I have shared a lot of different reading lists over the years, so I thought it was about time I shared a different kind of list…this time of the documentaries and educational and fine arts films we’ve watched, either to coordinate with our school work, or to learn something entirely new! (I didn’t include Doctor Who, even though it was originally created as an educational program to teach history, but it is also something we regularly watch!)
Nature
- Planet Earth (This and the following two documentaries are David Attenborough films.)
- Frozen Planet
- The Blue Planet
- Knut and Friends
The British Monarchy
- Queen and Country
- Monarchy: The Royal Family at Work
- Windsor Castle: A Royal Year
- The Diamond Queen
- Our Queen
- The Queen’s Garden
- The King’s Speech (OK, this isn’t technically a documentary, but it is historically accurate, and useful for learning a great deal about King George VI!)
- The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
Other British Documentaries
- Secrets of Iconic British Estates (Four episodes covering Highclere Castle, Hampton Court Palace, Althorp, and Chatsworth, as well as a special about the operation of a manor house.)
- Secrets of the Tower of London
- Secrets of Westminster
- Great Estates of Scotland (Four episodes covering Inveraray Castle, Dumfries House, Kincardine Castle, and Rosslyn Chapel.)
The Space Program
- In the Shadow of the Moon
- When We Left Earth
- Apollo 13 (Like The King’s Speech, this is fictionalized, but it does such a good job of telling the story of “successful failure” of Apollo 13 that I consider it educational.)
Ballet
- American Ballet Theatre: A History
- The Nutcracker—San Francisco Ballet, The Bolshoi Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, The Royal Ballet, Wiener Staatsballett
- Giselle–Royal Ballet
- Swan Lake–Mariinksy Ballet
- Coppelia–The Australian Ballet
- Romeo and Juliet–San Francisco Ballet
Baseball
Miscellaneous (Including travel, fine arts, and American history.)
- The National Parks: America’s Best Idea
- Rick Steves’ Europe
- The Joy of Painting
- America: The Story Us
- The White House: Inside Story
- The Manners of Downton Abbey
Animated Shows
Over the years, I have found it really helpful to have some trusted films covering various topics and suitable for different grade levels that we can watch to supplement what we’re learning in school, or to give me a break from teaching school on the rare occasion that I’m sick. A lot of the time, we even end up watching something from this list just for the fun of it in the evening or during the weekend! What educational films do you like to watch?