Growing Up Wild DVD Review #hsreviews @HomeschoolCrew

Our homeschool day can always use a bit more science, cultural studies, and geography and we were able to review a product that encompasses each of those with a Christian foundation and Bible study sprinkled in as well.  Growing Up Wild is a 5 Volume, 15 episode collection of DVDs that follow the Wild Brothers.  They, along with their parents, are a family of missionaries living in the jungle of Indonesia.  My family received Volume 1 and Volume 4 from the collection.

In Volume 1, the episodes were “Home Sweet Hut”, “Supply Trip”, and “Sun & Water”.  My kids really enjoyed these episodes and begged to watch them one right after the other.  Each episode is about 15 minutes long and has scriptures woven into it as well.  Seeing God’s great creation through the beautiful landscapes of the Indonesian jungle and in the culture there is breathtaking.  This opens up the eyes of young and old alike to the vastness of our big, great world created by Him.
My children particularly liked the “Sun & Water” episode, as it explained how the Wild family uses sun energy to power their home with electricity and showed the entire system and what appliances, lights, and more that the family uses with it to make their little hut in the jungle more like a home back in the United States.  They also share with us how they supply their hut with fresh water.  This made me truly appreciate our plumbing system, but the creativity and resourcefulness used by this family is commendable!  They have a terrific system that supplies them with something seemingly basic, but otherwise difficult to adapt to a more modern lifestyle.
The Activity Guide contained with this episode was a fun one for our family.  It has MANY, MANY activities to help viewers to really get up and DO.  Kids can truly connect through individual and group projects that hit all sorts of subject areas in the curriculum.  It could easily be added into your normal lessons to spice it up and tie it in to viewing the DVDs.
There was a suggestion for making huts similar to those seen on the show.  My kids had a good time with this and used Play-Doh and long grass from our back yard, toothpicks, and popsicle sticks to make round Wano huts.  My 7, 5, and 3 year olds all got involved in it!  Another activity was drawing a picture of a tree that they have seen near our home, so we took a time out to head outside and draw the huge tree in our backyard.  They liked that quite a bit because they had not stopped to really sit and appreciate that tree even though we’ve lived here for over a year and they’ve enjoyed the shade of that tree nearly daily!

The Wild Family

Volume 4 was the second DVD we watched.  It included the episodes “Amazing World Around Us”, “Adventures in Culture”, and “Tribal Calling”.  My kids’ favorite episode in this volume was DEFINITELY “Amazing World Around Us”, because it showcased many of the beautiful and amazing creatures that they live with and around in the jungle of Papua.  My children were fascinated with how many differences there were between where we live and where this missionary family lives.  However, the family does have pets and that sort of reminded my children that even though this family lives half way around the world in a completely different environment, they are a family just like us with a similar home, similar values, similar thoughts and ideas, and best of all – they homeschool, just like us!

We really loved watching these.  My kids have actually watched both volumes three times each so far.  It seems like each time they watch it, they are learning more and connecting more ideas.  Things they take for granted, like running water or being able to run to the grocery store on a whim, are really put into perspective.  We enjoyed doing many of the suggested activities, and I liked the flexibility of being able to pick and choose or let my children pick and choose from them.  I also enjoyed that Scriptures were sprinkled in throughout the DVD itself, and also all throughout the activity guide.  It is so important to remind my children about God’s great love and the beautiful world he has graced us with.

Each volume sells for $18.99 each, plus shipping & tax.  If you purchase all 5 volumes together, it is discounted by 15%, so the total is just $80.99, plus shipping and tax.  Each DVD includes the Activity Guide CD and DVD with 3 episodes.  These adventures can be enjoyed by the whole family, and is targeted to children aged 5-12 to introduce them to a life of missionary work.  I do think that the extension activities are probably best for students at least Kindergarten level or above, but younger children will also find the Wild Brothers engaging, and the video is interesting, beautiful, and comes from the perspective of the children, which other kids LOVE watching!  The DVDs could be used for ALL ages, even into high school.  Older students could complete a lot more of the activities included in the Activity Guides, particularly some of the building and composition type activities.  The flexibility with the program is excellent and can be tweaked for the audience to stay involved effortlessly.

If you’re interested to see what other homeschooling families had to say about this DVD set, please check out the Schoolhouse Review Crew for more!

*Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of the products mentioned above as part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew for the purpose of an honest review. All opinions expressed about the DVDs are mine alone.