My poor mother.
Not only did I regale her, when I was five and six, with endless stories, when I was a high school sophomore and studying world history, I used to read her from my textbook. Well, heck, I know now it was probably kind of boring, but at fifteen, the stuff was exciting to me. My mother was valedictorian of her high school, however (and Homecoming Queen. And then beget me. Who is neither Homecoming nor valedictorian material. What is up with that?), and had already taken those classes. A long time ago. And sort of just blinked at me and let her mind wander whilst I regaled her excitedly with the mysteries of cuneiform and ancient empires.
I doubt Mom could let her mind wander during the Crash Courses, though. Put together by John Green – and his high school history teacher, natch – these funny, bizarre and informative brush-up courses are so much fun, and I would have probably been a history major if I’d run across them in high school.
I have way too much love for this project. I haven’t yet delved into brother Hank’s courses on Biology, but World History is supposed to be a forty-part series, and we’re already on part 3 – Catch up, next Thursday there’s a new one!
Oh, those Crash Courses look fun. Love that John and Hank.
I just read my summer reading books to my mother…she was spared the textbooks!
Those look like fun videos–Ben and I will have to check them out!
And speaking of mothers, I guess your mother is the first homecoming queen I hve ever met in my whole entire life (my highschool didn’t have one, and no one in college or in my circle of aquaintences since has confessed to being one). So I am glad to know that I have, indeed, met one!
My mother … is kind of hilarious. I think she was Queen because her friends got together and nominated her as a practical joke. Yeah, yeah, she was dating the captain of the football team, but she was shy and quiet and not at all a cheerleader… and yet, they voted her in anyway. She remembers being dolled up to the point of having Vaseline smeared on her teeth, and how much her face hurt after sitting on a float for hours, waving and smiling.
That Queendom thing doesn’t have a lot to recommend it, does it?!
Hi Tanita!
I’m laughing now because I used to read my science textbook to my mother. She always nodded along, but never really commented. It was just so interesting to me that I believed it would be that way for everyone! Boy, was I wrong!
Thanks for making me waste the last 30 minutes watching John Green teach about world history. Too bad this isn’t appropriate for the high school classroom. I know lots of students that would benefit.
Yeah, I think this is more for Lifetime Learning or extra stuff outside of the assigned reading, even, but still – how great of a project! I kind of think that Green has a Point he’s making with these forty sessions, but we’ll see what that is.