Hey parents, ever been in this position?
You come home from a busy day. Your kids need help getting into their homework.
OK, that was too polite. They have no homework motivation. Zero. And you want to scream.
Wouldn’t it be nice if there were something out there that would get their attention?
Youtube. Yep, that morass that eats hours of your kids’ time has a reasonable amount of high quality content. That they might actually like!
But before I give you the good stuff, let’s step back.
To continue to stress a critical Funderstanding message, you can’t expect schools to motivate your child. Schools are good for institutional knowledge – facts. Some kids will motivate themselves. Most will need help. And providing that help is your job. That means you need to teach them to motivate themselves.
So let’s say your child has homework. I thought it might help to highlight some of the inspiring examples that you can direct to your child. Now I am aware enough to know that if you tell them another adult sent it, they won’t have any interest.
So I did the most logical thing I could think of – I asked a kid for help in picking the videos. Here is the first father-son post in the history of Funderstanding. And that way you can tell your kid (or your classroom) that these videos are teen approved.
1. Teaching Chemistry
This video has it all. A performance by a well regarded rock band, a catchy script, and well done graphics.
I think this video is appropriate for anyone in middle school or even high school chemistry. It provides a great overview to the subject and promotes at least a touch of fascination.
2. General Science – Some fascinating facts
Did you know the human body contains over 100,000 miles of blood vessels? Did you know Blue Whales consume over 8,000 pounds of food a day? While I am not sharing a youtube video as I promised, this is a decent read for those so inclined.
And another one:
3. Inspire Creativity
If you want to take a shot at just getting your kid’s creativity flowing, have him or her watch some Mind Blow. Watch a few and you begin to appreciate invention. Perhaps that will help a kid set some goals and buckle into some work.
4. For Shakespeare Nerds
Got a Shakespeare lover, reading about Romeo and Juliet? Get some insight from this teacher who shows you how she guides her class through a discussion of the play. This is for the serious student.
5. Math Tricks
Yes, that’s right – a math trick with over a million views. I learned something from this and there are a bunch of related videos listed. Perfect for any age.
Got a favorite video that is fun and interesting, that you also learn from? Please share the link with us in the comments section below.
And let us know if you find videos like this helpful and we’ll continue to curate them.
Evan Cohen contributed to this article.
