At the end of last year, and again this fall and throughout the year, I am using documentaries with my 16 year old son.  We watch them together, and I will pause it and talk about something if he has a question - or if I feel he may not understand a term, or what is being discussed.  I feel this has worked out well for us, and that he has learned a lot. 

One of the reasons I like this, is that we don't just read everything together -- although there are still some things we will sit and read through together.  I like watching something together, as a well done documentary can give you those visuals that come along with the narration.  You can read about the tenament housing in New York City, and maybe see a few photos - but the visuals a well done documentary will give you will far surpass that.

Right now, we are watching "New York:  A Documentary."  At first, I thought this would be about the state of New York, but it really is specifically about New York City.  Of course, the state was brought into it, as with the Erie Canal being discussed.  This is 14 hours, and we are taking it 2 hours a week.  I have learned a lot - I never knew that Alexander Hamilton was killed in his late 40's in a duel.  They had to duel in New Jersey, because Alexander Hamilton had been instrumental in having dueling banned in New York after his own son was killed in a duel.  It seems the Hamiltons were not so good at dualing.

It was interesting seeing the creation of Central Park, and all of the history surrounding it.  Also, I never knew that Manhatten used to be hills and valleys - streams and ponds.  It was totally leveled, ponds and streams filled in, and the grid planned long before the population grew to what it became later.  Is that what Joni Mitchell was talking about when she wrote "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot ... don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got 'till it's gone."  Well, it was true with Manhatten.  An afterthought - "Whoops, we need a wilderness place to get away from it all ... "  A manmade park after they destroyed what it used to be for the sake of commerce.  And what is the most obvious thing they forgot to plan? Parking.  I've lived in New York all my life, and never knew much of this.  Well, I knew they messed up on the parking : )  .

We are utilizing Netflix for our movies and documentaries, though there are others you could use - I've heard that Blockbuster is even better, with more choices, though I'm not sure that is true.  It has become part of our homeschool budget, and works out really well for us.  I'm busy, and getting a movie from the library - the limited choices, the putting it on hold and waiting for the call that  it's in, the getting in the car to pick it up ... all eliminated with Netflix.  With Netflix (or Blockbuster - or ... other?) it comes in the mail.  I simply place it back in the mailing envelope when we're finished and mail it back out.  Postage is taken care of.  The turn around is very fast.  I have the movies or documentaries we'll be watching in my "Queue" - and as soon as they receive the one we just finished, they mail the next one up in my "Queue" to me. 

Documentaries are not unlike history books.  They will have a bias, and as adults watching with our teens, it is our job to help them work through that.  I'm not against watching things we disagree with, and discussing the evidence, etc.  I especially like it when the other side will put out a rebuttal documentary.  It's a great way to expose the teens to the agenda behind the propaganda out there.

I wish there were more Christian documentaries available.  Maybe somebody reading this will get the notion to start their own "Christian Netflix" type of business. 

Deb Turner - Homeschooling from the Heart
The Old Schoolhouse Magazine
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Deb Turner has been homeschooling for 20 years, and is thrilled to have yet another 10 to go. She and her husband, Craig, have 5 children and 3 grandchildren.  Craig works as a mechanical engineer, while Deb enjoys raising her children and loving up her grandchildren. She also enjoys writing and gardening.