We have enjoyed listening to this audio recording of the history of Thanksgiving. We loved hearing little-known facts woven in with the more familiar aspects of the story, and the engaging way that it is presented. This is something we'll return to for years to come, and we look forward to hearing more history programs in the future.
Can't wait to finish listening to the rest of it! It is very fun to listen too and it's nice that it's presented in several different sections. I love history and this gives a lot of good details, some of which I had never heard. The one thing I wish was different was that it not be one long MP3 file. If it was divided into separate files, it would be easier to find your place after stopping. Other than that, it's great!
I learned so much from this recording. Michael starts at the beginning, in Scrooby, England, and takes the tale all the way to 1690 (or thereabouts) when the Plymouth Colony was absorbed into the Mass. Bay Colony. He explains the difference between Pilgrims and Puritans. He also quotes periodically from sources (and mentions books to read for further information). "The First Thanksgiving" is really told like a great story, not a dry lecture. Even my 4-year-old was listening! (A word of caution for parents--there is a brief mention of bestiality. It was a crime and the person was executed. My little one didn't pick up on it, but I personally wouldn't want to explain that to a young child.)
Our family has listened to The Story Of The Pilgrims several times. We just listened to The First Thanksgiving and enjoyed learning even more about the pilgrims, the first Thanksgiving and the fascinating differences between the Pilgrims and the Puritans. The kids had to get used to the different format (more like listening to a talk radio show than a story) but once they listened for a while, they really enjoyed it. Ages 13, 11, and 7. Thanks for an excellent history lesson!
it was hard to keep my kids listening to this. i downloaded it because i thought it would be similar in format to jonathan park series where there are different people with speaking parts like a radio show. Still good info to have for teaching about the first Thanksgiving.
