MarshMedia Educational Videos (Review and Homeschool Special)

MarshMedia has been a respected name in educational videos for almost my entire life (and I suspect that some of the videos I watched in my elementary years may have been produced by them ;)). Now they are reaching out to the homeschool community with a Homeschool Special to view their videos that cover health topics including hygiene, puberty education, safety, nutrition, immune system disorders, head lice, special needs social skills and special needs puberty, as well as character education for the early elementary crowd.

Puberty
MarshMedia's main programs are those that deal with puberty, and they have a number of selections targeted specifically towards boys and girls separately, as well as for a variety of age ranges, from 3rd grade to 8th grade. Puberty can bring up topics that many parents find difficult to discuss, so having the option to utilize one or more of these videos may be helpful. If you choose to take advantage of the Homeschool Special being offered, I do recommend previewing the videos as a parent to determine if they are suitable for your specific child(ren) and which one is appropriate for your child's maturity level.  Overall I found the puberty videos I previewed to be presented very factually, without a lot of nonsense, and as tastefully as possible considering the sometimes awkward information being presented.
I will mention that "A Baby Is Born" does *very briefly* introduce the words menstruation and sexual intercourse, so if you aren't ready to answer questions that might arise with new vocabulary with your third grader, you may want to wait a little while... ;)

Health and Hygiene
Beyond the puberty videos there are a number of health and hygiene videos, again for a variety of ages.

In the "Take Care Of..." videos (K-3rd grade) Annie and the Funsters tackle hygiene in a style reminiscent of many early ed videos, adding in enough "fun" to keep attention while imparting important information on keeping our bodies clean and healthy.

"Your skin is totally washable!"

I watched "Wash Those Hands" and "Whatsa Hygiene" with my 9 year old. He hates washing his hands, and rolled his eyes at me every time it came up in the videos, but I am hopeful that hearing it from a source besides "Mom" might have an impact. "Whatsa Hygiene" seemed to catch his attention, so you never can tell. :)

Here's a sample/trailer from "Wash Those Hands"


There are a number of safety videos as well, some of which I will preview as I have time before deciding to show them to my son. Others are less relevant to our immediate situation, so I will probably not check out those dealing with Aids/HIV at this time, for instance. However, those are realities that some folks have to address, whether in families or ministry, and having videos to consider as resources may be useful to some. I am interested in the nutrition and manners videos for future use.

SPECIAL NEEDS
I didn't preview the Special Needs videos, but be sure to browse through some of the other TOS Homeschool reviews, as I am expect others touched on them as they fit their situations.

Character Education
MarshMedia has produced a number of Character Education videos that utilize children's picture books to address a variety of issues. A couple that we watched were Emily Breaks Free, which touches on bullying behavior and peer pressure
while Stanley's"This is the Life" tackles healthy eating/behavior.

Although all of the Character Education stories aren't available for streaming, I plan to use many of the ones that are for a good, "quiet break" when the need arises. Although my Youngest is almost 10 he still enjoys a story, and so do I!

You can see "trailers" for most of the videos available for streaming on the MarshMedia website, which will give you a greater idea of what's available than just the snippets I included here.

Not So Nutty Nitty Gritty 

• Company: MarshMedia
• Product: Homeschool Special
• Ages: K-8th grade
• Price: $50 for unlimited viewing of 59 programs until December 31, 2017.

You can visit Marsh Media on the web on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and YouTube.

If you wish to take advantage of the opportunity to introduce the MarshMedia curriculum to your home schooler(s) click on the link below for more information:
https://marshmedia.com/pages/homeschool-offer
Once you reach the landing page, you MUST click on “Homeschool Special” which will take you to a microsite strictly for homeschoolers (note that it may take a few seconds to load, so please be patient). The language on MarshMedia's regular website does not reflect this homeschool special price, and the 24 hour "rental" period does not apply for this offer either. You will have access with no time constraints and unlimited viewing through the end of 2017.

Please click the banner below to visit the TOS Homeschool Review Crew and see what others had to say. As always, I hope that this review was useful to you as you choose where best to spend your homeschool budget.

Blessings~

SmartKidz Media ~ educational videos, flash animated content, and more

Sometimes it seems my youngest child may be a little bit too fond of "screen-time," and the funny thing is that it doesn't seem to matter *what* screen he's watching/ playing with, he just wants to watch. :/ However, it is also useful to have some media available to help keep him constructively occupied when I need to leave him with one of his siblings (while driving the other to practice or something like that) ~ allowing the older sib to have the quiet they need to get their work done.  A little bit of a balancing act in allowing some, but not too much! It also takes a while to sift through the typical venues to find media fitting that profile, which can be somewhat time-consuming. That being said, I was very interested to check out my latest review, the SmartKidz Media Library for Homeschoolers by SmartKidz Media.

SmartKidz Media offers hundreds of educational videos covering a wide variety of topics~ Animals, Nature, Music, Art, Cooking, Travel/Foreign Countries, History, and more (There are even Pilates videos!)

