Homeschoolers use a variety of tools to help educate their children. Students learn best in so many different ways. Two of our most important avenues of learning happen to be visual and audio. Over the years we have used so many video or streaming based products. This year alone we used a video based product for History and also supplemental materials for Biology in the same format. We have also listened to classical music (composer study), audio dramas (enhancing books we have read or dramas based on historical events), and books on tape (while drawing, etc.) many, many times during our nine years of homeschooling. When the opportunity to review SmartKidz Media Library for Homeschoolers from SmartKidz Media cam about it seemed like a win - win situation. Through the TOS Review Crew and SmartKidz Media we were blessed with the opportunity to review this new product with a full year's subscription.
SmartKidz Media has made available over 1,000 media related items to homeschoolers to implement into your educational adventure. The types of media that are available, but not limited to, include; videos, music, ebooks, interactive study guides, games, and more in an online streaming format. Currently they offer 2 different payment plans - a monthly membership for $10.00 and a yearly membership for $99.00 as well as a free 14 day trial. SmartKidz Media is adding new media materials to their already large catalogue often. With a membership your family can utilize all the materials anytime, anywhere, and on any type of device. Current compatible devices include: PC, MAC, IPHONE, Tablets, Mobile Phone, and Roku Boxes. Below you will find the different categories now available in the SmartKidz Media catalogue:
World of Discovery (animal wildlife, culture, history, science, travel, exercise, and more)
Music and Fine Arts (music playlists from famous composers, jazz, relaxation, etc.)
Mighty ebook Collection
Baby Signs Program
My Animal Family
Quickfind Study Guides
Learning Special Needs (interactive books, supplementary materials in PDF format)
Living Skills Program
Ready Set Sing
Fun Zone (games)
This educational site could be used in so many different ways. As far as the videos go, they could be used as a supplement to many different studies pertaining to science, history, and geography. You could easily pick one or two videos that contain common topics and build a study around them. There are opportunities to include videos for exercise (P.E.), life skills (cooking lessons), and travel (geography).
The Quick-Find Study Guides is overflowing with rules and definitions for language arts, math, science, and social studies. Coming soon this section will also include study guides for Spanish and Accounting. The Fun Zone is an area many younger students will enjoy through games, jokes, riddles, and puzzles. Families with babies and very young children will enjoy the Baby Signs Programs that teaches sign language through video. So far I haven't even covered half of what is available. Truly, SmartKidz Media has something for every member of your family.
In our home my younger students concentrated on the animal and wildlife videos. This year in science we studied birds and insects that fly so we gravitated toward videos that supplemented the learning in those areas. In August we will be studying oceans and swimming creatures. I have already seen many videos we can use for that area of study as well. My favorite sections were the music playlist. Listening to famous composers while performing chores around the house made the chores much more pleasant than usual. Recently my husband and daughter have become fascinated with sushi (not me). I was thrilled to see that the Lifestyles and Cuisine section had a video on how to create all kinds of sushi. I watched the video and it almost made me wish that I enjoyed eating sushi. I was very excited to see the videos on World War II and the Cold War added to the catalogue and I am eager to share those with my high school student.
Go check out the 14 day free trial from SmartKidz Media and see if this might be a good fit for you and your family. Also see what other Crew Members thought of this product.
Social Media:
No comments:
Post a Comment