The Johnson Crew!

Was history class A total snooze Fest for you back in school yeah me too and I do not want to repeat that with my own kids but those books from back in school seem to only teach factoids just names of people places dates and teachers just wanted us to memorize those and spit them out on test and be done with it and no wonder most of us don't remember much of that and could really care less and I feel like we're seeing the results of that in today's political climate

And it's not pretty what happened to learning about why those people did what they did back in the day I mean we will watch movies about wars and battles and we're super entertained by all that and most of history is learning about wars and battles and yet the books make it super uninteresting because they never teach us why those people did what they did they leave out important things like their ideologies their reasons their beliefs and what really drove them to do these things what were the opposing forces really believing

And why did it cause them to go go to the point of Bloodshed those things are so important and yet they seem to be left out of most history books so I am happy to say that there is finally a history book that doesn't do that that tells you all about those things and really brings history to life it tells you the story of History through a story and really puts it on a level that kids can understand and it really draws the connection between why it's important to know what happened in history

And how it affects our present day and our future and that is so so needed for kids and just adults in general to be looking at history to learn from it so that we don't repeat the mistakes of the past so that we don't forget how things went when people did XYZ and we can hopefully not repeat those same mistakes in our future enter the Tuttle twins history book I just made a review video about their volume one book and now they're coming out with volume two it releases July 1st this book is written by Connor boyak he's a libertarian Aryan

And he's known for his work promoting free market ideas and individual freedom and we first heard about the Tuttle twins miniseries books years ago we got those we loved them they teach things about economics the free market the US dollar and principles of Liberty that I never learned in school we're a big fan of those books so when we heard that they were coming out with their own history book I was like okay we got to get this for our home school absolutely and I'm

So glad that we did we were actually already doing another history curriculum and I said let's set that to the side and give this one a go and it's been so great it's written about the Tuttle Twins and so it is written about them learning about history so we get to see how they view it we get to see how they react to it and I think that helps kids to connect with the story of History because they're seeing other kids learning about it as

Well and they're getting to see the thought process that these two twins go through when they hear about certain things in history and then at the end of each chapter there's a section that Conor writes to get you to discuss these things with your kids and get you to think about how they connect to your present day your current life and I think that is the key to why this book is so great and so important because it's not just like oh here's something that happened 200 500 years ago who really cares it's really forging that connection between the past

And the present and the future and showing kids why it's so important to care about these things and know what happened back then I want to share some more of the strengths of this book but before I go on I wanted to tell you that the Tuttle twins is having a giveaway right now through July 31st for each book that you purchase you get an entry for a chance to win an all expenses paid trip to Boston for a family of four and then I want to offer an additional giveaway if you use my affiliate link that's in the description box below which helps support this channel you'll be entered to win one of the Tuttle twins mini-series books

So if you do purchase one or both of the history books I think if you purchase both you get a pretty big savings on that bundle then leave me a comment below and you'll be entered to win one of their mini series books okay some of the strengths of this book first of all it's focus on principles and values it really emphasizes those values that have made America such a prosperous Nation such as individual liberty free enterprise and limited government it also has a really comprehensive coverage of the past

So volume one covers 12 15 to 1776 and volume 2 covers 1776 to 1791 and then they're hoping to come out with a volume three and a volume 4 eventually to bring us to the present day and I think it's really cool how volume one takes you further back than just the actual start of America than just the actual founding of America because we need that context to help us have a more well well-rounded understanding of America's founding and its history I also really love that I can feel like I've knocked out several subjects at once because the book really incorporates elements of Economics political science

And philosophy which make it a really easy way to bring in multiple subjects into one reading time which is great for us homeschoolers who are wanting to do a million things but we run out of time I also really love how well this is Illustrated let me just show you a couple of pages we've got great maps in here pictures of the Tuttle twins to tell their story pictures to illustrate a point timelines pictures of important historical figures and a whole lot more so it definitely helps to keep my kids engaged when I'm reading it to them I can be showing them the pictures on every single page

And it's something to help draw their attention in while they're listening and then one of the coolest things is the flexibility for us homeschoolers that this gives us you could use this just as a read-aloud you could use this as a supplement to what you're doing or you could actually use this as your Standalone history curriculum and the website has printables for you that you can use with your kids like worksheets and more discussion questions so they've actually set it up as a curriculum for you which is a really amazing value

Okay so the way that we use America's history as our history curriculum is we sit down on the couch after breakfast a couple mornings a week and I will read to them a couple of pages sometimes more sometimes less just depends on how antsy the little ones get but it's been really great it's nice for us to just get cozy on the couch and use this like a read aloud and then take some time to discuss it together so we have really enjoyed that format our goals for teaching history to our kids are to build a basic knowledge of historical events

And figures and ideas that have shaped America's history and we also want to cultivate a lifelong love of learning about history and most importantly we want to Foster critical thinking so we want them to think about the things that are going on in their world and ask questions and not just accept everything that they see in here but to question things and think about things on their own and so the discussion questions really help us with this goal it really helps for them to just think through things you know what would you do in their shoes or what do you think about that we want to help prepare them for when they are adults

And they are voting and they are making decisions and we want them to be a force in this world a Force for good and so we want to equip them with Minds that can critically think about things that are being fed to them so this I think is one of the coolest things about this book is fostering that critical thinking so don't forget that there is a giveaway going on on the Tuttle Twins website until July 31st of 2023 and you can also enter my giveaway by letting me know in the comments below below if you have purchased a book using my affiliate Link in the description box below

And while you're thinking about books for your homeschool I've got this video about the Tuttle twins midi series for you to watch next see you next time foreign