It’s no secret that our family loves movies. I blame my Dad. He loved to watch movies. He loved to collect movies. In fact, my Mom is still trying to get rid of all the movies they collected because she simply doesn’t sit and watch them without him – nor does she have the time.
My husband loves movies just as much as I do, so it’s no surprise that my kids got the movie-loving gene too. Most Friday nights we try to rent or watch a new-to-our-family show. Sometimes we rent them from Redbox, sometimes through Vudu and sometimes we know it’s going to be a “keeper” so we just buy it.
Then, we order pizza, get a few special candy treats, and settle in for a nice night as a family. During the fall and winter months, we add hot chocolate to our list of “must-haves” for movie night.
Homeschooling with Movie Studies
Several years ago I came to the realization that we watched so many movies that could be used in our homeschool for a variety of reasons. Whether it be historical, scientific, or something else, there is always something to be learned from them. I mean, how fun is it that kids really can learn by homeschooling with movie studies!
I started paying more attention to the movies as my kids watched and I would often pause them to ask questions about different parts. Eventually my kids “got over” that, so I took to paper. I wrote out questions for them to answer after they watched. They weren’t fond of turning movies into schoolwork, but they muddled through since they could still watch the movies.
Homeschooling with Movie Studies can provide so many great activities and even enhance your learning experiences. That’s why I love using them with my kids! You can easily build a unit study with videos.
- Literature – Many movies are based on books, so why not have your child(ren) read the book first and then watch the movie. They can then compare and contrast both. This is a great way to help them work on their critical thinking skills and even do some prewriting and brainstorming for a paper!
- Science – Some movies may not be directly about science, but you can find something in the movie to research more about and run with it. For instance in our Lion King Movie Study, students will research and learn more about lions.
- History – Many movies your child(ren) will watch might be set in a past time period. This is a great springboard to let them research and learn more about that period in time – the people, the art, the music – every aspect.
Check out our Movie Review Pack to extend the learning!
Our movie studies have several different parts to them. Each of them plays an important role. But more importantly, I want my kids to know that learning doesn’t just come from a book or a lecture. Homeschooling with Movie Studies can be as simple as watching a documentary but you can also bring in learning with family-friendly movies your kids love already!
Discussion Questions
The discussion questions are perfect for kids of all ages. The questions are a great way to help kids think about the movie critically and look deeper than just what they see. This is a simple way to sneak in some handwriting and even some grammar while they work on writing sentences with correct punctuation and structure.
Venn Diagrams
Kids of all ages can benefit from Venn Diagrams. They are a fun, visual way to help kids find the differences and similarities in two characters, between the book and movie, or between two variations.
Character Analysis
Part of studying a book or movie involves analyzing the characters. This page in our studies will help students look at specific characters more deeply and hopefully inspire them to explore the characters.
And more!
Our movie units also include some additional pages that vary from study to study. Sometimes it might be a timeline, sometimes it might be a creative writing project. Each study is unique to the movie and strives to stretch the student in several different areas.
Canon MX492 Wireless All-IN-One Small Printer
Georgia-Pacific Spectrum Standard PaperCinderellaCinderella (2015) (Theatrical)Ever After: A Cinderella Story
Download your Movie Studies today
To download the Cinderella & Ever After Movie Studies, simply add it to your cart and then checkout. Due to the rating of Ever After, this study is geared toward kids 13+. Please use your own discretion with your children when viewing this movie. **Upon checkout, you will be added to my Weekly Newsletter list.**
Be sure to check out all our other movie studies!
Annette lived many years as an exhausted wife of 1 and mother of 6. Grab your fuzzy blanket, pour your favorite drink, and browse through our encouraging tips, printables, and curriculum options. Read more about me and the ministry here at In All You Do
This Post Has 4 Comments
I absolutely LOVE the idea of watching a movie associated with something we are studying. I have looked for a study you may have done for a movie with a historical context, but haven’t found one yet. Would it be possible for you to send me a link to one you have created, so I could get the idea of activities that could be used with a historical movie? We’ve been studying US history and have watched several movies or made for tv movies or series, but didn’t think of creating a study to go with the movie. We’re finishing WWI, which has several movies that have been made and have watched a couple of them, but as we get closer to the present more movies seem to have been created about a historical event. I plan to watch quite a few in the near future with my son and would love to incorporate a study with some of them if possible. If I can get an idea of activities to include in a study, I can create some of my own I hope.
So far I haven’t done a movie study with historical context. But that is a great idea for next year! You are welcome to download one of our other movie studies to see what is included in them and help give you some ideas.
Just learning how to do these studies. With the discussion questons, do you pause during the movie or discuss after? Do they write it down or do they just give their answers verbally?
I think that depends on the age(s) of your children. If you have younger children, you might need to stop the movie and discuss it. However, I recommend watching it all the way through at least once so they can see how it flows together. Then I would see if they could answer any of the questions. If they can’t, then you could watch it again and stop it as needed. It also might be a trial and error thing for you. Let me know if you have more questions!