Boomerang Magazine: Classic Audio for Kids
Those of us who have been homeschooling a while know that sometimes the best resources aren't the newest or flashiest. That's the case with Boomerang Audio Magazine for kids. I have a stack of these on cassette (have you heard of cassette tapes?) and another stack on CD, and I simply can't bear to part with them, even though they are long outgrown at our house.
Boomerang Magazine: Engaging Content
My kids grew up listening to the stories, the history, the humor, the science, the culture, and the wisdom found on Boomerang magazine, most of which was told in kids' voices. We heard engaging "interviews" with historical figures like Marco Polo, Rosa Parks, and Vincent Van Gogh. We heard interesting vocabulary in the "Weird Words" segment. We heard science ideas from "Widget and Whack," who brought us such topics as properties of the screw, how gasoline is made, and laws of physics. We heard about books, current events, money and economics, ancient history, social challenges, kids' lives -- with a kid detective story thrown in!
There was plenty on Boomerang magazine to feed the brains of my boys as they were growing up, but there was also more. The heart of most episodes was the Dave Schmave segment, storytelling that was touching and creative, never condescending to the kids that make up Boomerang's audience.
Today, classic Boomerang audio magazine episodes are available for purchase, making them easier than ever to access from any device that can handle MP3s. You and your kids can listen to a free sample of each of the featured Boomerang segments to get a feel for the Boomerang audio magazine to see if you want to buy, or just because -- they're free and wonderful!
Boomerang Magazine: Personal Customer Service
The customer service is personal and quirky. When I wrote to David to make sure they were still in business, he remembered my name from long ago mailing lists. He also explained that he no longer uses an online storefront, deciding to go a less technological route to thwart hackers he has tired of dealing with.
In addition to listening to the free samples on the website, if you email David with a classic episode you'd like to access, he'll make that available to you for free as a trial episode.
Then, if you want to order a bundle of nine episodes, you email him with the nine you want, he'll make them available to you, and then you mail him a check for $49.
I know. Quaint but effective.
And let me tell you: worth it.
Boomerang audio magazine is one of those educational resources you can use instead of curriculum or in addition to your curriculum. Listening to this audio magazine creates all kinds of questions and rabbit trails to follow -- a great introduction to inquiry-based learning. This is similar to our kids' experience with Jim Weiss stories -- another great audio resource our children grew up with.
A big benefit of these audio resources is that kids can be busy doing other things with their hands or bodies while listening -- making art, building their craft projects, driving their little cars and trucks through the sandbox. For some kids, this actually enhances learning, because they're not focused on having to keep still, which can take a lot of energy.
And of course, for those with lots of time in the car -- audio resources are a great way to both pass time and have a collective experience, since the whole family can listen to the same thing at the same time.
The topics that Boomerang touched on often became topics of conversation around the dinner table at our house, catalysts for checking out books at the library, and stimulation for internet research. This can be particularly helpful for children who are later readers or who develop fluency later, because by listening to Boomerang, they can continue to learn a lot in other subject areas -- something I call building content during a skills lag.
David tells me that while he's not producing new episodes of Boomerang, most of the classic shows are "evergreen," meaning, they're generally not outdated. I think you'll find that to be the case.
I'm so convinced the learning and memories evoked by Boomerang are evergreen that last night I sent the "listen now" links to my oldest kids (now young adults who are through college and working full-time). I bet hearing just a few snippets from the free samples will take them right back to when they listened and learned about the Black Plague, the pyramids, the First Amendment, nanotechnology, the power of gears, Emily Dickinson, and the wonders of raindrops -- all while flying down the road in Mom's minivan or lying in bed under a familiar quilt.
Two thumbs up for Boomerang audio magazine.
A popular speaker at homeschooling conferences, business groups, and parents’ groups, Jeanne Potts Faulconer homeschooled her three sons in North Carolina, Mississippi, and Virginia for twenty years. Holding her Master of Arts degree in Communication, Jeanne conducted portfolio evaluations for Virginia homeschoolers for evidence of progress for many years. Jeanne is a former college faculty member, former editor for several publications, news correspondent for WCVE, and former director of Brave Learner Home. She is the contributing editor for TheHomeSchoolMom newsletter and writes the popular Ask Jeanne column addressing homeschool parents' questions here at TheHomeSchoolMom.
Hi, Jeanne
My 12 yr old son, Jack, and I started homeschooling in Jan '24. Right off the bat, we got confused about how to proceed. We started Math and Grammar with Kahn Academy, then documentaries for History and Science. Jack also went to Explore School for Science at ExplorationWorks, our local science center. Explore School makes a homeschooler a quarter student through the public school system. I ended up buying Beast Academy math workbooks, which we learned about through another homeschool mom. It's not our favorite, but it's fine. We supplement that with Kahn Academy math videos as needed. Jack completed all the Kahn Academy Grammar lessons by Spring. We started IXL then, and used it for Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies.
