For educators.
Talking With Pets sits in a space no other kids history show occupies: real history, told through the animal who witnessed it, with a built-in media-literacy lesson hidden inside a comedy. History that sticks, with the sources to back it up. Standards-aligned, ready-to-print guides, one per episode.
What we offer
Talking With Pets sits in a space no other show occupies: real history, told through the animal who witnessed it, with a recurring cast of five real pets and a comedy that never comes at the truth's expense. The history is rigorously sourced, using a strict three-tier storytelling format: What's Documented, What We Filled In, and What We Imagined. That structure gives educators a built-in media-literacy lesson, hiding a masterclass in source evaluation inside a comedy. The delivery is warm and funny, which means it teaches real dates, real people, and real events in a form a child actually remembers. It is a natural fit for families on a car ride and for classrooms looking for history that sticks. It is a Talking With Pets production.
For every episode we build a standards-aligned educator guide: a ready-to-print lesson that pairs the episode with discussion questions, a source-evaluation activity, and the actual standards codes the lesson hits. No vague âaligned to standards.â We cite the indicator.
The feature no competitor has
Every episode sorts what it tells you into three honest tiers, and says so out loud, so a child learns to ask the same question of everything they read. This is the part that earns a teacher's trust, and it is a source-evaluation lesson a kid does not notice they are getting.
The real dates, names, species, and events, drawn from primary sources and named histories. This part is checked before the script locks.
The grounded inferences: the feel of a room, a daily habit, the emotion of a documented moment. Reasonable, never contradicting the record.
The playful, clearly impossible parts the pet dreams up. Always recognizable as invention, never something a child could repeat on a test as fact.
That three-tier system maps directly to the C3 Framework source-comparison and source-selection indicators (D2.His.10, D2.His.12, D1.5), which is exactly why the media-literacy section of every guide earns them.
The guides ready now
Two guides are complete and ready to use. Each cites its specific C3 Framework and Common Core ELA codes at the anchor grade for its band. More are in production, one per episode.
Darwin and Polly
Charles Darwin figured out how all of life works, then spent his later years finding out whether earthworms could hear, by having his son play the bassoon at them. His fox terrier Polly saw it all. The guide turns the episode into a lesson on patience, evidence, and sorting documented fact from grounded inference.
C3 Framework
D1.5.3-5D2.His.10.3-5D2.His.16.3-5D3.1.3-5
Common Core ELA
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.1CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.8CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.3
Togo and the serum run
Everyone knows Balto, who ran the last 55 miles into Nome. Togo ran 264, across the breaking sea ice nobody else would risk. The guide uses the 1925 serum run to teach heroism, fairness, and how to compare what different sources say about the same event.
C3 Framework
D2.His.3.3-5D2.His.10.3-5D2.His.12.3-5D4.6.3-5
Common Core ELA
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.3CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.8CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.1CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.2
Codes are verified against the C3 Framework (NCSS) and the Common Core State Standards for ELA-Literacy. Many states adopt C3 and CCSS directly or with light relabeling, so each guide also maps to your state's social-studies inquiry standards.
Printable PDFs are coming
Downloadable, ready-to-print PDF versions of every guide are in production. We are not posting file links until the printable versions are final and proofed. Join the educators founding list and we will write to you the moment the printable guides are posted, so you can run a lesson without any setup.
Are the Talking With Pets educator guides standards-aligned?
Yes. Each guide cites specific C3 Framework social-studies inquiry indicators and Common Core ELA codes at the anchor grade for its band, rather than claiming a vague alignment. The Darwin and Polly guide (grades 4 to 6) cites C3 indicators D1.5.3-5, D2.His.10.3-5, D2.His.16.3-5, and D3.1.3-5, plus CCSS RI.5.1, RI.5.8, SL.5.1, and SL.5.3. The Togo and the serum run guide (grades 3 to 5) cites C3 indicators D2.His.3.3-5, D2.His.10.3-5, D2.His.12.3-5, and D4.6.3-5, plus CCSS RI.4.3, RI.4.8, SL.4.1, and SL.4.2.
What is the three-tier media-literacy feature?
Every Talking With Pets episode sorts what it tells you into three honest tiers and says so out loud: What's Documented (the real dates, names, species, and events from primary sources and named histories), What We Filled In (grounded inferences that never contradict the record), and What We Imagined (the playful, clearly impossible parts the pet dreams up). That structure is a built-in source-evaluation lesson, and it maps directly to the C3 source-comparison indicators. No competing kids history show has it.
Which guides are ready to use right now?
Two guides are ready. The Darwin and Polly guide is built for grades 4 to 6 and pairs with the episode about Charles Darwin and his fox terrier Polly. The Togo and the serum run guide is built for grades 3 to 5 and pairs with the episode about Togo and the 1925 Nome serum run. More guides are in production, one per episode.
Can I get printable PDF versions of the guides?
Downloadable, ready-to-print PDF versions are coming. Join the educators founding list and we will write to you the moment the printable guides are posted, so you can run them in a classroom or homeschool without any setup.
Is Talking With Pets a good fit for homeschool and classroom use?
Yes. The history is rigorously sourced, the delivery is warm and funny so a child remembers it, and each episode page shows its sources in full. The core tier is written for ages 6 to 10 and an Older Kids tier reaches ages 9 to 12. It works for family co-listening on a car ride and for a classroom or homeschool looking for history that sticks. It is a Talking With Pets production.
Standards-aligned history that sticks, one episode at a time.
Join the educators founding list and we will write to you when new guides go live and when the printable PDF versions are ready. Then explore the episodes your students will remember.