Under the Deep Blue Sea

My family and I love the beach!  The sand, the waves; even the salt, but none of us are really interested in diving into the ocean and having 1500 feet of water above our heads.  That’s why it’s nice to have someone like Annie Crawley, AKA Ocean Annie, take us under the deep blue sea and show us just what we’re missing.

Annie Crawley is an accomplished boat captain, underwater cinematographer, film maker, educator, and creator of the Dive Into Your Imagination company, among other things.

 

 

 

Annie says, “Although I loved Finding Nemo, because of the exposure it gave to our oceans, it was only a story.  I wanted to give children the real story, have them exposed to the real animals and talk about the natural history of the animals because they are so animated in their natural environment, they don’t need any stories but their own.  I created Dive Into Your Imagination series for kids, to get them out of the virtual world and into the real world…”

Dive Into Your Imagination offers author Annie’s book, Ocean Life – from A to Z, a series of Dive Into Your Imagination DVD’s – What Makes a Fish a Fish?, Who Lives In the Sea?, and Dive Into Diversity, and other products.

Dive Into Diversity is a 44 minute DVD, including The Ocean Song, and Special Features:  Meet Annie; Meet Craig (the music creator), Transcripts (covering each chapter), and Credits.    It is divided into 8 chapters –

1. Night Diving on the Reef
2. Dive Into Diversity
3. Be a Submarine Pilot
4. Swim in a Kelp Forest
5. Invertebrates of the Sea
6. Coral Reef Living
7. Sea Animals with Backbones and
8. Wacky, Weird, Crusty Crustaceans

 

 

Click graphic to view Sample video chapter

As seen on the DVD cover, this video was written for Pre-K and up.  The photography is phenomenal!  It does, indeed, hold the attention of a preschooler and a teen, at the same time.  It can be viewed in English, Spanish, or with Music only.  The musical score beautifully fits each spectacular scene!  If I could count the gorgeous real-life images only, I would say this is one of the best under-sea videos we’ve ever seen, and it is well worth the cost of $19.95.

Annie Crawley has developed Educator Guides for each DVD in the series.  The 300 page guide is a massive resource, covering grades Pre-K – 3, and when it is used in conjunction with the DVD a full unit study of learning is created.  Although it is written for use in a classroom, and therefore has many activities geared toward groups of students, I still found it easily adaptable for homeschool use.  Printed guides are $299.00 each, but are also available as individual PDF’s for $69.95.  I think the price reflects the original intent of purchase by a brick & mortar school system.

As a reader of my blog, and a follower of TOS Homeschool Crew, Annie is presenting you with a special offer!  Choose the DVD you’d like to order;  when you place your order mention that you homeschool and she will send you a FREE PDF.  Do not actually order the Educator Guides from the website – just make a notation in the comment section of your DVD order, such as, “I am a Homeschool Parent and I would like a copy of the Educator Guides, as offered through TOS Homeschool Crew.”  I do not know how long this offer will be available.  I can tell you that through the month of June 2012, there will be FREE SHIPPING with any order placed at www.AnnieCrawley.com/store/, as a “thank you” for your readership.

Click graphic for details of the Educator Guides

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It is fascinating to read other’s perspectives, and I encourage you to click the graphic below and read what my Crew mates have to say about the Dive Into Your Imagination DVD Series.

 

 

Personally, I have not and will not allow my young children to watch this video without supervision, with the exception of watching in music only mode.  It is extremely time consuming to sift through the dense humanistic world-view that is in opposition to our Bible-based, Creationist world-view.  Much of the agenda is inferred, and it’s very subtle, but as this series is geared toward young, impressionable children I believe it has the potential to slowly erode the foundation that some of us are trying to build, if we are unaware.  One marketing tag line says, “Dive Into Your Imagination is changing the way a new generation views the Ocean and themselves!”

 

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Here is quoted content, for your consideration, from the second chapter of the DVD, Dive Into Diversity –

“Nature and all creatures must have balance in order to survive.  Diversity means variety, which means differences in shapes, sizes, skills, and colors.  Diversity in nature helps to protect the balance that is necessary in the world…Some animals might be fast while others are slow.  Some might be long, while others are short.  One might be purple, while another is green.  Can you think of one way that you are different from another person?  This is diversity.  Fish don’t say to one another, ‘OOOhhh, you are too…blue, or black, or white…’They don’t care about the color of one another’s skin…Did you know that Clown Fish are born male and as they grow can change to become a female?  The largest fish in their family is a she…The Wrusses are a group of fish where the girl fish can turn into a boy fish.  Animals in the sea are not concerned with what we think.  They do what they do in order to survive…So, let’s dive into the ocean of our imagination and learn to accept one another no matter our color, or our style.  Just like the animals of the sea, we all need to respect one another and our diversity.”

I think this is propaganda and it borders on attempted indoctrination.

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In the Educator Guides you will repeatedly read leading text such as, “Thanks for helping change the way a new generation views the ocean and themselves.  Our ocean needs protected and we protect what we love…By teaching our children to thank our Ocean and give gratitude to nature, we are teaching them to have respect and gratitude for life on our planet.”

I believe we may be teaching them false doctrine if we use this Guide, as is, and do not address The Truth of Scripture.  We are to worship The One, True and Living God, without hint of any other God before Him.  We are to care for all things He has given us power and dominion over, but we are not to raise them [the planet, nature, or our ocean] above mankind or Him.

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The DVD is much less evolutionary than many animal/nature shows on Discovery or National Geographic, but again, the mere subtlety, left unchecked, can be erosive.  The Guide tends to be more direct, with statements like, “Animals that come out at night have night vision and have evolved different senses for living in the dark.”

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We are ones to usually enjoy any behind the scenes or special features that are available.  We enjoyed the background on Annie and proceeded to watch the brief segment on Craig, the music creator.  We watched with interest as he discusses the process of writing the musical score for the video.  You find him in his office, with his keyboard, the DVD he is scoring playing in front of him, a picture on his desk that is possibly his family, another photograph of the Dalai Lama, and two Buddha statues.  It is my opinion that this quick visual was not accidental, nor is my reference to it here.

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Finally, while I value and respect Annie Crawley’s specialized skill in capturing life under the ocean, I do not appreciate the pervasive way Dive Into Your Imagination attempts to “change the way a new generation views” anything.  I maintain that this DVD is exceptional and it’s a remarkable view of a world usually unseen; yet, we are the sentinels charged with teaching our children a Godly world-view and we must be diligent not to lose ground.

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Comments or Questions?

Contact:

Email ~ www.AnnieCrawley.com

Phone ~ 805.453.1947

Mail ~

Annie Crawley

10002 Aurora Ave. N

Ste 36 PMB 104

Seattle, WA  98133

or facebook ~

www.Facebook.com/DiveIntoYourImagination

Blessings,

 

 

Disclaimer*  A DVD of this product and a PDF was given to me, free of charge, in exchange for my honest review, as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew.  I receive no other compensation for my reviews on this blog.  The opinions expressed are my own.

 

Thank you for your comments.

*Contents of this blog are copyrighted;  they are the property of Knee Deep In Grace and may not be used without written permission.