believe in hitting the books hard, being self-disciplined, and all that good, old-fashioned stuff.
BUT - there are times for for a fun day - or a fun hour. When I'm sick. When she's sick. When we're looking forward to some exciting event and have trouble focusing. When Mom has to meet with a professional like a plumber or a realtor. When we just need a break.
Now, many a parent-educator would say, "Just take the day off!"
And, certainly that is an option - an option that we sometimes take!
Unfortunately, that has some drawbacks: 1) We don't make as much academic progress as we'd like, 2) we can end up always focusing on favorite, easy subjects while neglecting to master those that require a little more effort, or 3) Boredom can set in (especially on those days when playing outside isn't an option) and we can end up with idle hands - and we all know what they say about idle hands.
So, I researched a set of go-to videos and activities that are ready to go whenever we need them.
In the process, we discovered that these videos also make a nice way to add a little EXTRA productivity to those busy, rigorous days. They provide relaxation and down time between the morning's drill and the afternoon's academic endeavors and can educate and entertain all at the same time. A "working lunch" if you will ; )
So, these videos have become an everyday thing for us. I schedule one or two subjects for each school day - and it's a portion of the day that is enjoyed and anticipated while still being productive.
A wonderful added plus to these videos? Sometimes we easily and enjoyably master memory work before we ever are introduced to the material it relates to. Then, mid-text, my daughter will tie in the memory work she's done to the material she's reading - usually by singing the appropriate line or two from a song. Can't beat that for delight in learning, huh?
Unfortunately, on Youtube the commercials aren't targeted to the audience, and sometimes very inappropriate things are shown. Which means that there are times that I've had a h0rr0r film ad (or other junk I'd rather not see) pop up right before a preschool video with puppets. For this reason, and because I like to be sure that junk in general isn't coming into our school day while I'm folding laundry, I save the videos to a desk top folder for convenience. And, if a favorite video is "taken down," we still have it. It's also nice if the internet crashes while we're doing school : )
I like this site for saving my videos - it's free and I've never had any trouble from it. (ETA: as of Oct 2017, I discovered a problem in this site, and no longer recommend it without reservation - use it at your own risk)
If you like this, check out others in this series:
Video Day: History & Geography
Video Day: English
Video Day: Math
So - here are our favorite SCIENCE fun videos:
The Minerals Song
The Periodic Table Song, with helpful visuals
The Same Periodic Table Song, done by a cute 6-year old
The Cell Song
Classical Conversations - some Songs from Cycle 2
Classical Conversations - Some Science Songs from Cycle 3
Classical Conversations - More Science Songs from Cycle 3
Scientific Method Song
Phases of the Moon
I had NO idea you could save videos to the computer to eliminate the commercials. That is genius! And these looks like awesome videos that my boys would really enjoy. My middle son is currently very interested in the periodic table of elements so we'll be checking that one out for sure.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for dropping by to visit! I wouldn't begrudge them the advertising dollars at all, but when they show ads that don't mesh with our values, that's a big problem! Hope you enjoy the videos, and hope your Son enjoys the Periodic Table. (My Daughter finds it great fun, thanks to this song : )
DeleteLove these ideas in the videos you shared today. Thanks so much for stopping by the #LMMLinkup this week.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing these! I will have to check them out. I never even thought of saving videos to the desktop, thanks for the tip! Your neighbor at Faith Filled Friday
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by - it's great to "meet" you! You've got a great-looking blog : )
DeleteThanks you thank you for sharing these videos! I need some educational videos for my kids and I'm definitely going to try some of these. Thanks for sharing for the #HomeMattersParty
ReplyDelete