Homeschool Black History Month With Movies

As many of us are studying African Americans this month. We decided to study famous African American actors instead of the usual. The reason we're doing things a little different this year is because several of my children have had a lot of questions about how movies are made. So, I thought this would be an interesting twist.

So far this week, we've started with the top 50 best African Americans from the IMDb list. First on the list are as follows:

1. Sidney Poitier
2. Denzel Washington
3. Morgan Freeman
4. Richard Pryor
5. Eddie Murphy

Now, I mentioned that my children have been asking about how movies are made. So, after lunch we watch a movie starring one of the names above. We will discuss the main idea of the movie, learning experience, best part, least, part, likes/dislikes, how's, why's, what's and how's. This usually lasts about an hour or two hashing out the answers/theories. Finally, we would rate the movie to add the critic side of it.

I've prepared a list of movies to go with the names from above. They are as follows:

1. Sidney Poitier - Ghost Dad
2. Denzel Washington - John Q
3. Morgan Freeman - Glory
4. Richard Pryor - The Toy
5. Eddie Murphy - Daddy Day Care

Some of these were tough to find because there were some really older movies on this list, but definitely accomplished. I started off with my local library, Netflix, local video store, etc. However, I've made it easier for you just in case you would like to do this next year for Black History Month.

1. Ghost Dad - Amazon for $9.90 or free with Prime Subscription
2. John Q - Netflix must have DVD Subscription
3. Glory - Amazon for $8.69  or free with Prime Subscription
4. The Toy - Amazon for $16.98 or free with Prime Subscription 
5. Daddy Day Care - Netflix basic subscription

Here's one last tip that may help those that don't have these subscription or are on a very tight budget. Try asking family and friends to borrow any of these movies. Also, try your local Facebook groups to see if anyone has this movie that you can borrow or buy at a reasonable price. Another option might be checking with eBay.

Until next week, happy learning to you and remember to have fun learning!

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