Make History Come Alive with Drive Thru History – Review

A few years ago we used some Drive Thru History DVDs an part of our Colonial American history unit.  We all loved them, which is why we were very excited to find out there’s more to Drive Thru History than just fantastic homeschool videos.

While you can still purchase Drive Thru History Adventures in that format, it’s now available as a subscription website and includes much more than just an American history series: there are also video series for the Gospels and Ancient History, with a fourth series to come later this spring.

It’s not just videos, though – Drive Thru History has written curriculum to accompany each video.  I’m really hard to please with written lessons, so I don’t say this lightly – but I really love these!  Each one is simple, making it easy to fit a wide variety of kids and their learning styles.  They include really great information, though – questions great for essays or discussion, famous quotes to evaluate, scripture, and sometimes art.  Linked up as well are expert papers and additional suggested readings, many of which are excerpts of famous historical documents.  I love the layer of authenticity that this piece adds to the study, and for those old enough to go there, these will definitely take you deeper into civics, philosophy, and critical thinking.

Because deeper … we started using Drive Thru History when my kids were pretty little, but we didn’t care that they’re really targeted for kids over age 12.  We loved the videos themselves – they’re wonderful.  The premise is simple – host Dave Stotts travels to important places in history in a special vehicle and gives you a modern day tour, all while explaining the history of the place with animated art and crazy jokes.  They’re real and serious but seriously funny, too, and you’ll learn loads just from watching the videos – but with the addition of the curriculum, Drive Thru History is a really deep and interactive experience.  I love that you can see what each place looks like – that’s huge for this visual learner in bringing history to life – but by adding the reading, writing, and discussion elements to the videos, this program is really complete.

Even then, though, Drive Thru History has found a way to get even better.  They’ve added a section called “Side Roads,” and it’s full of short, great videos about other topics.  Some are about archeological finds.  Others are about special days in history, like President’s Day or Valentine’s Day.  Some feature Dave Stotts, the regular host, but some feature other colleagues, and some even feature kids.  These videos are short but clear and will help the viewer understand more about the people and culture of the time.  

“Side Roads” are also a part of Adventures TV, where there are even more great resources.  The “Behind the Scenes” section includes a blooper video from the upcoming series in Israel and other videos about the Museum of the Bible.  The “Dig Deeper” section includes videos about viewing to coincide with the Christian calendar and other background historical information.  If you’re one to watch digital videos on devices, Drive Thru History has apps for that, too.

Adventures TV also includes a feature called “Dave’s Adventures,” in which weekly update videos are included.  These might have info about Dave Stott’s family life, calendar history, or answers to questions sent in by viewers. This last part is really fun because it lets you interact with Stotts and see him respond to your query.  My Little Man has enjoyed doing that, and it helps you become a part of the program, rather than it being only something you use.

I let each kid choose which course they wanted to do – because as both kids are entering historical contests and are working under a deadline to complete their entries, we couldn’t set aside that work as we normally might for an opportunity like this.  Even so, both kids jumped at the chance to use Drive Thru History, even knowing it would be extra history work for the duration of their projects.

My Little Man chose to watch the Ancient World videos.  Because he’s a bit younger than the curriculum is aimed for (and hates writing!), we watched the videos together and talked about his impressions.  I’ve enjoyed watching him re-enact Dave’s famous fight with the gladiator during his playtime and listening to him explain how issues of this time impact other points during history as he comes across connections.  He’s absorbing it all and enjoys explaining these things to me.  There are twelve videos in this series, each one lasting about 45 minutes, and My Little Man is too excited about them to watch only one per week.  He asks often if he can watch the next one, and we have watched some back-to-back because the next one sounded too good to wait.

My Big Helper chose to view the Gospel series.  There are 18 videos in this series, each lasting just under 30 minutes.  We were happily surprised to see just how closely the first video dovetailed with our current Bible study, and we’ve watched it several times to absorb all that it has to offer.  For My Big Helper, because she’s in the midst of writing a massive research paper now, I haven’t made her write out the answers to the curriculum questions, but we’ve enjoyed discussing them together.  We’ve also watched a few as a family, and when I saw one on the Sermon of the Mount, I watched that one, too, because that’s what we’re studying in Sunday School right now.  I love how full of scripture and history each video is!

Having spent the last month with Drive Thru History at our fingertips, we love this curriculum more than ever!  The opportunities to interact with the staff through the secret Facebook group for subscribers is great because they answer questions and you can see how other families incorporate these lessons into their lives.  While we love videos alone, the interaction that the social media and website provide are wonderful perks that make subscribing a definite plus over simply purchasing the DVDs.  I love all the benefits of this program, and we’re excited to Drive Thru History with Dave Stotts over the coming year.  It’s definitely our favorite history program ever.

PS – Drive Thru History Adventures is offering 20% for readers of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.  If you’re a subscriber, follow this link for more information about the special.