Unlike many families I know, including those that homeschool, we continue schooling throughout the summer. We take plenty of breaks during the year, at our convenience, but we do school year-round.
I’ve recently added Zane Education, with *The Missing Piece (c), to our summer schedule.
Zane Education has “the largest, and most comprehensive fully subtitled online educational video library” compiled to accommodate the requirements of the K-12 curriculum, and aligned to National and State Standards. There are over 1,500 videos, covering nearly 400 topics, provided with lesson plans, interactive online quizzes, and more!
Subjects include:
Art
Biology
Geography
Health
History
Library Skills
Literature
Mathematics
Music
Religious Studies
Science and
Social Studies
Research proves that *The Missing Piece (c) – using subtitles and closed captioning on video – can dramatically improve children’s reading and literacy skills.
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Once subscribed, you can begin by selecting a subject and then a specific topic to study, according to the access you purchased. [In our house, a Gold Membership allows me to utilize the video library for my elementary; middle and high school aged students, and continuing education for myself, at no additional cost!] User Guides are available and cater to your child’s specific bent. You can also download, and even print, a Lesson Plan Guide for each video. Zane provides a vast Video Word Glossary, and interactive study tools: an Encyclopedia, a Dictionary, and a Thesaurus.
Click the graphic to view a FREE Educational Video of the Day
When you watch a video, you might notice a couple of the quirks that we found slightly annoying, but not distracting enough to discontinue use of the program.
- Videos do not play full screen. There are some courses we could work on at the same time, but the viewing screen doesn’t really accommodate more than one person at a time; so, we’re concentrating on individual lessons.
- There are non-functional button graphics in the videos. I believe they are part of an older system and we just made the choice to ignore them.
There is also quite a bit of evolutionary content in different videos, especially in the Biological Science series. Personally, if I am made aware of such content, ahead of time, I make it part of my student’s education and address it in comparison to our new earth creationist view. It is my personal belief and Zane’s conviction that “students should know and understand positions outside of evangelical Christianity. We are confident that their faith will be stronger when they know both sides and understand why we believe the Biblical view of the world is correct both intellectually and spiritually.” Zane Education not only makes one aware of the bias, they have also written a Christian Learning Guide to assist you in teaching the truth. “Zane Education’s educational program and this document offers you and your children two critical requirements for future influence: (1) solid grounding and factual education, and (2) a Biblical Christian perspective and application of the program.”
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This is our plan of action, for getting the most out of Zane Education:
Day 1 –
Print or Pull-from-File the Lesson Plan Guide for your assigned subject. If not already done, put it in a clear plastic sleeve for future use. Read.
Look up Glossary Terms ~ write summarized definition; key words, etc.
Day 2 –
Start video, pause at the beginning of each new page/frame and write down highlighted words that are not listed in your Glossary Terms, then restart video > listen carefully.
Look up words and write definitions.
Day 3 –
Play/Read video on mute.
Review words.
Day 4 –
Watch video and work on assigned Sharpen Your Skills projects.
Day 5 –
Watch video.
Take quiz. (Note – Quizzes are marked and correct answers supplied by Zane, when needed, so that even in testing the learning process continues.)
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We found this schedule fairly intensive. We didn’t always complete the vocabulary work on the set day, and often rolled it over to the next day, but the retention of the material has been excellent!
Many of my Crew mates made use of Zane in an entirely different way, and it’s beneficial to read their reviews, too. You can click the banner below to do just that.
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Monthly Subscriptions start as low as $8.99 per Subject, $12.99 per Age/Grade Level, or Full Access – All Subjects – All Videos for $17.99.
Yearly Memberships are also available, starting at $98.89 per Single Subject through the Best Value – Full Access – Gold Membership for $197.89.
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You can contact: Zane Education, by email ~ follow the link on their website, call ~ 1.650.488-8204, or write ~
Zane Education
2203 NE 203rd Terrace
Miami, FL 33180
Also, watch for their latest developments and new products –
Read their News Blog and follow Zane Education on facebook.
Read – What You Get with Zane
Zane Education addresses the genuine need for different learning styles, in our homes and our schools. I encourage you to follow the links I’ve provided throughout this post, and browse their website. You may find that it is the Visual Learning Solution for your child’s needs – whether gifted or specialized, home schooled or public schooled; Summer School, Bridge work, or Full Curriculum.
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As a “thank you” for reading my blog, I can offer you a 35% promotional discount on the purchase of any annual subscription to Zane Education, available through August 31, 2012. Use code ZE828HSM during checkout, to receive your discount, and leave a comment telling me which subscription you chose. Thanks, again.
Blessings,
Disclaimer* A one year, full access, Gold Membership subscription was given to me, free of charge, in exchange for my honest review, as a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew. I receive no other compensation for my reviews on this blog. The opinions expressed are my own.
Contents of this blog are copyrighted; they are the property of Knee Deep In Grace and may not be used without written permission.
Great review! Thanks for sharing. 🙂