Muttichen Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 Is anyone at National History Day in College Park this week? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 My friend is there with two students from her PBL club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 Well you know we're not. :D So how's it going? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttichen Posted June 11, 2013 Author Share Posted June 11, 2013 It's fun! I brought a group of kids I mentor, so they are having a blast just just hanging together. Senior judging is today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeanM Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 Have fun! We were there two years ago, and my dc were really hoping to make it this year, but came in 3rd in the state. They're determined to try harder next year... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherri in MI Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 What is National History Day in College Park? And what is a PBL club? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttichen Posted June 12, 2013 Author Share Posted June 12, 2013 I don't know about the PBL club, but we did meet some homeschoolers who my kids actually know from PA Homeschoolers classes. They were in a group of three, though, so they are probably different kids. National History Day (nhd.org) is a history competition. Kids do research with primary sources and work individually or in groups to present their results in a paper, a website, an exhibit, a performance, or a documentary. There are local and state competitions in the spring, and the national competition is being held this week at the University of Maryland in College Park. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted June 12, 2013 Share Posted June 12, 2013 What is National History Day in College Park? And what is a PBL club? Sherri, you should search the boards for Muttichen's posts and others. I had been sort of intimidated by it, but back in January Muttichen and JanetC convinced us it was possible just to take the plunge. We had a GREAT ride and got to 3rd at state, which means we were alternate to Nationals. Lots of fun, learned a ton, definitely worth doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merylvdm Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 My friend was there with her daughter - they just stayed for opening day and judging. My son was there a few years ago and my other son made it but was in Spain so his partner went alone. Another friends' daughters have made it for about 6 years running now. It is an excellent contest to teach students how to do in-depth research and learn to write a these statement, do an annotated bibliography etc. As mine moved on to college they all had no problems with research paper writing. It also develops a love of history - I have loved watching my kids get excited about some piece of historical data they discover. Primary documents can be very exciting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 So Meryl, what kinds of topics did your kids pursue that they got so excited about? Where did they find their primary sources? Dd's most keen interest is Qu. Eliz. I, so for NHD she's always looking at something that is a secondary interest (american history, photography, etc.)... While she liked her topic she chose this year, she soured on it once she dug in and realized the person was NOTHING like the way the kiddie books portrayed her. So how did your kids get connected with something that excited them? And yes, that's what we realized at the end, that in essence, no matter what category you did, you had done the work of a research paper and a really killer one at that. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Can't wait to hear how everyone did. A PBL club is a Project Based Learning club. My friend runs one and uses National History Day as one of their projects that they work toward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanetC Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Can't wait to hear how everyone did. A PBL club is a Project Based Learning club. My friend runs one and uses National History Day as one of their projects that they work toward. Do you have a list of other programs that the PBL club has used? I also require my kids to do projects every year. Right now, my STEM kid does science fair and my artsy kid does History Day. We really need contests with a deadline or projects won't get finished at our house. We aren't necessarily "in it to win it," just for the experience. While I love what DD has gotten out of History Day, I think she would like to consider alternatives. I prefer contests with live judges, rather than mailing something in, so there's a "closing event" at the end of the project. Also, when you go to an event it's more likely you'll go home with useful feedback on your project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Do you have a list of other programs that the PBL club has used? I also require my kids to do projects every year. Right now, my STEM kid does science fair and my artsy kid does History Day. We really need contests with a deadline or projects won't get finished at our house. We aren't necessarily "in it to win it," just for the experience. While I love what DD has gotten out of History Day, I think she would like to consider alternatives. I prefer contests with live judges, rather than mailing something in, so there's a "closing event" at the end of the project. Also, when you go to an event it's more likely you'll go home with useful feedback on your project. I don't think this club uses anything else this big. They do small projects at the beginning to help the students learn more about refining a thesis and how to do research. The two moms who lead this are both more humanities kind of people but if they had a student interested in science, I am sure they would run with it. These women are really good at helping the kids find adult mentors to help them learn things ... like a sound engineer to help them edit a documentary, or a newspaper archivist to help locate news stories or even a curator at a holocaust museum to arrange interviews with survivors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Hey Janet, you need to bug Muttichen and see if she'll share the link to her kids' crazy awesome documentary. They managed to merge science and history... (Hopefully she doesn't mind me disclosing that, now that they're to Nationals.) Not that it's exactly the same as doing a science project, but it's something. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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