Whenever I think our kiddos are ready, I will let them watch certain movies. The last time I shared on my FB page that our kiddos watch Jurassic Park movies (1, 2 and 3!) there were people bashing me for letting our kiddos watch shows like this. I was like 'Wha-at?! So many learning opportunities in that movie!' Anyway, my kids, my way, my reasoning.
So a few weeks back, I decided to let our kiddos watch 'Cast Away'. Apart from the scenes where Tom Hanks found the dead airplane staff which I told and made sure our kiddos closed their eyes and not watch until I said so, they watched the rest of the movie.
At first, I explained to our 6.5 year old boy that although it does seem grim and scary watching the plane crash part, I told him to also hang on and see what will happen next. I asked him to imagine what he would do if he was stranded on an island. Whether he knows what to do and why Tom Hanks did what he had to do in the movie.
Despite all the tragedies and circumstances, Tom Hanks persevered on and survived with whatever he can salvage from the crash. As he discovered new things on the island, I would ask our kiddos what do they think he can do with the items he found? (skating shoes, tutu skirt, etc)
I did get a few surprises from their responses. At one point where Tom Hanks was just starting to make fire, I asked our kiddos what do they think he was doing and our 4 year old girl answered 'Make fire!' I was very impressed as there were no indication whatsoever that he was making fire at that point of the scene and she knew what he was going to do. Coolness!
There were some other surprises where our kiddos said words that I never knew they would know at this age. When asked what was Tom Hanks trying to build with all the logs and the plastic siding of the door he found on the beach, our 6.5 year old boy casually said 'Raft'. Whoa.. I didn't realised he would know and understand what this word means.
I also used the opportunity to teach our kiddos that we should never give up so easily and that we should try and do our best. I told our kiddos to make use of everything they can find and think of just like what Tom Hanks did in the movie.
I was very glad that we could watch this movie together and learn at the same time!
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