plain jane Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Are they a regular part of your schooling?- added in at x frequency? Reserved only for sick days? For a topic in science or history would you actually take a day off scheduled curriculum to stop and watch a documentary on the subject instead? Or would you watch the documentary outside of school- lunch or after to fit it in? If they are not important enough to you to warrant time off school do you make your kids watch even of they are not really interested in doing so? Do you require some sort of output after watching one? Looking back at my school days in PS I was never all that interested during movie days- I always viewed them as days that the teacher had nothing planned to teach and needed a back up. I fact, I think in high school I napped through most of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalmia Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 My son has loved and learned enormous amounts from documentaries, especially in history and science. He began watching them at three (I think it was a piece on the Mars rover) and hasn't stopped since. My daughter, on the other hand, is bored out of her mind by them and so I have used them sparingly. I do believe my son had significantly more background knowledge in science and history due to the documentaries at the same age as his sister is now. Maybe I should have forced her to watch them, LOL! Frankly, their value as an educational tool depends on the quality of the documentary and the temperament of the kid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Are they a regular part of your schooling?- added in at x frequency? Reserved only for sick days? In the middle grades, documentaries played an important role in our schooling and were a major part of the curriculum in science and history. In high school, I rarely use documentaries, so all my answers below are for grades 5 through 7. My goal for science and history in middle school is not a systematic comprehensive treatment, but the creation of a broad knowledge base on which to build systematic studies in high school. Documentaries served this purpose very well. For a topic in science or history would you actually take a day off scheduled curriculum to stop and watch a documentary on the subject instead? Or would you watch the documentary outside of school- lunch or after to fit it in? I have never used "scheduled curriculum". We work without a schedule. If I find that a documentary is a valuable resource and meets the learning objectives, I add it to the list of approved educational resources from which my kids can freely choose what to use, and when. If they are not important enough to you to warrant time off school do you make your kids watch even of they are not really interested in doing so? Since my kids choose which of the materials have preselected for the subject they wish to use, they would not watch/finish a documentary they are not interested in. They are free to choose an alternative resource. Do you require some sort of output after watching one? We usually talked about the documentary. I never required daily written output about any of their input, be it books, audio lectures, or documentaries; I only assigned longer term writing projects. Looking back at my school days in PS I was never all that interested during movie days- I always viewed them as days that the teacher had nothing planned to teach and needed a back up. I fact, I think in high school I napped through most of them. My DS learns and retains extremely well from documentaries and could narrate many details. Thus, we have used documentaries extensively in Middle School Earth Science, astronomy and biology, and certain areas of history. DD prefers books and audio lectures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 We use them as part of our studies when something seems to fit. We don't take time off school for a documentary - if it's something worthwhile, it's part of our school day. There might be some written output, but usually we just talk about it. Output might come later as the information from the documentary is added to the student's knowledge of a particular subject. My son in particular has learned a vast amount of science and history from things he's watched over the years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Documentaries are totally part of our curriculum, mainly for history/geography. We watch during a long lunch (about an hour). Often, I will help dd write down key ideas, briefly. For an hour long documentary, that might be six words/phrases. Docs have enriched our hs. For example, last year we watched The Ken Burns series on national parks as part of our US geography unit. Dd was intrigued by John Muir and read several kid books about him. We still joke about how he got sick indoors, but got rid of a cold by sleeping on a glacier! For me, it is critical that the documentaries be top quality programs. I am looking for intelligently written, beautifully photographed docs, not specifically 'educational' films that cover point A, then point B, in a plodding way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 <snip> For me, it is critical that the documentaries be top quality programs. I am looking for intelligently written, beautifully photographed docs, not specifically 'educational' films that cover point A, then point B, in a plodding way. This is the difference between documentaries we watch today and those I saw in high school. That was a long time ago, but I think the word "plodding" is perfect. Gah, I even remember filmstrips. Compare with David Attenborough nature films or Ken Burns documentaries today. No comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 For me, it is critical that the documentaries be top quality programs. I am looking for intelligently written, beautifully photographed docs, not specifically 'educational' films that cover point A, then point B, in a plodding way. This. I have frequently found those documentaries that are specifically designed to be used as "school curriculum" of mediocre quality at best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Χά�ων Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 My son has loved and learned enormous amounts from documentaries, especially in history and science. He began watching them at three (I think it was a piece on the Mars