English & Language Arts: Laserdiscs - homeschooling accessories & lessons
One way to enrich your homeschool student's learning experience is through the use of laserdiscs. The problem most often encountered with laserdiscs is simply a lack of understanding as to how to use them. Using the timeless tale of friendship, "Charlotte's Web" as a teaching tool is a great way to start out with this technology in homeschool.
Most children, even those who may be frightened of spiders, are often still fascinated by them. This film is a great way to pique the homeschool student's interest and draw them into the learning experience. Included on the Charlotte's Web laserdisc is a segment on spiders to help you and your homeschool student explore the misconceptions about spiders. Try gathering information on a chart by breaking it down into "What I Know, What I Want to Know, and What I Learned".
A homeschool exercise to start out with could be to start a discussion about the many meanings of the word "web". There is a segment on the disc called "Master of Webs". Use this to explore the characters in the story. In the first segment, "A Way with Words," the goose in the film gives a definitive way of spelling "terrific." Have your homeschool student come up with words that describe attributes of different characters in the film.
You can use the tale to begin to research myths and how they are used to explain the natural world. The story of Arachne from mythology is a good starting point. "Anansi the Spider" and the Native American pourquoi stories are good resources as well. Your student could act out the folktales to help them understand them better.
Once you have explored the myths, it's time to delve into fact. Discover the anatomy of spiders. What do spiders eat and how do they catch their food? How do spiders spin their webs, and how might their webs differ from one spider to the next? Have your student create a presentation on a subject. You can set up a small center for closely observing spiders. Have your homeschooler keep a logbook to record his or her observations.
Laserdiscs are about the size of an old 78 RPM record. The disk plays full motion video just like a VHS tape or DVD. A laserdisc can jump forward or backward without having to rewind or fast forward. Many laserdiscs come with support materials and teaching guides to help you prepare your homeschool lessons. They often include built-in barcodes to help you go exactly where you want to on the disc. Simply scan in the barcode and jump to the frame you want automatically.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mimi Rothschild is a homeschooling parent, author, children's rights advocate, and Founder and C.E.O. of Learning by Grace, Inc. She and her husband of almost 3 decades reside with their 8 children in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Rothschild co-founded Learning By Grace, Inc. because "our current system of education has broken its promise..." Learning By Grace, Inc. delivers Internet-based multimedia education to PreK-12 children in the United States and throughout the world.
Rothschild has authored a number of books about education published by McGraw Hill and others. Her Daily Education News Blog contains feature stories on alternatives in education.