The Star of Bethlehem -- Christmas movie

We watched "The Star of Bethlehem" documentary DVD, which we borrowed from our parish priest. It was produced by the same man who did "Passion of the Christ" and it was a very educational 65 minutes. My 11 yo said, "It was remarkable how he figured out all those things!" A non-astronomer lawyer proposes the events in the night sky over Bethlehem from 1-3 B.C. using Hubble telescope images and computer calculations to go back in time. It went extremely well with our Astronomy unit study in homeschool studies. My teens want it to show it at their youth group as an apologetics theme, too. I am not a scientist, but I was impressed by the logic of his presentation and his Biblical scholarship. More about it at http://www.bethlehemstar.net/. Mark your calendars to watch this during Advent!!

The Cheese Nun

The Cheese Nun doesn't sound like an exciting title... but the whole family enjoyed the documentary of the Regina Laudis nun who is an expert in cheese! The PBS documentary excels in allowing her to speak of her choice of a contemplative, full habit Benedictine life with joy and clarity.

Description on PBS site:

Sister Noella Marcellino, "The Cheese Nun," takes viewers on a fascinating and delightful personal journey as she becomes a champion for artisanal cheesemakers on both sides of the Atlantic. While making a 20,000-mile odyssey through some of the most remote cheesemaking regions of France, little did she realize that she was on her way to becoming a leading international expert in the art of natural-milk cheesemaking.

Movies with Educational Magic

From the makers of
"Beethoven Lives Upstairs"...

Additional favorites for your family! Devine Entertainment Corporation. Check out all their movies, sets, AND teacher's guides:
http://www.devine-ent.com/

The movies are short (55 minutes) and not animated (both seem to be key to making the context of history come alive for my older elementary and high school students!) These educational films bring the world's most famous figures to life in historically beautiful locations.

We own most of the Artist Series:
- "Mary Cassatt: American Impressionist"

- "Degas & The Dancer"
- "Winslow Homer: American Original"
- "Rembrandt: Father & Sons"
- "Goya: Awakened in a Dream"
- "Monet: Shadow & Light"

and The Inventor's Series:
- "Edison: The Wizard of Light"
- "Leonardo: A Dream of Flight"
- "Galileo: On the Shoulders of Giants"
- "Einstein: Light to the Power of 2"
- "Newton: A Tale of Two Isaacs"
- "Marie Curie: More than Meets the Eye"

Now I want to start acquiring the Composer's Series:
- "Strauss: The King of 3/4 Time"
- "Rossini's Ghost"
- "Liszt's Rhapsody"
- "Bizet's Dream"
- "Handel's Last Chance"
- "Bach's Fight for Freedom"

(Just think!) IN DEVELOPMENT
The Writer's Series:
- Alexandre Dumas "Three Musketeers"

- Mark Twain "Huckleberry Finn" 
- Molière "The Misanthrope"
- Cervantes "Don Quixote"
- Edgar Allan Poe "The Tell-Tale Heart"
- Lewis Carroll "Alice in Wonderland" 

*spoiler* = I can't seem to get any on NetFlix, but a few are available at my library. I'll be pushing for both to acquire more copies! (Often I have found them cheaply on auction sites.)

Expelled

Watch the preview of this fascinating documentary about to hit the theaters!