rover) and hasn't stopped since. My daughter, on the other hand, is bored out of her mind by them and so I have used them sparingly. I do believe my son had significantly more background knowledge in science and history due to the documentaries at the same age as his sister is now. Maybe I should have forced her to watch them, LOL! Frankly, their value as an educational tool depends on the quality of the documentary and the temperament of the kid. This is my son as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawthorne44 Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 This is the difference between documentaries we watch today and those I saw in high school. That was a long time ago, but I think the word "plodding" is perfect. Gah, I even remember filmstrips. Compare with David Attenborough nature films or Ken Burns documentaries today. No comparison. I also think that the classroom environment is not conducive to video. I remember once in High School Latin, the week before Christmas break our teacher played a movie during class. It was one of the Ancient Roman Epic movies from when color was new. I love those movies, I love anything to do with Ancient Rome. I'd never seen that movie. I tried really really hard to watch it. Nope. Light conversation in the background and light filtering in from the windows made it impossible. I also remember some from High School Physics class that were well-done and interesting and I slept through them. I ended up with a Physics degree. The guy was entertaining. But, it was right after lunch and... The only thing I learned from them was that Newton on his deathbed said that his greatest achievement was still being a virgin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 For my sons science (he's learning about different animals ever 2 weeks or so) I read to him about the animal on the first day. We discuss the things he likes about that animal and we usually compare them to other animals we know about. Sometime that week we he watches a documentary on that animal or their habitat during his quiet time. He always gets to watch a show or 2 at this time but on certain days I pick what he watches. When we start history I will incorporate documentaries in a similar way. We discuss what he watches but he doesn't have to do any work with the video. He enjoys most of them. Sometimes he gets bored and decides to color while the show is on in the background. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 My boys retain the most from watching history documentaries rather than reading a book or writing history notes. History is also their least favorite subjects so if watching documentaries work, then why not. For science, they love the NOVA ones and to them its a treat for after they finish their school work. They absorb a lot from those too. I don't require any output but my boys discuss among themselves after the documentary which is how I know they understand and can reason their own way out of what they watch. Besides NOVA, my kids like the Bozeman Science videos and the Crash Course videos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 We don't watch them as often as many of you do. Sick days, super-tired days, several afternoons right before we broke for the holidays... We also like really long, old movies. Ben Hur was a huge hit. But day-to-day, DS prefers short videos like the Periodic Table of Videos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS Mom in NC Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Not often. We watched a few on the Founding Fathers, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Civil War and WWII by Ken Burns. We did Band of Brothers with the older two. They were used as part of a unit study, so there were plenty of other related assignments so we didn't need to do more than discussion with the videos. We've watched science videos for pleasure outside of school. Planet Earth, a series on birds, mostly David Attenborough type stuff and space documentaries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helena Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 I add them in here and there. I wouldn't bother if the girls weren't into it. This month I have a couple scheduled in art studies. We'll be watching Ballet Russes and Understanding Art: Hidden Lives of Masterpieces. I also have videos for January to supplement Speech study. This month it's I Have a Dream. We may not always do a full documentary, but short video clips or bios. I love finding weird little videos. :) We just re-watched this one on monarchs because a whole bunch of caterpillars just left our milkweed to make cocoons: When the kids are too sick for class ,they can stay in bed or cuddle up with Sister Wendy. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cricket Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 We usually don't watch them during the school day. our kids arent normally allowed to watch TV during the week but maybe once every month or two in the evening I'll let them watch a documentary. On a long road trip earlier this year, we watched a documentary on Lewis and Clark. We have a video system in the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My3girls Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 We watch a lot of History Channel, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and BBC documentaries as part of our school. My dd12 gets more out of it than the youngers, but they all enjoy them. They do not replace curriculum but enhance. Something about reading about it, talking about it, and then seeing it just helps solidify the idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsmm Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 We watch a lot of documentaries. My kids really like them, and they work well for my auditory learner. Schlesinger media has some great ones, all about 23 min, made for schools. Our library has access to so many that between those and Bill Nye, we have tons from which to choose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 But day-to-day, DS prefers short videos like the Periodic Table of Videos.We love those guys too, especially when something explodes, lol. Apple TV is great because you can mirror whatever is on your computer or iPad. Much better on the big screen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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