In the screen shot above, the drop down menu you see is from the World Of Discovery tab, and shows the categories of videos available there, which some of the "covers" shown. My family was most interested in the Nature/Animal videos, and some of the travel and cooking videos, so those are the ones we checked out.

We also took a peek at the Mighty E-Book Collection Tab and the My Animal Family Tab

The Mighty E-Book Collection is a section that my almost 8 year old will be allowed to browse more or less on his own. We enjoyed the animated, narrated ebook of "Mice-tro Mozart, the Opera House Mouse" and there are a number of Aesop's fables to be found here, that I want to check out. I appreciate that this collection has some specific age guidelines.

My Animal Family Tab is a section that offers exactly what I was expecting from SmartKidz Media. Educational videos, clearly narrated and very appropriate for family viewing (The story songs weren't our cup of tea, but they might suit a younger child, or special needs learner).

Some parts/things we liked more than others~

All of the videos we watched were well done from a cinematic point of view~ Note: if you have a slower computer or a slower connection you might find that the streaming doesn't stream very well. We had some trouble with the videos on our laptops (Which are older), but were able to view them easily on an iPad 1 and an iPhone 6, so definitely a hardware issue on our end~ if we had a newer TV or newer Roku, it would have been a piece of cake, as the videos can be accessed from those readily.

The narration of the videos was a little choppy at times, as if the narrator was reading from a script, so inflections were sometimes a little odd, but that's not a major issue. In the "Travel" and cooking videos the narrator was also sometimes the translator, and it occasionally seemed as if perhaps the wrong words were chosen (For an American audience, at least~ there are some differences between British/Aussie English and American English...), which made it a little confusing~ not really a like/dislike issue, just more of a heads-up commentary.

We found that some scenes jumped from one right into another without taking a breath, as it were, which can make it difficult to process what is being seen/heard.

Content:
I would like to see age recommendations for *each* video, as well as more "chapters" within those that cover multiple topics (Animals, travel, etc...).

I say this because there are some videos that include content that may not be appropriate for all ages~ it would be nice to be able to skip those sections, and continue through the rest of the video, that is "all-age-appropriate." I appreciated that the cooking videos had "Chapters, and thought something similar could be done with most of the others.

As with all media, different families have different standards, so I would suggest pre-watching most videos if you have a younger/elementary-aged child.  Smartkidz Media offers a 14 day free trial that will let you check the video and reading/learning selections yourself!

There are other tabs that we didn't check out because they didn't fit our family at this time, but might fit yours: Baby Signs, Special Needs, Ready Set Sing, and Living Skills Songs. I glanced at the Quick Find Study Guides, and they appear to be something of an electronic index card box~ with basic helpful information at your fingertips~ Rules, Definitions, and Examples for Language Arts, Math, Social Studies Basic study guides, and Science introductions and definitions.

Not So Nutty Nitty Gritty 

• Company: SmartKidz Media
• Product: SmartKidz Media Library for Homeschoolers
• Ages: all ages (13+ independently, less that 13 with parental guidance)
• Price: 
• 14 day free trial
• $10/month
• $99/year

You can visit SmartKidz Media on Facebook, and Twitter.
Please click the banner below to visit the TOS Review Crew and see what others had to say. As always, I hope that this review was useful to you as you choose where best to spend your homeschool budget.

Blessings~

That's Entertainment! (Some favorite YouTube videos new and old)

For your entertainment~ some music, some stories, some fun!

Too many nifty videos came across my newsfeed tonight, as well as a some cruising on YouTube...

First: A fantastic performance of Going On A Bear Hunt by author Michael Rosen~ (thanks, Marcy!)

Next, a musical mashup by a children's performing arts group~ I didn't know some of the newer pieces (And don't plan to change that really), but by and large it is very fun!




An insane bit of choreography... (where do you dig these things up, Suzanne?)



This one has been around for awhile, but it is just too amusing....




One more just because we love it... (We caught a bit of Celtic Thunder on PBS this weekend)...




Now, THAT was fun!

Enjoy!

Blessings~

Zane Education Videos

Supplementing traditional learning is something homeschoolers understand very well, as do many other-schooled families. Many of my children's friends have parents who are effectively taking on their children's education themselves "After-school hours," as they explain the math, help stimulate ideas for projects, and read the text aloud for those who are more audio learners. For those who are interested in some sort of supplementation, particularly audio/visual, Zane Education is worth a look.

Zane Education offers online educational videos for all of the subjects you see listed in the chart on the left. There are 1544 videos that cover 384 topics. That is a LOT of information!
In addition to the videos themselves, teacher resources are provided in the form of Lesson Plans and quizzes.

The videos tend to be narrated stills, and each one is entirely subtitled. The subtitles are what Zane Education calls the missing piece. From the managing director of Zane Education: "The typical child finds the opportunity to learn visually much more fun, interesting and compelling – and it often helps motivate their desire to learn. However for those children with special abilities and special educational needs, it offers an opportunity that the more traditional text-based style of learning often does not, or cannot satisfy. Similarly, if you are the parent of a child learning English as a Second Language, you will quickly find the difference it makes.

