The Children’s Hour ‘A Brief History of the American Southwest for Kids’ podcast series covers 23,000 years of history and provides multiple resources for educators, students and families. Courtesy/TCH
EDUCATION News:
The Children’s Hour, an internationally syndicated, award-winning Kids Public Radio show, has launched a new podcast series “A Brief History of the American Southwest for Kids”.
The six-episode series of 20-minute podcasts comes with a Learn Along Guide that meets and cites national education standards. The series covers 23,000 years of history and provides multiple resources for educators, students and families.
The podcast series is geared toward children in 3rd through 12th grades and offers students the opportunity to learn the latest research in the timeline of the settlement of the Southwest United States.
“New Mexico and the Southwest’s history predates the pilgrims coming to America,” explained Katie Stone, the founder and executive director of The Children’s Hour. “That important history isn’t being taught nationally. That bothered me so much, I decided to create resources so everyone, anywhere, can learn it.”
The series was produced from six virtual field trips in New Mexico:
- White Sands National Park;
- Chaco Canyon Culture Park;
- A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Cultural Center;
- Los Luceros Historic Site;
- Two “back in time” field trips to the Pueblo Revolt; and
- Exploring Nationalization.
More than 350 young people attended the live virtual field trips, with more than 250 of those children from Indigenous schools. The team worked with the Native American Community Academy (NACA) School and the NACA Inspired Schools Network to offer free field trips, and to give students the opportunity to learn from Indigenous experts.
Prior to launching the series, each podcast went through a history review team that included New Mexico State Historian Rob Martinez, multiple history professors, Pueblo educators, local tribal historians and other historians to certify their accuracy.
Episode titles:
- Footprints (23,000 years ago to around 10,000 years ago);
- Settling Down (10,000 years ago to 1,000 years ago);
- Uninvited Strangers Arrive (Zuni meet Spanish around 500 years ago);
- Pueblo Revolt (1680);
- Colonization (1700-1864); and
- Nationalization (1864 to present).
“We are really proud of this series and invite everyone to learn about and fall in love with the American Southwest and its unique history,” Stone said.
For more information, go to Podcast Series.
