TOS Review: IndoctriNation

I was thrilled when I was offered the chance to review IndoctriNation Public Schools and the Decline of Christianity in America from Great Commission Films.

If you are like me, as a homeschooling mom, there are days when that big yellow school bus looks so inviting. Some days, I lose sight of the reasons I wanted to homeschool and the importance of homeschooling my children.

If you're having a day like that - Stop, and get a hold of this DVD. It's eye-opening, and you will be left shaking your head with your mouth wide open in astonishment.

What is IndoctriNation?

I received a physical DVD that was 102 minutes in length, plus a few bonus features.

The DVD is a documentary account of Scottish filmmaker and homeschooling dad, Colin Gunn. He purchased a big yellow school bus off of Craig's List and converted it into living quarters for him, his wife and his children to set off in a multi-state tour to get to the truth of the history of public schools in America.

The name of the DVD is a bit of a twist on the word's meaning. Typically Indoctrination is used to talk about what religions do, but this filmmaker uses the word to explain how the public school system is indoctrinating students with the philosophies and ideas that stem from non-Christian ideologies.

Instead, the DVD uses the word to express how, in the view of the filmmaker, the public school system is indoctrinating its children with secularism and more government-imposed ideas. 

How Did We Use It?

I put the DVD into my laptop and began to watch. My 9th-Grade son was sitting at the table with his headphones on while I sat watching the DVD, so I didn't think he was hearing any of it. However, to my surprise, I glanced up and noticed he seemed to be listening. I felt like he was mature enough to handle the DVD's content, and I really wanted him to learn along with me. So, I invited him to sit and watch as well. To my complete delight - He did. So, mother and son watched the DVD.

What Did We Think?

When I received the DVD, it looked interesting. My only concern was that with a name like IndoctriNation that it would be very one-sided. So, in my "public-schooled-through-college-with-a-liberal-social work-focused-degree-turned-homeschooling-mom" mindset, I took note to investigate some of the facts further for myself, and all I can say is that this DVD was extremely well researched. There is also an accompanying paperback book available that, according to the insert inside the DVD pack, contains "376 pages of research and commentary that would not fit in the 102 minute documentary", which I hope to also read.

This DVD is not cheaply made and is professionally put together. My son, who watched it with me, is a fan of animation and videos and had nothing critical to say about its presentation. In fact, he was impressed with the presentation's use of graphics.

I completely appreciated the way the DVD portrayed the history of the public school system, using a timeline, school bus, and other really fun graphics. These timeline graphics were presented in a historical viewpoint rather than mere opinion.

I also really enjoyed the variety of interviewees he chose to portray in the DVD to show the current state of public schools. I loved how the DVD put into words what I have felt for years about why I choose not to put my elementary-aged children or middle-school-aged children into the public school - That if salt looses its saltiness, how can it be of any use, and what fellowship does darkness have with light. In other words, I completely agree with the idea that children are not meant to have the burden of being evangelists to their classmates in the public school. If we put this kind of pressure on our kids - They will, at best, walk away from their faith, and at worst, not walk away alive. Most likely, they will become like the world having absorbed and bought into the ideas they have been fed for 12 years inside a public school classroom. Yes, even under Christian and well-meaning teachers.

I was astonished to see the statistics that, I believe it was, 88% of Christian children will graduate high school only to leave their family's Christian faith behind.

After viewing the DVD, many aspects of life even outside of homeschooling make so much more sense to me now. For instance, my children never enjoy the youth group at church. It's not just one church - It's been many. They find the kids a bit rowdy or self-absorbed, or extremely sport team minded. After viewing this DVD, it makes so much more sense to me now why my children feel this way. Many of the kids at church spend all week inside a public school classroom, and then have literally one hour or so to learn about the Bible's teachings. Even though, it is my husband's and my mission to set a foundation of Christianity in our homeschool - I feel often that I'm not sharing enough of God's Word with my kids, but watching this video inspired me all the more to keep pursing teaching, learning, speaking, sharing, and living God's Word in our homeschool.

I was also interested in hearing my son's take on the video, from an almost 15-year-old boy's perspective. It was really interesting to hear him describe what he saw and to have already come to his own conclusion that evolution, for example, is really a religion of sorts. In his perspective - To teach evolution and purposefully leave out the teachings of creation is, indeed, an indoctrination from the opposite intent. It has also been interesting to me to watch my son's reaction to news stories related to public schools, after watching "IndoctriNation." Light has been shed on a new perspective.

The filmmaker did an excellent job of presenting a DVD that is not only filled with information that will leave your eyes, and if you're like me also your mouth, wide open in amazement, but will also spur you on with huge encouragement to take on the parental responsibility of educating your children.

Find more information about IndoctriNation on Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo, and YouTube.

Read what other members of the TOS Review Crew thought by clicking on the picture below:

Multi-Sensory Learning with TouchMath Kindergarten

I didn't think it was possible, but I think even I have fallen in love with math through TouchMath after having the privilege of reviewing the TouchMath Kindergarten Homeschool curriculum for the past several weeks.  And, I often heard my child asking when she could do math again.

