Flocabulary is a super-cool company that uses hip-hop to teach kids math, science, social studies, English and more.
To celebrate Black History Month, Flocabulary made a series of music videos — like the one below about Martin Luther King Jr. — that parents can use to engage their kids about the importance of Black History.
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BuzzFeed spoke to Flocabulary CEO Alex Rappaport, who says there’s a scientific basis behind using hip-hop to teach kids.
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“The human brain evolved to be a sponge for music and rhyme," Rappaport says. "When I was in high school I had dozens of rap songs memorized, but I couldn’t remember the definition of a word like ‘obsequious.’”
(The video above tells Harriet Tubman's story.)
To make the best music possible, Flocabulary has a studio in their Brooklyn office where they record both local artists and rappers from Atlanta and Los Angeles.
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"We’ve always been focused on striking the right balance between making the highest quality educational content and creating music you might hear on the radio," Rappaport says. “The educational content can be great, but if a student doesn’t like the music, we haven’t done our job well enough.”
(The video above tells George Washington Carver's story.)
"Black history is fundamental to American history, but it hasn’t gotten its fair share of coverage in the traditional curriculum," Rappaport says. The story of Katherine Johnson (told below) is a great example.
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"Johnson was instrumental in the U.S. space program, but very few people knew her story until Hidden Figures was made," Rappaport says. "We think such an inspiring and influential story deserves to be told."