If you are a homeschool parent, you have likely not heard of MarshMedia, because they are just getting into the homeschool arena. Until now, they have mostly been used by public schools to help with health education. They have over 54 videos that cover a wide range of topics. Some of those topics are hygiene, health, puberty education, safety, immune system disorders, head lice, nutrition, etc.
Now, they want to help homeschoolers too and are offering a Homeschool Special!!
They are offering unlimited viewing of 59 programs for $50.00 until 12-31-17 with no time constraints or limits on the number of times a program can be viewed!!
Before I tell you all about MarshMedia and go over one of their videos, I’ll share with you the link to check out their homeschool special in more detail.
If you wish to take advantage of the opportunity to introduce the MarshMedia curriculum to your home schooler(s) click on the link below for more information: (I will say I’ve heard the page is a little slow to load, so please be patient.)
https://marshmedia.com/pages/homeschool-offer
After you click on that link, you must click on “homeschool special” to take you to a special page that is only offered for homeschool families.
What are the vidoes about and how to watch them
The videos cover lots of topics. Some are just for girls. Some are just for boys. And some are geared to watched in a co-ed atmosphere.
In short, they are health education videos for children in grades K through 8.
You can choose any vidoe to watch that you would like. You then “rent” it for a certain period of time. Again, click the link above to see how it all works for homeschool families, because it is different than what is offered to public schools and even what was given to me as a means to review it.
The videos are all streaming onto your computer, so you will need internet access. But if you are reading this post, then you likely have internet and that won’t be a problem.
An example video
The first video we watched was called Let’s Just Talk for Boys, puberty education for boys in grades 5 through 8. It was cool. It was set up as if a few boys were hanging out and listening to a radio talk show. The talk show was similar to “Dr. Laura”. Boys would call it and ask questions and the radio show host would answer them.
The different “callers” to the radio show asked about things like their voice changing, pimples, and more.
If you hear the word “puberty” and are concerned about someone teaching your child about sex, you can relax. This video (and to my understanding, all of the vidoes on the site) did not talk about sex. There is so much more to puberty than sex. Like, pimples, sweating, growing hair in new places, mood swings, and more. Now, he does talk about the reproductive system and he discusses the hormones that are more active during puberty. And, he touches a little on the subject of semen, erections, and anatomy. During that section, he explains that a baby is made by a sperm entering an egg. He does NOT discuss HOW the sperm gets to the egg. That is left for you, the parent, to talk about as you wish.
He does say this about having babies, “It’s important to remember that being physically able to create a baby does not mean that a person is ready for the responsibility of becoming a parent.”
Like I said above, he does also talk about the anatomy of the reproductive organs. And, because boys urinate through the penis, he talks about the urinary system a bit as well.
The video does show cartoon like drawings of a male body. Therefore, it does show a drawing of a penis. If you are just showing this to your son, then he’s seen it before. ;) If your daughter is watching this, then just make sure you are okay with it first. I personally wouldn’t mind my daughters seeing it. It is just a drawing and it is anatomically correct. It also shows a side by side drawing of a circumcised and not circumcised penis. And the “radio show host” says that some people get the tip of their penis cut off when they are a baby and some don’t, so not everyone will look the same. As a natural momma, I LOVE that he addresses this!!
The boys that listen to the radio show are cute. They roll their eyes during some parts. They act embarrased during other parts. And disgusted during other parts. Obviously, they are just acting, but it is exactly how an actual boy would act. I know I got some eye rolls from my own son while watching. ;)
Remember, this was just a review of ONE of the videos on the site. There are many more to choose from, I just thought giving an overview of one of them would help you understand what you are getting.
Summary
I think these are great videos to get your son or daughter talking to you. I feel like the topics covered in the videos are useful. And, sometimes not things I personally think about talking to my kids about. For example, when they talked about sweating in the video I discussed above, it explained WHY you sweat more during puberty. We don’t really explain that to our kids. So, that was nice.
Also, I think sitting down and watching these with your child will help make those topics less awkward when they want to have a conversation with you. It might be a bit awkward to watch the video together, but that just helps break the ice when it comes time to have a real conversation.
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