Educational Television Network Includes the Biography Channel
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Where educational television meets the internet, the History Channel television network provides plenty of resources for homeschoolers, as free homeschool helps.
The History Channel is more than just a combination of television and education. It’s an educational cable network of stations, with interactive websites, educator’s resources, newsletters, a network of several other educational television stations with streaming online educational videos and printable worksheets, message board forums, and even regularly scheduled chats.
History Channel Education Network
In addition to watching the History Channel television station on your local cable network or satellite television provider, you might also be able to access History Channel Education, which offers additional programming taking a deeper look at the themes and subjects being highlighted on The History Channel. Arts and Entertainment (A&E) is another channel in The History Channel network. Finally, the Biography Channel shows specials highlighting historical figures from all over the world.
Biography Channel
The Biography Channel website has resources for researching the lives of famous (and not-so-famous) historical figures. Every month, they offer several free online educational videos and clips from upcoming specials.
Television and Education
The History Channel network of stations offers free subscriptions to their educational television guide, with advice for using the shows in the curriculum, lesson plans, and activities, highlights of additional resources available on their website. Using the links on the site, navigate toward teacher resources. Be sure to also sign up for the email alerts. Each day the website automatically updates with “On this day in history,” a column that highlights a historic event of the day. There is a teacher’s version and a student’s version, too. As homeschoolers, this can be a daily writing prompt or the basis of a homespun history curriculum.
Supplementing a History Curriculum with the History Channel
Aside from using the History Channel, the Biography Channel, or the Arts & Entertainment channel as the basis of an educational program, these can be used to supplement, too. Many of the resources are available year-round, but some are set to expire at the end of the month. If your curriculum is planned out well ahead of time, you can browse through the topics available and save them onto your own computer for use in the future. Check the guidelines of the site to be sure that the material you’re saving is licensed for that purpose. Generally, you’ll be allowed to save it for personal use, but not for distribution.
The History Channel is an immensely educational resource for homeschoolers. In order to maximize the benefits of the History Channel network of stations, be sure to visit The Biography Channel website, in addition to The History Channel and the Arts and Entertainment (A&E) website. Once there, click on all of the teacher’s links to find educational videos, streaming videos, printable worksheets, pre-made lesson plans and other interactive history lesson resources.
