Movies, Movies, Movies

I love movies. I have ever since we bought our first VCR and our first VHS movie (Dirty Dancing, ugg I hate to admit that) that I watched 37 times before we got a Video Connection membership and could expand our repertoire.

I really love to use movies in my homeschool. Right now my oldest daughter is at an age that I can show her more mature films and it has been a lot of fun. She is studying the 1960's and 1970's right now in history and last week she watched:

West Side Story

She has been singing the songs all week. Here is one of her favorites:

She has been learning about the Space Race for a few weeks now and so I thought it was a good time to include Tom Hanks in Apollo 13. Watching movies about real events can really bring the topic the kids are reading about alive. They begin to feel connected to the people and events that took place. 

Apollo 13

We have also been learning about the Civil Rights Movement. For my younger kids, I showed them films about Rosa Parks, Ruby Bridges and the movie Selma, Lord Selma. My oldest has already seen these films so I decided to show her Remember the Titans. It is true story about a newly appointed African American football coach and his first season working with a racially integrated team. It is an excellent film and I am excited to share it with her.

Remember the Titans

I stumbled upon this film years ago and was drawn in by the amazing story line and excellent acting. We may not get to see this one because of time, but I wanted to mention it here in case it is something you may want to check out. 

The Right Stuff is a 1983 American film adapted fromTom Wolfe's 1979 book The Right Stuff about the test pilots  who were involved in high-speed aeronautical research at Edwards Air Force Base as well as those selected to be astronauts for Project Mercury, the United States first attempt at manned spaceflight. 

The Right Stuff

And a documentary: The surviving crew members from NASA's Apollo missions tell their story in their own words.

In the Shadow of the Moon

For my younger ones, we are going to reinforce their literature by watching the 1969 movie My Side of the Mountain based on the book of the same name that I am currently reading aloud. It is a wonderful story about a boy who is enchanted with nature and takes off to live on his family mountain alone with nothing but the clothes on his back. It tells all sorts of wonderful details about how he survives. I found this online pdf discussion and activity guide to add some interest.