Light Speed History of the US AP Exam Prep

Planning to have your students take the Advanced Placement test?  This is a gem of a prep tool.  Not planning to take any AP exams?  Please don't skip this review thinking this DVD doesn't apply to your homeschool.  This is one of those times I feel blessed to be a reviewer, as I would have passed up a great tool for high school if not asked to review it!

Light Speed History of the US is brought to you by the same people who developed Standard Deviants.  If you're familiar with these, then you'll know to expect short clips of young adults explaining the topic to the camera, with a few jokes thrown in for good measure (usually groaners, and yet this format works well).  Light Speed is a little more serious than the Standard Deviants, and not as choppy, but the feel of lots of info in short bites still remains. 

If you have a child preparing for the AP exam, the first section of the DVD lets you know what to expect from the test, as well as test-taking and writing tips.  This is valuable information presented in a less formal and more interesting manner than most test prep books (or even DVD's that I have seen).  My favorite section, however, is the 30 in 30.

The 30 in 30 takes the thirty most essential topics to understand before taking the test and runs through them in about thirty minutes (or a little more, we had to pause frequently and restart, so I did not get a good sense of the actual time frame).  This covered main events from the time of the Colonists through the Vietnam War.  Although this is designed for test prep (and I believe would work well), this could be a great tool for homeschoolers who desire a simple "crash course" in US History.  Ever worry that you missed something important in your history study?  Adding this DVD as required viewing may help relieve those fears in thirty minutes.  I'm not promoting using a 30 minute DVD to replace your studies, but adding it as a video timeline of sorts. 

There is a second disc included, which contains a digital workbook.  This would be a must for test prep and could be adapted and used as part of your history curriculum as well.

History of the US is regularly priced at $14.98.  A sale price of $11.24 is currently listed and I also have a discount code to share with you!  If you use coupon code OSH20 at checkout, you will receive 20% off of your order.  This code is good through the end of 2010.

There are other topics covered and at this price,  I plan to purchase a few to add to my high school son's studies.  For me, this is a very reasonable price and a great way to add a little bit of review and highlight what the school's consider essential, as this is not my focus in choosing curricula.  If I can cover that in thirty minute bites, I'm sold.

*Disclosure: I was provided with a copy of this DVD, at no cost, for review purposes.  To see more reviews on this and similar products, check out the TOS Crew site.*