The benefits of the audio-visual nature of video combined with the essential subtitling should not be ignored."



I will admit that the range of videos is rather stunning, so it is rather helpful to utilize the array of catalogs and user guides that can be downloaded (note: scroll down the linked page to locate the user guides).  It may also be wise, when contemplating Art, Science, History and Health videos to use parental discretion(Nudes in the art section, evolution in Science and History, and sex education are topics to be aware of).

What we liked:

• The vast array of topics, particularly history, music, and science!
• A variety of narrators
• Number of resources available beyond the videos (quizzes, guides, etc...)
• The range of ages for which videos are available
• Availability of a Christian Learning Guide written specifically for the Zane videos which helps to present the Christian Worldview. This is most useful for high school aged students, and parents.

What we didn't like:

• The inability to enlarge the screen
• The icons on the screen that don't appear to do anything
• Inclusion of the aforementioned "PG-ish" and/or humanistic topics, although they could be good springboards for discussion if you determine your children are the right ages for that. 
• The slightly dated feel of some of the videos (Not a deal-breaker, just not current in visual appeal)

To sum up, I feel that Zane Education Online Videos are a little bit like having an audio-visual encyclopedia at hand~ great for introducing, supplementing, and researching MANY topics. 

Not So Nutty Nitty Gritty
Company: Zane Education
Product: Online educational videos and quizzes
Ages: K-12
Price:

• Basic Membership~ Free (Access to unsubtitled math videos and other non-video resources on the website)
• Topic Taster One Month Subscription~ $5 (All videos within one selected topic)
• Bronze Subscription~ $8.99/month or $98.89/year (All videos within one selected subject)
• Silver Subscription~ $12.99/month or $142.89/year (All videos within one selected grade level)
• Gold Subscription~  $17.99/month or $197.89/year (All videos, all subjects, all grades)

Zane Education is running a special through the end of August for readers of my blog.  A 35% discount on the purchase of any annual 12-month Gold, Silver or Bronze Membership subscription using the code ZE497HSM. Insert the code in the shopping cart to receive the discount.

As always, I hope that this review is helpful to you as you choose where to best spend your homeschool budget. Be sure to click on the banner below to read more reviews on Zane Education!

Blessings~

Disclaimer: I received this/these item(s)/service for free as part of the TOS Review Crew Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Virtual Nerd(What? Who you talkin' about?)

Some of the TOS Crew were given a month-and-a-half subscription to a new online Math/Tutoring Interactive Video-based website for students in 7-12th grade, Virtual Nerd. The topics currently covered are Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, Algebra 2, and Intro to Physics, with more in the pipeline for 2011-2012

The basic facts~

Algebra I Topic Search

• There are hundreds of video tutorials to watch for each subject.
• The videos are searchable by keyword, topic and textbook( for instance, in Algebra I, if you happen to be using Prentice Hall: algebra 1, 2004 ed., Holt: algebra 1, 2007 ed., Glencoe: algebra 1, 2004 ed., or Mcdougal Littell: algebra 1, 2007 ed.)
• Each video has an intereactive whiteboard component that follows the video(You can see this in the screenshot above). This allows the student to get more information, as she/he runs into concepts or terms that are confusing or unfamiliar. (I suggest watching the Introductory Video. Scroll down the page linked to see it in action)

Pricing: a variety of options to give you flexibility, depending on your budget and needs *

• Free~ 2 hour trial
• $5~ 1 day
• $19~ 1 week
• $49~ monthly
• $129~ 3 months

So~ What did we think?
Pros:

• My daughter was impressed with the way that the "Whiteboard" worked, with the ability to dig deeper into a given topic.
• This could be a less expensive option than 1 on 1 tutoring, if this is something required in your home.
• Convenient and nothing to "Install" on your computer

Cons:

• For us, it just didn't mesh with the non-traditional Algebra program that we are using. I think that if we were using a traditional textbook, it would have been a better option. We spent a fair amount of time trying to find videos that would coordinate with the lessons being learned, and were not very successful in that quest. 

If you have a student who struggles with Math, I would recommend checking out the other TOS Crew reviews, to see what my fellow Crew-mates have to say. I am fairly certain that there are those using more traditional programs, and may have better insight on Virtual Nerd.

Virtual Nerd has uploaded some videos onto YouTube, so you could check those out to get more of a feel for the "Product". If you like what you see, I would highly recommend signing up for the free 2 hour trial if you have a specific problem you would like to remediate. This will give you a  good chance to see if you are able to find applicable videos quickly and easily. From there, your decision should be easy to make.

As always, I hope that this review is useful to you as you choose where to spend your homeschool budget. As always, but in this case particularly, if you are interested in a "Math Tutoring" style program, I once again highly recommend perusing the other TOS Crew reviews.

Blessings~

*Quick note~ although there is mention of a "Free Account" for "Educators", this is meant for those in group or "Classroom"  teaching situations, and NOT homeschoolers. Just wanted you to be aware. :)

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this/these item(s)/service for free as part of the TOS Crew Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."