Using the VCR to Capture Educational Videos For Free
© Teresa Higginbotham
He whispered again, slowly and deliberately, "Show films." He then turned and left the room upon hearing the reel of film slapping off the film projector in his room. I of course was amazed by his "let the film teach it" attitude and later found out the man had films for everything and really only "taught" about one day per week. That's pretty tough to do when you teach English. I was going to be one of those teachers who inspired and motivated my kids with own brilliant teaching-not by collecting the "You are There" series! As I became older and more experience I found that films, although not the core of my curriculum did have a useful place. Reading through Romeo and Juliet was never quite as inspiring as showing the film and we really never did get the shivers in The Headless Horseman until we heard the hoot owl in the movie. Films are a good thing, within reason and in a homeschool setting they can enhance your teaching and show your child history, literature, science, and geography and other subjects first hand.
Do you use videos and films in your homeschool? Sometimes they can teach a lot of material quickly as well as entertain. I find many educational videos for free in my own library but there is also a bevy of choices playing on television everyday. The trick to all of this is where to look when. Before you even tape a program it might be a good idea to sit down and look at your list of objectives your child is covering this year. Check history--maybe by looking at your scope and sequence you find your child will be learning about westward expansion--write that on your list. You notice over in English your child is doing some poetry-put that on your list. In math your child is doing multiplication tables--put that on your list. Once you come up with a workable list, now you know what to look for every week. Now here are a few places to tell you where to look.
