YouTube Unit Study Homeschooling Christian Medly Playlists

"Can I watch something?" kids as well as adults are drawn to media. I love to make the most out of the wonders of technology by preparing for them fabulous material to enrich their minds. So, I prepare a playlist on Youtube with a medley of styles, all which have something to do with our topic for the month. For example, our Astronomy playlist, with science songs on astronomy, LDS primary songs that teach principles around the subjects of the stars, the sun and Heaven.

Here are some links to our playlists.

Anatomy
American West
Astronomy
Botany
Geology
Geography
Music
Physical Science
Weather, Seasons Water Cycle 
Zoology

My kids and I love to use YouTube playlist to  on YouTube for "entertainment" screen time.  I pop out my Galaxy 3 (so outdated, but it works great!), I plug it to the speakers, and prop it up for my kids to watch as we commute to SLC, field trips, Walmart, TaeKwonDo or anything that will take more than 10 minutes. Any semi-long  or long commute.

HOW TO USE IT:  I will pause it (if we hit a stop at an intersection), and make a comment on what I liked, what I didn't know that I learned. Then I will ask them to share with me what they liked, what they learned, what they wonder.

GOOD USE: Media is a tool. As knife, it can be instrumental in accomplishing a good goal, like cutting an apple, or it can be harmful (you can think of your own example of how a knife can harm).  Besides the content itself meeting my quality of goodness standard (good, praiseworthy, honorable, educational), the manner of use has to be good. Meaning, if it's too much, addicting,

BAD USE: letting the kids spend hours watching media, even if it's educational, is bad for their brain development!




RECOMMENDATION:  Prepare good content and a good environment for what your kids watch (Montessori principle). Then watch for a few minutes, turn it off, and talk about it! The conversation, their telling you what they observe is where the learning happens!
 Do you have some educational videos that you just love? Please tell me in the comments!