I have heard many homeschooling moms sing the praises of Netflix. I was hesitant to try it out because quite frankly it was one more thing that costs money. Most homeschoolers can relate to the one income or money blues. I had been a member of Netflix and Blockbuster in the past and enjoyed the services. In time, I just didn’t want to pay the extra fee on top of my cable bill. With four kids, one husband, one dog, one business and two writing jobs, who has time to sit and watch a movie anyway? Actually, if truth be told it is one of my favorite past times.
At any rate, Netflix was suggested to me by several homeschooling moms as a great source for documentaries and history movies and shows. So finally I gave in and decided to sign up for one dvd a month and streaming movies and shows to my computer and Wii. After a short time of having this service my queue is filled to the brim with wonderful documentaries and movies that will enhance my children’s studies. In fact, my kids love to watch the documentaries. My daughter is often adding them on her own that either correlate with her studies or just out of interest. That beats any Disney show she could be watching! My daughter also stated that the documentaries are often more detailed than her textbook.
I strongly encourage the use of documentaries and have found Netflix to have a large selection for the best price. For $7.99 a month (plan with no dvd rental) you can have unlimited access to streaming online documentaries and movies. I have also found that we watch Netflix more than cable so I am currently considering canceling my cable. As with anything moderation is the key to successfully using Netflix. While you could sit and watch movies, tv shows and documentaries all day, you obviously will put the same limitations on this as you would regular TV. Another feature that makes me comfortable with Netflix is that you can see all shows that were recently watched. The shows in this section cannot be removed so it is easy to monitor what your children are watching.