I can’t remember if I’ve shared this with you before, but we don’t have a tv.  And and until three years ago, we didn’t watch videos, either.  But at that point, I felt that it would be helpful homeschooling-wise to have the ability to selectively use videos, and we accepted the offer of a family member who was giving away their combo monitor/vcr.

I was concerned when we did that, it would be the beginning of a slippery slope, but I’ve been careful to use it with thought and caution, and it’s been great.  I’ve found it especially valuable for science and history videos that supplement our homeschooling (National Geographic and History Channel presentations have been especially useful), but it’s also been nice to watch something purely for fun as a family.  Once a month, we have a family movie night, and finding videos that I find something we all really like and appreciate takes effort.   There are very few contemporary movies that I approve of, even those rated G.     

Last night was our movie night, and everyone really enjoyed the movie we chose, so I thought I’d share about it with you.  It’s called The Shaggy Dog; it was the top grossing movie of 1959, Disney’s first live action movie, and a lot of fun.  There was a bit of suspense, but not enough to make it scary for anyone (I have one child who’s particularly sensitive to this).  It’s about a boy who turns at unexpected times into a dog and then back to himself, because of an ancient spell that is finally broken at the end.  Everyone loved it – the kids all declared it the best movie they’ve ever watched, and I also enjoyed it alot.  So much so, that they asked if they could watch it again, using as an excuse their 9 year old brother who missed it last night when he went to watch the Orioles with my husband (earned 2 free tickets from the summer reading program).  Being the very kind and generous mother I am, and knowing that next week I’m going to be shifting into homeschooling mode and won’t let everyone stay up late for something like this, I agreed, and they’re all happily sitting together and watching it right now. 

Avivah