Product Details

• Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Master Communications, Inc.
• DVD Release Date: September 1, 2009
• Run Time: 30 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002AT4M12
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #118,213 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Features include:

•MPAA Rating: NR
•Format: DVD
•Runtime: 72 minutes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tap into children's natural curiosity to teach social studies, September 27, 2009

By 

Jennifer Bogart "@ Quiverfullfamily.com" (Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Families Of Guatemala (DVD)

Approximately 30 minutes in length, this disc contains an episode following a child living in a rural area of the featured country, as well as an episode following a child from an urban area. A wide diversity of living and economic situations are depicted throughout the series for a diverse exposure to life in the country being explored.

Each child's daily life is captured on film as an English-speaking child shares observations, and explanations revolving around the daily tasks taking place in the film. The families all speak in Spanish and no translation for their conversations is provided. However, English subtitles for the English commentary are provided and can be turned on or off as desired.

Typically covering a period of two or three days from morning wakeup to evening bedtime, vast arrays of educational concepts are presented within a rich, living context. Children are able to see first hand what the families eat, what they do for work, how their children are educated, their religious practices, climate, history, and much more are all woven into the narrative that accompanies the video footage. With this information naturally woven into a child's daily life it is much easier to absorb and seems far more relevant than dry facts in a geography textbook or atlas. These are living, breathing children whose lives serve to teach our children about their country and culture.

Ranging in age from seven- to twelve-years-old, the lives of the children featured throughout these new releases will appeal the most to those in approximately the same age range. With children their own ages to study, comparisons are easily made between their own lives and those of the children living in these families in other countries. That being said, even our youngest at one-year-old, and the adults in our home were fascinated by the first-hand depictions of life as it is lived amongst the inhabitants of the country.

Families of Guatamala contained our family's favourite episode of all. Seven-year-old Marieelena lives on a farm in the mountains of Guatemala, and it is here that we were able to watch her family and their employees roast coffee beans, shell macadamia nuts, and milk cows. Mayan agricultural practices are explained, and her grandmother bags cream to sell in small, transparent plastic bags - extraordinarily interesting.

The production quality resembles that of an excellent home video or mediocre documentary. For the most part, this level of quality is more than adequate for the job, but at times when there is a noted contrast between areas of shadow and light, or there are large white objects, the glare in the areas of light can become nearly blinding. This heavy glare at times obscures details and makes some scenes difficult to watch. My six-year-old daughter was also somewhat bemused when the seemingly omniscient abilities of the child-narrators first appeared. "How does he know what his mommy is doing while he's in school?" she asked.

A .pdf teacher's guide is included on each disc and contains a full script of the episodes, discussion questions, quizzes, additional activities, recipes, and more for each country. A mini-unit can be quickly pulled together with the use of the materials provided on the DVD, or the film can be used as a supplement to any geography or social studies curriculum. I do recommend some time between the discs; due to the similarities in culture, climate, and many other factors between these Spanish-speaking countries it is easy for elementary-aged students to mix up the facts they've learned and attribute them to another of the nations they've recently studied.

All in all, this new additions to the Families of the World series is a wonderful additions to the educational DVD collections of educators, libraries, and ambitious parents everywhere. I know that my children are invariably curious about the lives of other little people like themselves - it's this curiosity that drives the opportunities for education found within the disc. I'm very pleased to use this natural desire to learn more about other children to develop a good general overview of the lives of other families around the world.

2.0 out of 5 stars Good video, poor disk, January 15, 2012

By 

Jessica Johnson (Spartanburg, SC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Families Of Guatemala (DVD)

These Families of the World videos are great, educational tools. However, they use poor materials and are overpriced. For only 2, 30 min. segments, $30 is ridiculous! New, professionally made movies are not that expensive! Taking advantage of educators like this is beyond belief. I own several of these and the material used to make them is very low grade. For this price you would expect better quality DVDs. My copy of Puerto Rico families was only played 2x. When I went to clean the disk it cracked down the middle. I looked at the back and the disk quality is that of a burned disk copy, not the professional grade you expect from a DVD purchase.