Be Prepared
What with the holidays soon looking us in the face and the winter season approaching, the possibility of sick days seems on the rise. All the better to be prepared with options so that no matter who is sick, you’ve got some quality options and ideas of things to simulate the mind. In this list I really tried to cover options that are good for a wide variety of ages.
10. Penelope
10. Penelope: A story of a young women cursed with a facial deformity due to her ancestors pride. The curse can only broken through one of her “own kind” loving her. This story has a little bit of a beauty and the beast feel in the sense of learning that beauty is found within. In this movie not only does the girl demonstrate finding the beauty within herself, but also how opening your heart allows you to see the true beauty in another person. There is also a lesson in sacrifice for the love of another, as well as learning to not give up on your dreams. This movie is also neat as Penelope is homeschooled due to her situation and she is very well educated and shows a definite love for knowledge and exploration.
9. The Greatest Showman
9. The Greatest Showman: Honestly, I kind of had a little bit of a hard time with this one at first, just because Hugh Jackman looked so..different. However the movie itself is good. It shows the positive effects of following your dreams, yet tempers it with the struggles than can accompany stepping out of a “normal” path. It also shows finding the beauty and the incredible for things that are out of the ordinary. This movie shows a good reflection of life in the way that it shows the ups and the downs, the good and the bad. Yet, in the end, shows these characters rising above these things that would tear them down and finding new confidence to carry on.
8. The Rookie
8. Disney’s The Rookie: This movie is great not only for the kids to see, but also us as parents. It is good to have that reminder that you are never to old to follow your dreams and do what you love. Really, its just a great story about a man who gave up his dreams for his family and then his family gave back to him so that he could pursue his dream of playing baseball.
7. Mulan
7. Mulan: Mulan is a good option as we see a young woman who is struggling to fit into a world that wants her to fit into a certain type of role. Mulan struggles to fit that role to show love and honor to her family, but can’t. And as the movie goes on, shows that she is called to a much bigger destiny than she or her family could have imagined. Mulan gives all that she is to protect her family and her people and is willing to accept the consequences of her actions, no matter the cost. Her journey shows how the steadfast faith and love of one person has the ability to act as ripples in a pond to affect not only those intimately around them, but have a reach beyond what anyone could have imagined.
6. The Real Story of Jack and the Beanstalk
6. The Real Story of Jack and the Beanstalk: Now this is the version of Jack and the Beanstalk starring Matthew Modine. I love this movie. It has an interesting angle. Valuable lessons in this movie would include doing the right thing even when its not easy, Righting a wrong when you can, even when it wasn’t your mistake, change the world for the better, don’t follow someone doing the wrong thing even if it looks more appealing, stand up for what you believe in, are just a few things that just immediately come to mind. Actually, one more, my youngest likes to quote a phrase from a Bearenstein Bear book about it never being too late to do the right thing, that also is exemplified in this movie.
5. Night at the Museum
5. Night at the Museum: The great thing about Night at the Museum is that it cultivates the idea of museums being exotic, unpredictable places where anything can happen. It introduces us to a wide variety of characters, peoples, and times in history. Another thing I like about it is that it brings forward the concept that history is more than just a story. It was real. Made of real people with real personalities and problems, just like you and me.
4. The Ten Commandments
4. The Ten Commandments: This would be the original version not one of the more recent ones. Even though it may not be 100% perfect, efforts were made to preserve as much of the biblical history and truths as possible. This one is great not only for capturing the storyline of events, but also gives some good visuals about the struggles and dangers the Hebrews experienced during this time.
3. Cool Runnings
3. Cool Runnings: This one is based on an actual group of men that went from Jamaica to the Olympics for bobsledding. These guys overcame incredible odds, and despite all the opposition, struggles, and things going wrong, they stuck with it. They gave it their all. One of the biggest lessons that I think comes from this movie is having the courage to stand back up after falling and trying again.
2. 10 Things I Hate About You
2. 10 Things I Hate About You: There are several different angles from which we can learn from 10 things I hate about you. For one thing, it teaches us that rumors don’t make facts and that there is often more to any story than what meets the eye. It also teaches us to stand up for what we believe in. Also that when we make a mistake, it is important to apologize.
1. Nims Island
- Nims Island: An incredible story about a adventurous scientist and his homeschooled daughter, and a writer who stood up to her fears in an effort to save them both. There are just too many good things to list in this movie. We’ve got the adventurous scientist who loves what he does and is passionate about pursuing his dreams, but still works hard to be a great dad and take care of his daughter, using creativity, imagination and sheer determination to get back to her. Then we have the spunky daughter who shows how incredible it can be to live outside the confines of the public school system. She’s uses her wits and knows to seek help when she needs it. And last but not least we have our writer who has locked herself in a prison of her own, her own home. She shows amazing courage as she puts the value of the little girl above her fears as she steps out on adventure that will change her life forever.
Who Knows Where Your Story Will Lead?
These are just some of the excellent lessons and ideas that can be found in these movies. You may very well find many other valuable tools in these movies that you can use to generate conversations, and possibly even new areas of interest. Maybe you will even find some ideas for your next field trip day when everyone is feeling better. After all, Penelope loved geography and wanted to get out and see the world, on the Greatest Showman they were a traveling circus, On the Rookie it was baseball, Mulan traveled with the army all over China, Jack climbed a beanstalk, Night at the Museum takes place.. you guessed it, in a museum, the Ten Commandments takes us to ancient Egypt, Cool Runnings takes us from sunny Jamaica to Canada I believe and Noms Island is on a tropical Island. With all of those options, who knows where you will end up?! Next thing you know you might be eating your lunch in a blanket fort. Who’s to say?
If you have any other suggestions for movies or even tv shows that would be great for a homeschool movie day please comment below.
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