I have LOVED my time being a TOS Crew member. One reason ... getting items to review I would have NEVER heard about and probably would have never ever thought we would need or use. That is EXACTLY what happened with Dive Into Your Imagination Review. This has been a blast and we haven't even scratched the surface of the possibilities with this product.
The Product:
So what is Dive Into Your Imagination? Well, it was created by Ocean Annie, a/k/a Annie Crawley, who wants to share her passion for the ocean with the next generation. You can read all about Ocean Annie's life, but she created the company to help change the way we think about not only the ocean but also ourselves. She wants to help children explore while they learn all while helping to build self-esteem and training character.
There are three DVD's: Who Lives in the Sea, What Makes a Fish a Fish, and Dive Into Diversity - all created to explore the ocean, spread Annie's passion about the ocean and help you fall in love with it just as she has. Each DVD is between 35 and 45 minutes long separated into 8 "chapters" as well as several Bonus chapters. The DVD can be watched in English, Spanish, or just with music if you want to immerse yourself in the ocean views.
Now each DVD can be purchased from Annie Crawley's website for just $19.95 each. The individualized Educator Guide in printed form is quite expensive at $299.00, BUT through Ocean Annie's generosity when you purchase any of the DVD's and mention in the comments that you homeschool and would like to have the PDF version of The Educator Guide, she will send it to you for FREE (a $70 value)! Of course, since these guides were created with the classroom in mind, the price does reflect multiple ages and stages using the same guide. And don't forget that the guides come in two age ranges: Pre K - K and 1st - 3rd.
Our Experience:
The DVD we received was Dive Into Diversity at the girls request. It talks about the diversity that you find in the ocean and how ocean animals use each other to survive. They were very excited when it finally arrived and couldn't wait to get started. Funny thing, the first chapter is on Night Diving, which we were able to watch the first night - perfect timing! The kids were ALL enthralled - even Seanan (3)! Here's a clip from the DVD.
Doesn't that just make you want to jump right into the ocean with her? I know I did and so did my kiddos. I was even able to tell them how I used to scuba dive just like Ocean Annie which led us on a whole series of conversations.
Since the DVD has "chapters" I wanted to take the DVD a little at a time and fully explore each chapter in it's fullest so until just recently we had only seen the first 3 chapters. Each chapter has at least 6 to 8 activities for both the PreK - K level as well as the 1st - 3rd level. The chapters on the DVD are replicated in The Educator Guide. Here's a list of the chapters:
I think that each one of these lessons can take anywhere from one week to a month to complete in it's entirety. The guides have a variety of activities, flashcards, worksheets, ocean journal activities, and book lists. Even though many of the activities were created for the classroom they are easy to adapt to a homeschool environment with tons of printables to coincide with the days lesson or focus.
My Thoughts:
This is one of those items you think about getting if you have a child who is super interested in the subject. But I would argue, that each and every child would be enthralled by the lessons taught not only through watching the DVD (which will be a common request in many a household), but also through the thorough and varied Educator Guides. Because Annie Crawley is so passionate about the ocean and all it has to offer, her gift of the guides (for FREE to homeschoolers) really makes these DVD's a HUGE addition to your homeschool.
Dive Into Your Imagination is a great science resource that you would never know you needed. I am hoping that as time goes on we will be able to complete the collection and I hope that Ocean Annie has more DVD's for us in store. Please take some time to read what others thought of the Dive Into Diversity DVD as well as the other 2 by checking the reviews written by other Crew Members. You can find Ocean Annie on her website, via email, Facebook, and even on Twitter at @AnnieCrawley or @DiveImagination.
So what is Dive Into Your Imagination? Well, it was created by Ocean Annie, a/k/a Annie Crawley, who wants to share her passion for the ocean with the next generation. You can read all about Ocean Annie's life, but she created the company to help change the way we think about not only the ocean but also ourselves. She wants to help children explore while they learn all while helping to build self-esteem and training character.
There are three DVD's: Who Lives in the Sea, What Makes a Fish a Fish, and Dive Into Diversity - all created to explore the ocean, spread Annie's passion about the ocean and help you fall in love with it just as she has. Each DVD is between 35 and 45 minutes long separated into 8 "chapters" as well as several Bonus chapters. The DVD can be watched in English, Spanish, or just with music if you want to immerse yourself in the ocean views.
Now each DVD can be purchased from Annie Crawley's website for just $19.95 each. The individualized Educator Guide in printed form is quite expensive at $299.00, BUT through Ocean Annie's generosity when you purchase any of the DVD's and mention in the comments that you homeschool and would like to have the PDF version of The Educator Guide, she will send it to you for FREE (a $70 value)! Of course, since these guides were created with the classroom in mind, the price does reflect multiple ages and stages using the same guide. And don't forget that the guides come in two age ranges: Pre K - K and 1st - 3rd.
Our Experience:
The DVD we received was Dive Into Diversity at the girls request. It talks about the diversity that you find in the ocean and how ocean animals use each other to survive. They were very excited when it finally arrived and couldn't wait to get started. Funny thing, the first chapter is on Night Diving, which we were able to watch the first night - perfect timing! The kids were ALL enthralled - even Seanan (3)! Here's a clip from the DVD.
Doesn't that just make you want to jump right into the ocean with her? I know I did and so did my kiddos. I was even able to tell them how I used to scuba dive just like Ocean Annie which led us on a whole series of conversations.
Since the DVD has "chapters" I wanted to take the DVD a little at a time and fully explore each chapter in it's fullest so until just recently we had only seen the first 3 chapters. Each chapter has at least 6 to 8 activities for both the PreK - K level as well as the 1st - 3rd level. The chapters on the DVD are replicated in The Educator Guide. Here's a list of the chapters:
- Night Diving
- Coral Reef Living
- Be A Submarine Pilot
- Swim in a Kelp Forest
- Sea Animals with Backbones
- Invertebrates of the Sea
- Dive Into Diversity
- Crusty Crustaceans
I think that each one of these lessons can take anywhere from one week to a month to complete in it's entirety. The guides have a variety of activities, flashcards, worksheets, ocean journal activities, and book lists. Even though many of the activities were created for the classroom they are easy to adapt to a homeschool environment with tons of printables to coincide with the days lesson or focus.
My Thoughts:
This is one of those items you think about getting if you have a child who is super interested in the subject. But I would argue, that each and every child would be enthralled by the lessons taught not only through watching the DVD (which will be a common request in many a household), but also through the thorough and varied Educator Guides. Because Annie Crawley is so passionate about the ocean and all it has to offer, her gift of the guides (for FREE to homeschoolers) really makes these DVD's a HUGE addition to your homeschool.
Dive Into Your Imagination is a great science resource that you would never know you needed. I am hoping that as time goes on we will be able to complete the collection and I hope that Ocean Annie has more DVD's for us in store. Please take some time to read what others thought of the Dive Into Diversity DVD as well as the other 2 by checking the reviews written by other Crew Members. You can find Ocean Annie on her website, via email, Facebook, and even on Twitter at @AnnieCrawley or @DiveImagination.
*** 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.***
1 comment:
I would love to watch these videos. We were studying oceans all last month and it would have been perfect. However, I won't be breaking out $20 for a video - but maybe I can recommend our local library purchase them...
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