Dive Into Your Imagination

I have lived in the Ocean State my entire life (44 years). I love the ocean.  We also have had a family membership to our local aquarium for many years. All this to say, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to review a DVD about ocean life made for children. Dive Into Your Imagination is a company created by Annie Crawley, also known as Ocean Annie.  She founded the company to change the way the next generation views the ocean and themselves.

My fellow TOS Crewmates received one of three videos: What Makes A Fish, A Fish?; Who Lives in the Sea?; or Dive Into Diversity. Each of these DVDS has 8 main chapters and a couple of bonus tracks explaining scuba diving and production. Educator guides are available to go along with the videos. For each of the chapters on the DVD, there is a chapter in the educator guide of the same name. Within the educator guides, you can choose from 6-7 activity stations per unit.

We received Dive Into Diversity which teaches children about all the variety of life under the sea and how animals rely upon one another for survival. Take a ride to a depth of 1500 feet in the deep sea with a submarine pilot! Find out what happens on the reef at NIGHT. Learn what eating ice cream and brushing your teeth have in common. Why do crabs have claws? What can grow three feet in just one day? 

Dive into Diversity has eight chapters.  You can watch them all or choose one at a time.

1. Night Diving on the Reef
2. Dive into Diversity

3. Be a Submarine Pilot

4. Swim in a Kelp Forest

5. Invertebrates of the Sea

6. Coral Reef Living

7. Sea Animals with Back Bones

8. Wacky, Weird, Crusty Crustaceans

Bonus features include meeting Annie with a lesson on SCUBA, meeting Craig who is the musician behind the music in Dive into Diversity (I loved this segment) and the transcript for each chapter.

Total run time: 44 minutes

The photography in this video is just wonderful.  Each chapter is short enough to keep your child's attention but still informative.  You have the option of watching the video in English, Spanish or just have music in the background (which is a neat option I think).  The narration is definitely geared toward younger children but the video is really stunning and appropriate for any age.

sample video:


See more of Annie's videos by visiting her YouTube channels. Adventures of Ocean Annie and Dive into Your Imagination.

I do want to make a note that occasionally there are appearances of females in a 2 piece bathing suit.  Not overly revealing, but I thought it was worth mentioning.  There is also some slight evolutionary content but it is very subtle. 

Along with these DVDs, they have created cross-curricular educator guides combining literacy, math, science, social studies, and geography with character education. There are 2 guides for each DVD. One for PreK-K and one for grades 1-3.  These guides are around 300 pages long each and are an amazing resource.  They are written for a classroom setting but can easily be used in a homeschool. 

A sample page describing how the guide is arranged.

The Dive into Diversity DVD is $19.95 as are What Makes a Fish a Fish? and Who Lives in the Sea?. They are also offering free shipping for the months of May and June.  The Educator Guides are available for $299 (that is not a typo) for each DVD and $69.95 for the pdf version.  HOWEVER, if you mention you are a homeschool parent in the comment section you will receive the pdf version for the video you order FREE. Don't try to order the pdf just put it in the comments.  I am not sure how long this offer will last.

Visit the Dive Into Your Imagination website which is full of information and fun things like free coloring pages, The Ocean Song video (with song sheet link), lots of cool stuff to order in the store and much more.   I encourage you to check it out.

Annie Crawley was born and raised in Chicago, she did not see the ocean until after college. Learning to scuba dive changed her my life . Trained as a photo and broadcast journalist, she lived and worked around the world as a scuba diving instructor, boat captain, underwater photographer and cinematographer before starting her own company, Dive Into Your Imagination. You can read her full biography here: http://www.anniecrawley.com/meet-annie-crawley/annie-crawley-biography/ 

Read what others are saying about Dive Into Your Imagination DVDs on the TOS Crew Blog.


disclaimer: I received a free copy of Dive into Diversity and accompanying study guides for
 all 3 videos in exchange for an honest review.

Go Science DVDs

A few years ago a friend of mine told me about Library and Ed Services.  I have ordered from them in the past and have always been happy with their services and prices.  I was thrilled when I found out that we were going to get the opportunity to review Go Science DVDs sent to us by Library and Ed Services.  I was  given a coupon code to order and went right to the website and ordered like a regular customer and received my order a short time later. (Most things I review just come to me in the mail. I don't have to order them.)





This 6 Volume Series, recommended for ages 6-14, features the high-energy science demonstrations of Ben Roy.  Ben teaches science methods at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and is the former director of a science program on TV.  Each of the 67 demonstrations of physical or chemical science has a spiritual application and points to our Creator.


Here is a sample from one of the videos:


The 6 Volumes are:

1. Motion
2. Simple Machines-Sound and Weather
3. Magnetism, Electricity, Engineering and Design
4. Chemistry, States of Matter and Life Sciences
5. Air and Flight
6. Water, Space and the Solar System

I was able to pick the 2 videos we wanted to review so we picked 1) Chemistry and 2) Water, Space and the Solar System.  We have enjoyed these science videos but I would say they are really for a younger crowd. (4-10 maybe) Older children may watch with their siblings and enjoy watching but there isn't much "meat" to them.  Each segment was taken from a children's TV show.  They compiled these science segments into the videos. Often he uses the science experiment to tie in a Bible truth.  At the end of every segment he says, "Each time you learn something about science you learn more about the Creator, God."  This might be true, but he never really says how.  It's just a catch phrase.  I do like that these are Christian videos and Ben Roy is clearly passionate about what he is doing.

In the Chemistry video demonstrations include:

• Chemical Luminescence (cool one)
• Exploding Bottle (kids love anything that explodes)
• Exploding Balloons
• Flash Paper (my favorite...has a great explanation of how Jesus takes our sin away)
• pH (very cool)
• Root Beer Float (this one you can try at home)
• Liquid Nitrogen
• Single Cell
• Optical Illusion
• Lycopodium Powder
• Camouflage

Each demonstration ranges from 3-6 minutes

In the Water, Space and the Solar System video demonstrations include:

• Water Disappear
• Boil Water in a Paper Cup
• Properties of Water
• Floating Balls
• As Cold as Outer Space
• Make a Rocket
• Living in Space
• Solar System
• Centripetal Force

The thing my kids did not like about the videos is that the experiments are not explained thoroughly (and sometimes not at all).  They also didn't like that most of the things were not experiments they could repeat at home.  However, I do think there is value in watching experiments with liquid nitrogen for example because that is not something I could ever obtain and use at home.

So, all in all I think these are a fun addition to our homeschool for younger children and are good to create an interest in learning about science. My nine year old daughter wants me to buy the rest of them.


Library and Ed Services has been in business for 35 years. They are a small family company in Southwest Michigan. As a wholesale distributor they serve resellers, schools, churches, missionaries, licensed daycare centers, and libraries. They offer the same wholesale discounts to homeschools that they offer to other schools.


The CDs, DVDs, and books they choose to distribute are carefully selected to ensure they are in harmony with Christian values and morals. They offer a wide variety of evolution-free science resources. However, on rare occasion, they find a book or series that contains 1 or 2 brief references to evolution. They may choose to still carry this item, but will clearly note on our website that it does contain a minor reference to evolution – so you know before you buy.

You can purchase the entire set of videos for $47.95 or purchase individual titles for just $8.97 each.  I believe you will need to create an account in order to view the pricing.  While you're there be sure to sign up for their newsletter.  They have lots of great deals and have wonderful prices on Your Story Hour and Drive Thru History among other things.

Read what others are saying about Go Science and Library and Ed Services on the TOS crew blog.


disclaimer: I was given two Go Science DVD's by Library and Educational Services in exchange for an honest review.