Following is a short video that summarizes how we used TouchMath Kindergarten Homeschool:

From the moment it arrived, even the box it came in was inviting:

  

Let's Face it - If it Involves a Cup of Coffee and a Fireplace - I'm All Over it!

I decided to sit down with a cup of coffee in front of my fireplace and get to know the TouchMath Kindergarten Homeschool curriculum.  It took me a couple hours to go through their website links and to read about how to use the TouchMath Kindergarten Homeschool curriculum.  After that, it only required a brief read-through of no more than about 15 minutes each before presenting each lesson plan.

The lessons are laid out well and explain everything you need to know to teach each lesson.  It comes with a checklist to check off every skill as your child learns it and has a list of materials needed for each lesson.  Here is how my teacher work area looked when using the curriculum:

Each lesson included:

Kindergarten Unit A B C D

Implementation guide

6 module guides with instructional strategies

90 student activity sheets

6 assessments (one per module)

Real world connections

Answer keys

Progress monitoring

Vocabulary

. . . And, I absolutely loved how the curriculum integrates other subjects, like science, into the lessons about math.  For instance, I had no idea that giraffes had such long tails and tongues; and my daughter had a blast with the sink or float experiment while learning math-related vocabulary, like "heavier" and "lighter".

Some days my daughter was able to finish several lessons.  Other days, we only accomplished one or worked with the manipulatives or the TouchMath Tutor software, but it looks as if it is designed to finish approximately one lesson sheet, or new concept, a day and one module a week to complete the entire Kindergarten level in a typical 9-month school year.

The curriculum is available at the TouchMath website along with tons of manipulative options that can be purchased separately as you desire:




Cost of the Core Curriculum:

$59.95 for each unit or $199.95 for all four

Manipulative Choices Enhance the Curriculum:

$99 Tutor software
$30 Touch Shapes
$79 3-D Numerals

The manipulatives are not required to successfully use the curriculum, but I found that my daughter got very excited about them and that it helped to bring the learning to fruition for my kinesthetic, very active, learner.  

We jumped in with the TouchMath Tutor software which was so fun and really helped seal the understanding of how to use the touch points on each number.  It also works well to use the software as an award for your child in between lessons or to take one day a week for the software.

If you decide to only purchase one manipulative, I would highly recommend the 3-D Numerals.  They made my daughter ask to do more because they were so colorful and allowed her to touch and feel what she was learning.  Besides that, her older siblings were actually a bit jealous of the fun colorful 3-D Numerals, so I read ahead as to how to integrate them into multiplication and division for my fifth grader too.

The 3-D Numerals come with a CD for the computer that is filled with instructions on how to use the 3-D Numerals as well as tons of practice sheets you can print out from your computer.  If you choose to buy the 3-D Numerals along with the curriculum, I would highly recommend popping in the CD and printing off the activity sheets before you do anything else because it will give you and your child a complete understanding as to how to use them and, if your house is like my house, your child will get very excited about using them and want to do more math.

The Touch Shapes are similar to other shape sets we have used in the past, but these are durable plastic and transparent which allow them to be used on an overhead projector in a classroom setting.  We are perhaps unusual homeschoolers in that we do have an overhead projector which I would have liked to have used with these to project onto the wall.  However, our overhead projector lightbulb is burnt out.

We separated the TouchShapes into zip-closed plastic bags to make them easier to work with:

Actual Learning Takes Place with TouchMath

There has been a lot of years of research put into this math curriculum and with the child's learning needs always at the forefront of the development.  I learned that the developer of TouchMath taught for more than 15 years in elementary classrooms and was devastated to discover sixth grade students she began with one year could not do basic multiplication or division. She worked with a friend who was a special Ed teacher and developed the TouchMath method. By the end of the year, 97% of her students were successful. They developed the touching patterns after they observed how children learned over a five-year period.

A Word About Common Core

After opening the box, I quickly discovered how extensive this program is.  It has separate modules that are divided based upon Common Core Curriculum requirements that are clearly listed.  If you are a homeschooler who has been hearing the horrors of Common Core, don't stop reading or let that scare you.  This curriculum was developed long before Common Core was introduced.  The state where I live does not yet require homeschoolers to follow the Common Core, so until now, I have only skimmed the proposed requirements and was initially overwhelmed at what seemed to be an endless listing of skills and abbreviations throughout the curriculum.  However, after sitting down and actually reading through the lessons, I found it interesting to know the specific skills my child was learning and to know that it meets, and quite frankly exceeds, these guidelines.

. . .The idea behind TouchMath is to teach math in a manner so that the child actually learns math and not to just present lessons for the sake of checking off a box. . .  

The TouchMath program has been around long before the concept of Common Core was considered.  It won't take long before you realize that TouchMath is solid regardless of what curriculum requirements guidelines it's stacked up against because the years of hands-on research and development of the curriculum was always done with the student's learning needs at the center.  Listing out the lesson plans in the latest Common Core format should not scare anyone away, and if your state already requires homeschoolers to abide by Common Core guidelines, you will be relieved to know that TouchMath makes it easy for you to keep a record of the skills your child is learning.  Through it all, I found it to be a very solid curriculum program.

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Disclaimer:  I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.