"Common Sense" with Living Books and DVDs

I just got a "sign" that we're still on the right track.

My son was wanting to stay up so he could read. This is pretty normal, only usually it's a Star Wars novel. But he's reading on his kindle, which is RARE...and he didn't want to tell us what he was reading.

After about an hour, he came out to the living room, grabbed a handful of pennies, and said, "Mom, if you had any common (jingle jingle), you'd know what I'm reading."

Seriously? 

My son—on his own, during summer break—was in my office reading "Common Sense" by Thomas Paine!!! Not only that, he then came over to me, and had me look up a quote he had memorized, because he wanted that Thomas Paine book, too!!! WHAT???

When I pulled up the page, in addition to the different volumes of Paine's works, there was one called "The Ultimate Collection: All Works Plus Letters and Rarities Plus Biography"—over 1000 pages long. "THAT'S the one I want you to order, Mom!" Seriously? Yes, he was serious. And he'll read it. He might not read the entire book, but I don't really care if he reads every page. (It was only $0.99 for the Kindle.) I'm just glad he WANTS to read it!

http://smile.amazon.com/THOMAS-PAINE-COMPLETE-WORKS-COLLECTION-ebook/dp/B005FT8G8Y/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1408019054&sr=8-5&keywords=thomas+paine

How did he discover Thomas Paine, and why in the world is he so interested in reading his works? Well, it started with a video series I purchased last Spring on American History, "Liberty's Kids." Lately, he's been watching it whenever he can—especially in the van when we're driving around town. This is quite the switch from playing Terraria and Minecraft all the time. So, his interest in American History has been piqued, and his comment last night was, "Well, they keep talking about what he wrote, and I just figured I'd read his books. He might not sound that smart, but he sure can write!"

I'm just beside myself. It's finally some tangible confirmation that we are doing the right thing homeschooling him and an affirmation of the Charlotte Mason method all rolled into one.
 

http://www.amazon.com/Libertys-Kids-The-Complete-Series/dp/B00CMDPTTA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407984583&sr=8-1&keywords=liberty+kids+dvds 

 

So, I'm going to highly recommend Liberty's Kids DVDs. The 4-DVD set (with over 20 episodes) is on sale now only $5.00. It's an animated series with very famous actors doing the voices taking you through the American Revolution from the establishment of the colonies through George Washington as President.

There's also a website for more fun: http://www.libertyskids.com/