Homeschooling with Netflix – Frozen Planet

For a long time, Netflix was not a part  of our homeschooling toolbox. Then, I stumbled across a Pinterest board that listed a large number of educational programming, including programs on Netflix, PBS.com and BBC.com. We’ve been Netflix subscribers forever and I’d never thought to take advantage of this valuable resource in this way. With this in mind, I sat down with Peanut and Hot Wife and we watched the first episode of the documentary series “Frozen Planet” together.

This series was produced by the Discovery Channel and the BBC and features stunning videography and narration by Sir David Attenborough. We enjoyed the episode immensely and learned a number of things that we’d previously not known before. The focus of this first episode was a quick overview of both the Arctic and Antarctic regions, thus the name of the episode. Within that context, we also learned about polar bears, penguins, a huge wolf pack and the movement of massive glaciers. For instance, I didn’t know that polar bears live largely solitary lives, joining up with a mate for a short time and then separating again. They can sense/smell each other from miles away which is just amazing to me. Peanut was inspired by this video to study more about polar bears on her own, creating a Microsoft Sway slideshow of her findings.

I highly recommend checking this documentary series out and using it to encourage your kids to pursue a deeper understanding of there frigid areas that are not familiar to us.