While we’re officially on summer break from homeschool, that doesn’t mean I’m not thinking ahead to how I want to plan for the next school year. Is homeschool planning ever very far away from the mind of the homeschool mom? No. It’s not. Sometimes, it’s like voices in my head. Not like Jack Nicholson in The Shining, you understand. More like Marmee in Little Women.
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One thing that I am mulling over is how to effectively incorporate more self-directed learning by using multimedia. That’s a fancy way of saying how do I use the TV to teach without falling into using it as a babysitter. Not that I’ve ever done that. Nope. Not me.
I have used movies and videos to support subjects, like history. We have the Liberty Kids video series, and my kids still love watching it. I’m not saying everything in it is historically accurate, but it’s a fun series about young America during the Revolutionary War. We’ve also watched the John Adams HBO mini-series while having our own tea party, pretending to be at court with King Louis XVI. Not that it takes much to inspire us to impromptu tea parties.
Up until now, we’ve had to rely on our own DVD collection or rented DVDs for our homeschool planning. Living outside town severely restricts our Internet access. No unlimited data plans on satellite. You’ll never believe how much data a streaming movie takes until you’re choking on that data overage charge. Yikes!
But just recently I hit the jackpot with my wireless carrier and have unlimited data through my phone. Hallelujah! We can watch movies we don’t own! We can do virtual field trips!
- Machu Picchu in Peru.
- Mt. Everest in Nepal.
- The Catherine Palace in Russia.
Here we come!! No passport, hiking boots, oxygen tanks, or foreign language guides required.
One resource for media-directed learning that I like is Pureflix.com. This family-friendly video-streaming source offers a mix of family-friendly & wholesome entertainment which includes movies for all ages, kid’s animated titles, documentaries, how-to’s, hobbies, educational, health & fitness, sports, outdoors and travel plus many inspirational and devotional titles. Did you catch “family-friendly”? Did you know that such a thing still existed?
Not having to block categories or preview movies takes a load off my already full plate. Not to mention, the homeschool titles available, such as Drive-Thru History with David Stotts. I checked other streaming services and haven’t found the American series. Pureflix.com has the whole set.
We are big documentary lovers. Pureflix.com has many documentaries I’ve not seen before, such as biographies of famous people, like John Wesley and Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as people I’ve never heard of, such as Samuel Morris, a missionary in Africa. There’s a short documentary about the Medal of Honor, describing how it is awarded and what it means. Plus tons more.
So, as I’m beginning to think about starting homeschool planning for the fall, I know I want to include more media-rich material because all learning doesn’t come from a book. We love to read, but media brings sight and sound to learning. Now that we have some flexibility with our Internet connection, resources like Pure Flix’s homeschool curriculum will come in handy to expand our homeschooling. I almost can’t wait to start school again. Almost.
See the graphic below for more information. Pureflix.com is offering a free month with registrations now. The service works with Amazon Fire, Chromecast, Google Play, Roku, Apple iOS, and other streaming services.
Now that I’ve shattered your dreams of a summer free of homeschool planning, tell me what new plans you are considering for your next school year.
Georganne
P.S. I heard about Pureflix.com and their free trial program, but I am not receiving any compensation for my review. I performed an honest review of their offerings and was impressed with what I found. As always, you are free to make your own decisions.