Currently, we are struggling to get our rhythm. I have multiple chronic illnesses and am trying to reschedule all my many appointments for afternoons so we don't keep breaking up our school day. My husband keeps saying that we need to start school by 9am sharp with a consistent schedule so Jack is prepared for his future. I prefer to have a schedule planned out but be more laidback and play each day by ear. Maybe I'll feel good so we'll go for a drive. Maybe I won't so we'll watch documentaries all day. We are still doing Beast Academy math, using IXL for Language Arts, and watching documentaries for Science and History.
I had Jack do IXL assessments in June to see how much he knows. His results showed 5th grade through 8th grade, depending on the subject. He told me that he got bored and started randomly choosing answers to get it over with.
What did you do for your kids in middle school? How did you teach your 12/13 year olds? Did you create a curriculum? Is that when you listened to The Great Courses?
I just found your website and plan to utilize it. Thank you for all the info!
And thank you for your time!
April
While I'm sure it feels worrisome to you that everything is not worked out yet, what you are experiencing is typical for many people when they have not yet homeschooled a full year. For many families, homeschooling takes two or three years before things really do feel they are coming together.
The flexibility of homeschooling, which is generally a plus, is part of what leads to this feeling in the beginning. With no "one way" to do things, we parents explore and try various things—with varying results.
In my experience, this is not a bad thing. You learn so much about your kid through this process, even though the process includes a bit of trial and error. You discover some thing that work really well and other things that work less well.
I always tell people, April, do more of what works and do less of what doesn't work. This is deceptively difficult because we are distracted by things like what other people say, what curriculum costs, what the public school children are doing and so on. But if you have enough judgment to see what engages your child—where YOU personally see learning happening—that is what you want to do more of.
I did tend to select resources and experiences that created a unique curriculum for my kids, and yes, the Great Courses (now Wondrium) were among the resources we used. But we also used an interest-led approach. If my kids had an interest, I helped them read about it, write about, research about it, and have experiences about it. We went to the library and got books about the topics. We watched documentaries and talked to people with experience in the field. We also used homeschool co-ops so my kids got experience learning with others and from others.
I got better at this over time, offering my kids resources, curriculum or activities that were similar to what had engaged them previously.
As for the notion of learning to get up at 9 am sharp to prepare for the future, this is a strongly held belief by some. One could present countering beliefs, such as that working around a loved one's chronic illness to best advantage is also a solid way to prepare for the future.
That said, having buy-in from both parents is important in homeschooling as it is in any other aspect of raising kids. My suggestion here would be to explore this as you would any other difference of opinion. Ask questions about your husband's concerns and see if you can understand what his root concern is. There may be other ways besides a daily 9 am start that will give your child practice at being on time or whatever it is that it is at the bottom of his concern. At the same time, I'd hope that your interest in his root concerns would cause him to be interested in YOUR root concerns. Not every day is like every other day when you have a chronic health challenge. Couples counseling is often recommended when parents aren't able to have the kind of dialogue where both parents feel heard. This is true for people who don't homeschool their kids but can be true for homeschoolers as well!
I think you're making progress on getting into a routine. You're rescheduling appointments for afternoons because you've realized having a day that is "less broken up" works better for you. I remember having several similar realizations over years of homeschooling, including, some years having a sacrosanct day where we did not schedule ANYTHING so we always had one predictable day at home, always. And the opposite - picking a day or two of the week that were the days when I did my very best to put all of our appointments, errands, and out-of-home errands. These things you partially learn over time and also by reading books and websites and talking to other homeschooling parents.
You are also giving your son a chance to provide feedback, and it sounds like he's giving you some honest answers that are actionable. You can choose other resources besides the ones that bore him and that inspire him to give random answers (even though the resource may work for another child in another family). This is good information for you to have; now you can act on it.
Homeschooling most often does not come together all the way in the first year. It takes time to decompress from school, create a new routine, and find the best approaches for learning for an individual child. In your home, this is not COMPLETED yet, but you are on your way! You are doing it!
Keep reading, keep trying things, keep observing your child, keep learning!
Looking forward,
Jeanne
Can you send me the email to order tapes, my children grew up with these Wonderful tapes, and I would love to have some for their children to enjoy. They are 5 and 8 years old.
You can order the episodes from their website (although I'm not sure they offer tapes—just CDs or downloads).
My kids are grown ... but the cassette tapes only recently went away to good homes.... I swear that my daughter became a history major because of Boomerang. It was /is an excellent show to use while driving long distances, at bedtime (my daughter fell asleep to them... and listened to them over and over) and for lazy afternoons. Highly recommended.
Connie! I know just how you feel. I still have these recordings and the memories of listening to them with my kids in the car. I still remember the sounds in the house as my kids drifted off to sleep with Boomerang playing. We loved them! Glad you enjoyed them, too.
Jeanne
Oh my goodness, Jeanne, I'm madly in love with Boomerang Audio Tapes! I haven't heard of these before reading your post, but after a little fishy nibble, I'm soooo hooked. Unfortunately, my homeschool students are all grown up, but I'm definitely going to listen to every single sample. Some of my favorites are Tucker Jones, Weird Words, American Journey, Schmave's Elevator, Book Beat and The Big Idea. Oh if I could only turn back time, my kiddos would have loved curling up on the floor or couch with a project while listening and learning! Me too!! Thanks for sharing!