It doesn’t take a lot of research to figure out that homeschooling has become a more accepted method of education in the United States. Though there are many states where parents still fight for their rights in home education, you don’t have to go very far to find a person who at least “knows someone” or “has a neighbor” who homeschools. And, over the years, the perception of a homeschooled student has changed. People are discovering that they are generally well-spoken, intelligent and well educated. Imagine that!
Not only has the general public come to accept our educational choices for our children, but Hollywood has as well. There are a growing number of conservative folks in the area of film, and they are reaching out to us. We are a growing market with a voice, and it seems that, finally, we are being heard! Over the course of the past decade, several independent and mainstream film-makers have been producing more and more family-friendly films.
Now, one company, Grace Hill Media, desires to reach out to homeschool families by making FREE curricula to accompany their family-friendly films they are publicizing. This idea began with the recent film, Dolphin Tale. It is an inspiring story about a young dolphin, injured by a crab trap, and brought to an aquarium to recuperate. One of the main characters in the story is homeschooled, and she is portrayed as a social and intelligent young person – a refreshing thing to see coming out of Hollywood!
To reach the homeschool audience, Grace Hill Media has provided free accompanying curricula in the form of a downloadable eBook. It contains unit study activities that go along with the events in the film. This particular eBook includes activities for grades K through 12, and students will compile a notebook with the experiments and projects they complete from the book.
Continuing with the momentum, there are eBooks for the straight-to-DVD series, Little Angels, produced by Roma Downey. Geared toward preschoolers, this Christian animated series teaches letters, numbers and Bible stories. The accompanying eBook contains activities for youngsters that complement the lessons learned, along with activities for an older sibling to guide their younger brother or sister through the projects.
Most recently, we created an ebook to accompany the movie, War Horse, released over the Christmas holiday. This movie focuses on the experiences of a British horse during World War I and his adventures as he moves from one side of the battle to the other. Because of the nature of war, this movie caters to older students and the curriculum provides activities for junior high and high school. It includes SAT vocabulary words, composition activities and even SAT reading comprehension practice.
These amazing curricula are offered to anyone as free printable eBooks. With an email address and a password, you can access these books at www.homeschoolmovieclub.com. As more interest in this site is created, a louder voice is raised to the media for more family-friendly films! And as more family films are released, more FREE unit study curricula will be made available for everyone!
Sherri Seligson has homeschooled her children for 18 years and is the author of Apologia’s high school Marine Biology curriculum as well as “Interning for High School Credit” and several of the eBooks for Grace Hill Media, including their most recent addition, “War Horse.” You can meet Sherri at the FPEA 2012 Convention where she will lead a workshop titled “The Apprentice: Getting High School Credit for Internships.”
