Home Grown Hearts Academy Homeschool Blog: Curiosity Quest Review

Hello friends! In our home we are huge fans of programs that go behind the scene and show where a product comes from, how it is made, and how it gets to us. That is why I was so excited to review DVD Combo Pack-Produce and DVD Combo Pack-Swimmers of the Sea from Curiosity Quest. These DVD's made a great addition to our curriculum and our homeschool DVD library.

What is Curiosity Quest?

Well friends, Curiosity Quest is a PBS series that explores what viewers are curious about. The awesome host, Joel Greene, reads a question at the beginning of each episode that a viewer is curious about and has sent in. Each episode then takes you, the viewer, on location to find answers to the questions. My daughters loved that you can send in questions and their minds where spinning with ideas. I had a lot of fun listening to some of the questions they came up with. I have some very curious little girls.

What is included in the DVD Combo Pack-Produce and DVD Combo Pack-Swimmers of the Sea?

The DVD Combo Packs each have three episodes on one disk. Each episode is about 30 minutes long. I can tell you friends, that in those 30 minutes, you will learn so much great educational information. The age level suggested for these DVDs is ages 7-14. In my opinion these DVD's can be used for younger and older ages. I enjoyed both DVD Combo Pack-Produce and DVD Combo Pack-Swimmers of the Sea just as much as my daughters, who are 10, 9, and 8 years old. My oldest enjoyed taking notes on each episode. It really helped her retain the information she was learning.

DVD Combo Pack-Produce -focuses on Mushrooms, Cranberries, and Orange Packing.

Mushrooms - This episode was fantastically fascinating to my girls and I. Before watching we weren't sure how mushrooms where grown. I can honestly say that we learned so much and got many chuckles out of this episode. Apparently some of the process stinks...One of the processes literally smells pretty bad, but in the end it's completely worth it. Great episode and I'm glad a viewer was curious about mushrooms.

Cranberries - Have you or someone you know, thought cranberries grew in water? Don't worry you are not alone on this one. This episode brings you to the field and shows you exactly how they are grown, harvested, and much more. It's full of great information.

Orange Packing - This episode shows the process from picking to packing oranges. My girls thought it was neat to learn that they use huge fans to keep the frost away. They also learned that the picker has to be very careful not to bruise the oranges. It was also fun to watch Joel Greene try his hand at picking. Great episode filled with a lot of educational information.

DVD Combo Pack-Swimmers of the Sea - focuses on Sea Turtle Rescue, Penguins, and Salmon.

Sea Turtle Rescue - In this episode Joel Greene visits the sea turtle hospital in Marathon, Florida. It is quite fascinating seeing how workers help turtles that are injured. They help to heal them and prepare them for going back to the sea. My daughters and I learned that there are 7 species of sea turtles. I would love to have the opportunity to visit the sea turtle hospital, as it seems it would make a fantastic field trip and learning experience.

Penguins - My daughters and I are big fans of penguins. They are just so cute! We really enjoyed this episode. It was a lot of fun watching Joel Greene try to feed them. My daughters thought it was interesting that they giving vitamins to the penguins.

Salmon - In this episode Joel explores a salmon hatchery. My daughters learned that salmon swim upstream and return back to the rivers that they were born in to breed and then pass on. They thought it was neat how they used their smell to return back. It was another great one, filled with great educational facts.

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So as you can tell, both of these DVDs were a hit with my family. We thoroughly enjoyed watching and learning about each subject. I feel that Curiosity Quest is a great educational program and highly recommend the DVDs