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Movies and Your Child
Parents often despair that their children watch too much television. However, movies can also be a great source of knowledge.
Movies are often seen only as a form of entertainment, and little else. However, movies can also be a great source of knowledge and inspiration. If you can find a movie to supplement your child's textual knowledge, this can help greatly increase his interest in a particular subject.
If your child enjoys watching movies, consider making a trip to your vcd library and picking up a movie you can all watch together as a family, and one that will increase your child's knowledge on a particular topic.
Discussions
However, just showing your child a particular movie will not be very helpful if you don't discuss the topic a little after the movie. If you don't have a lot of background information about a particular topic, it helps if you read up a little about it on the Internet, before turning on the movie. You will find that you will not only know a lot more about the subject, but you will also understand and enjoy the movie much more. - and, more importantly, so will your child!
Documentaries
Movies don't have to be in documentary form for them to teach your child something. Remember that your child will watch numerous movies in his lifetime, whether or not you consider them a waste of time. The question is whether or not you can use something that is often viewed as pure entertainment, and turn it into a source for knowledge for your child.
True Stories
A movie doesn't have to be based on a true story for it to be informative. Often, even movies that are fictional, but based on a certain era or around a particular natural phenomenon, can increase your child's knowledge about a certain subject. So if your child is studying weather or storms, watching a movie like Twister, which is based on tornadoes, can increase your child's knowledge and interest in the subject. You can also discuss allied topics after watching the movie together, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis and so on.
Titanic was a love story of a couple that was on the ship that sank. However, before the movie came out, numerous children, even in their late teens, were unaware of the very real tragedy that had actually befallen this grand ship on its maiden voyage, almost a century ago. By watching this movie your children can get a sense of the magnitude of the disaster and its impact.
Similarly, war movies are often based on wars that did really take place, so the discussion following a not-very-gruesome war movie can turn into a history lesson. Talk about what caused the war, who won the war in the end, what were the effects, and so on.
Dissections
During the movie itself you should make remarks about how a particular aspect is so unbelievable. This will encourage your child to start thinking for himself and making observations on his own. After all, you don't want your child to start thinking that movies imitate life to a great degree.
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