Do you sometimes wonder why children think that school is boring? Do you try and incorporate things like books, unit studies, movies into your school to help keep things interesting? Well, I know a company that you will HAVE to get to know that can help you do just that: Zeezok Publishing.
Zeezok has been around since the early 1990's helping homeschoolers everywhere. Then in 2003 they started building their title base beginning with a unit study on Ancient China. Then in 2010, came Z-Guide's to the Movies. These guides take movies and helps you to easily incorporate them into your learning process while making it fun and interesting for your children. Instead of just watching a movie, Z-Guides are specific to certain time frames in history, that also include 10 activities building on the movie experience. The Z-Guide tells you exactly which movie to use and almost all of them are available through Netflix or your local library.
The Product:
At the beginning of the guide their is a "How to Use the Guide" as well as a "Topic Overview." The overview gives a broader explanation of the actual time period that the movie is set. Then there is a "Movie Synopsis" which gives a snippet to the student of what is going on in the movie, between the characters, and some of the events that are happening.
Then there are 10 activities, like I said earlier, for every Z-Guide. The first one is always Review Questions, which are to be answered WHILE the student is watching the movie. This process makes the student an active learner, as opposed to a passive learner, because they have to pay attention and remain focused in order to keep up with the questions and the movie at the same time.
The other activities serve to build interest around the historical time period that the movie is set. Your student will also use research and writing skills while they work on other of the activities. They have also included at least one hands-on activity, a worldview activity, and a Filmmaker's Art activity. There are also Family Discussion questions which help make this a family activity. All the answers are provided for you at the end of the Z-Guide, so you don't have to "know" everything.
The Z-Guides are created to be done in about a week doing two activities per day. These guides are made as a supplement for your history curriculum, not the core. You can view a sample of a Z-Guide and check them out for yourself.
Our Experience:
When I heard that we were being offered this as a review, I jumped at the chance. We chose the story of Kit Kittredge: An American Girl. Since we hadn't really gotten into this time period yet, I chose this one mainly because it was an Elementary Z-Guide, so I thought it would fit us best with a 1st and 3rd grader. I also chose this one because Kit is an "American Girl" and my girls know about them. :)
Once I received the Z-Guide I perused it and printed out the first activity - the Review Questions - as well as the movie synopsis so that Arianna would have them available to her and she could read them to her sister. This movie is based in The Great Depression, so I also thought that we could relate to it more now based on our current economic status.
The girls were very excited to watch a movie as part of school, as they usually are. Here's a picture of all three kiddos watching and listening. The clipboard Arianna is holding has the list of questions they were trying to find the answers for during the movie.
My Thoughts:
For $12.99, I think these Z-Guide to the Movies, are well worth it. And they also have several movies available for purchase in case you can't find the movie locally to "rent." The price for the movies vary so you can check the website for what they have available and for how much.
I love that the guides are able to be chosen by historical time period. Then you can check the grade level for the movies/guides to help you decide which would work best for your family and for your studies. And because these are downloaded straight to your computer, you can use them again and again if you have a larger "spread" of children. So for our family, we will probably use this again in a few years when Seanan is older and the girls will still be in school.
Zeezok Publishing has more then just the Z-Guide to the Movies. They also have audio books, ebooks, Presidential Penmanship, Great Musician Series, and some others so be sure to check them all out. I am sure that we will be continuing to use the Z-Guides as well as other offerings of Zeezok as we continue on our homeschooling journey.
Make sure you head over to the TOS Homeschool Crew and see what my crew members thought about Zeezok Publishing . If you have any questions you can contact them via email. You can also find them on Facebook
Zeezok has been around since the early 1990's helping homeschoolers everywhere. Then in 2003 they started building their title base beginning with a unit study on Ancient China. Then in 2010, came Z-Guide's to the Movies. These guides take movies and helps you to easily incorporate them into your learning process while making it fun and interesting for your children. Instead of just watching a movie, Z-Guides are specific to certain time frames in history, that also include 10 activities building on the movie experience. The Z-Guide tells you exactly which movie to use and almost all of them are available through Netflix or your local library.
At the beginning of the guide their is a "How to Use the Guide" as well as a "Topic Overview." The overview gives a broader explanation of the actual time period that the movie is set. Then there is a "Movie Synopsis" which gives a snippet to the student of what is going on in the movie, between the characters, and some of the events that are happening.
Then there are 10 activities, like I said earlier, for every Z-Guide. The first one is always Review Questions, which are to be answered WHILE the student is watching the movie. This process makes the student an active learner, as opposed to a passive learner, because they have to pay attention and remain focused in order to keep up with the questions and the movie at the same time.
The other activities serve to build interest around the historical time period that the movie is set. Your student will also use research and writing skills while they work on other of the activities. They have also included at least one hands-on activity, a worldview activity, and a Filmmaker's Art activity. There are also Family Discussion questions which help make this a family activity. All the answers are provided for you at the end of the Z-Guide, so you don't have to "know" everything.
The Z-Guides are created to be done in about a week doing two activities per day. These guides are made as a supplement for your history curriculum, not the core. You can view a sample of a Z-Guide and check them out for yourself.
Our Experience:
When I heard that we were being offered this as a review, I jumped at the chance. We chose the story of Kit Kittredge: An American Girl. Since we hadn't really gotten into this time period yet, I chose this one mainly because it was an Elementary Z-Guide, so I thought it would fit us best with a 1st and 3rd grader. I also chose this one because Kit is an "American Girl" and my girls know about them. :)
The girls were very excited to watch a movie as part of school, as they usually are. Here's a picture of all three kiddos watching and listening. The clipboard Arianna is holding has the list of questions they were trying to find the answers for during the movie.
My Thoughts:
For $12.99, I think these Z-Guide to the Movies, are well worth it. And they also have several movies available for purchase in case you can't find the movie locally to "rent." The price for the movies vary so you can check the website for what they have available and for how much.
I love that the guides are able to be chosen by historical time period. Then you can check the grade level for the movies/guides to help you decide which would work best for your family and for your studies. And because these are downloaded straight to your computer, you can use them again and again if you have a larger "spread" of children. So for our family, we will probably use this again in a few years when Seanan is older and the girls will still be in school.
Zeezok Publishing has more then just the Z-Guide to the Movies. They also have audio books, ebooks, Presidential Penmanship, Great Musician Series, and some others so be sure to check them all out. I am sure that we will be continuing to use the Z-Guides as well as other offerings of Zeezok as we continue on our homeschooling journey.
Make sure you head over to the TOS Homeschool Crew and see what my crew members thought about Zeezok Publishing . If you have any questions you can contact them via email. You can also find them on Facebook
*** I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2011-2012 Crew and receive free products and services in exchange for a thorough and honest review. Though I am compensated with free products, I am not compensated in the form of money for any of my reviews. My reviews will always reflect my honest opinions, findings, beliefs and experiences with the products and services that I receive.***
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