We're looking a lot at Eastern Europe. This is the episode of Rick Steves' Europe in which he shows us Budapest, Hungary. His half-hour program is such a Great way to bring geography alive!
My kids' first reaction to Rick was to say his voice was funny and squeaky (kids are so critical...), but they are liking him now that he is more familiar, and he really draws them into the places he is sharing. His pacing is fast enough that it never drags, but steady enough that he never leaves even the eight-year-old behind (though, of course, the youngest kids don't always pick up on the subtle details). He brings out interesting historical tidbits and connects us to the language and culture in little ways that really leave us with the flavor of a place.
This episode (and the ones in Poland and the Czech Republic) can raise difficult topics, because his trips to this part of the world necessarily and appropriately include visits to Holocaust memorials and museums dedicated to the memory of people lost and human rights abused under the Nazi and then Communist regimes. I am going to go ahead and have the kids watch these all the way through. The issues are addressed as delicately as honesty will allow and are a respectful and natural way to bring up these hard topics. I did warn the kids after we watched the Hungary video that we will see these things brought up again in the other shows. Poland, naturally, is the most difficult.
OK, parental discretion may be appropriate for the Poland episode. The disparaging nickname of a particular monument is given as "Stalin's penis"... so, a little off-color :P
ReplyDeleteOur kids pretty much just passed it over after laughing in a surprised way at it.