We were given links to articles by both Randall Niles (the lead writer) and Titus Kennedy (their resident archaeologist); Randall's articles are good for a wide range of students, while Titus's are geared towards more advanced students. Clicking through, I definitely agree - Randall has a wide range of articles about important figures in early Church history, all written with pretty simple language:

Titus's articles are much more complex, with technical language and descriptions that would be difficult for younger students to read or hear:

I really do love how perfectly this matches up with our studies in both religion and history right now, and I look forward to continuing to use the course with the older children.

 

Below each individual episode is a longer article that students can read (or parents can read aloud) that summarizes the video, "dig deeper" article links, and then there's a downloadable worksheet with discussion questions to help you encourage further thinking and retention of information learned, just in case the students are having a little trouble recollecting what they watched.

Bible Unearthed hasn't been released to the general public as a course, but if you sign up for emails you'll be notified when it's available! You can learn more on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

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