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  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 9, age appropriate for kids over 12; suggested age 12.

  • Is it any good?

    4.0

  • Common Sense says

    Interactive tools, great graphics bring U.S. history alive.

On this site kids can:   create and share content, do research, get homework help, post content, share their knowledge

Why We Rated This on for Ages 12 and Up

The good stuff

  • Educational value:

    With 1,200 records on the site -- out of 12 billion at the National Archives -- some of the keywords your student may enter won't come up with many or any hits. But others will strike gold, with dozens of entries on certain subjects, such as the U.S. Constitution. We hope they continue to add more to the site.

  • User-created content:

    Registered users can create their own Pathways Challenge game, movies, and posters, as well as their own online collection of documents.

  • Messages:

    Sends the message that the study of American history can be visual, creative, engaging, and fun.
 

What to watch out for

  • Violence:

    Historical references to war, slavery, and other violent acts of history.

  • Sex:

    Not an issue.

  • Language:

    Not an issue.

  • Consumerism:

    Not an issue.

  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Not an issue.
 

How safe is it?

  • Personal privacy:

    Registration requires only an email address and password. No name, age, or other info.

  • Online interaction:

    Users who are registered on the site can create their own version of the Pathways Challenge for other players to try and then rate in comparison to others.

  • Parental controls:

    Not an issue.
 

What Parents Need to Know

About Digital Vaults

Parents need to know that this is a 21st century-style site for old-school report research, offering a modern twist to the treasure trove of documents stored at the National Archives in Washington D.C. Tween and teen students can search the site for images of historic documents, photos, and more on the site by keywords. They can also play a sophisticated history matching game and create their own online collections of documents, posters or even make their own movie with the images found here.

Did this review help you decide?

Families Can Talk About

  • Families can talk about the role of technology in your kid's education. Consider hosting a workshop at your school about raising kids in a digital age.
  • Discuss the role of the National Archives. Each of the 10 billion records housed there tells a story often hundreds of years old because it was written down or put on film. Related to that, each of the "records" (photos, documents, tweets) your teen places on the Internet tells their story and is recorded for a very long time. (This comparison may help them be more judicious about what they post on Facebook or MySpace). Read more about the importance of digital citizenship.
Tools and tips that can help

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