Every month I share a new screensaver in my Homeschool Newsletter, and a couple of you have emailed to ask me why!
An educational screensaver is a wonderful low-key way to spark a learning experience with your children.
Screensavers are perfect for strewing. You don't need to point their attention to it - just leave the screensaver to do it's magic.
I change my screensaver once a month. Sometimes the children ignore it! But sometimes they get interested enough to ask about it. That becomes a great opportunity to explore a new subject. Or just have an interesting conversation!
I am very careful about choosing screensavers. They have to be free (or have a trial that lasts at least a month). And no extra downloads along with it (especially software that will 'monitor my browsing behaviour').
Screensavers I Recommend
Hubble Telescope
You can download the free screensaver from PC World.
The screensaver shows lots of photographs taken by the Telescope.
Alaska Wildlife Photography
If you don't mind music on your educational screensavers, then a good one to try is this Alska Wildlife Photography Screensaver. (Download the 'Try') It was beautiful- but the music did drive me nuts!
Planet Earth
Planet Earth shows wildlife and landscapes from the BBC series Planet Earth. There are two to choose from. Both also show conservation information.
Egypt
This screensaver is a virtual fly-around tour of the Giza Plateau.
Be sure to check out the details of the pyramids on the download screen so you can sound knowledgeable about it!
Tudor Times
The Bradford Table Carpet displays a table carpet from Tudor times showing the types of activities that Tudor people liked!
The dates of the Tudor reign are (August)1485 to 1603. To find out more about Tudor Times and the table carpet, visit TudorBritain.Org.
This educational screensaver shows the earth, with all the major cities hightlighted. What I liked about it is that, as each city comes into view, it shows the name of the city, population figures and the time. It even changes to show day and night.
The 'Download Now' button is near the top of the screen on the right hand side.
Once set up, you can : Zoom in/zoom out: Use mouse wheel to move camera closer/farther. Camera Control: Use "up" and "down" arrow keys to control the vertical camera position (e.g. to look at Antarctica). Use "left" and "right" arrow keys to slow down or to speed up the camera rotation speed.