Creating an environment of learning- Resources to encourage PBL& Interest Led Learning

[Soror]

As I finally have more time and energy with the baby nearing a year old I'm looking towards making learning a larger part of our day and more integrated into our life. I would love to hear what others do to encourage this type of atmosphere in your family, what types of resources have been the most helpful and useful for your family.

 

-I'm considering some science magazine subscriptions here as ds is a pretty voracious reader and this seems to be a great way to get a wide variety of science info

 

- I've bought more videos and audiobooks this year as those are always well received but I would greatly like to add to my collection. We have Netflix and Hulu but there seems to be many more educational shows that I can find info about but not access. I wish I could subscribe to single channels through my blu-ray player!

 

- We bought ds an EV3 and model rockets this summer and have a microscope coming - I need more building equipment around and electrical components as ds is interested in both of these.

 

- I bought Atelier and Draw Squad this year and both have been great for dd (and for ds to a lesser degree) but I'm always on the lookout for more in the art area.

 

-I try to keep an eye out for local educational type events but I could certainly do better in this area. I recently heard about a knitting class and shooting club(archery and gun) and think would fit my kids well. Ds recently bought himself a bow and dd is interested in anything creative. We do tend to hit educational stops when we're vacationing- we visited the Space and Rocket Center this summer, a Leonardo da Vinci exhibit, historical battleships and 2 different Science museums- we live in a rural area though so I don't have as much available as others.

 

- I've started a collection of games but it is woefully small now so I'm on the lookout here.

 

- I let dd pick out some flowers this year for her own flower garden but I need to take this further, she loves growing things and is always trying to plant something

 

-Dd1 would love some more pets but I have to figure out how to make it work without more work for me, currently we have 2 cats and ds as some triops in a very small tank. He had some tadpoles this summer but they didn't survive. I need to keep a look at for a small tank.

 

I'm trying to pay attention to their interests and natural inclinations but I could always use more ideas. I'm sure there is so much more out there that I'm not aware of- I read about new stuff nearly daily on the Hive :)

[Black-eyed Suzan]

We check out audiobooks at the library (often classic stories - this round we have poetry and folk tales) to listen to in the car and/or in the house.  Great way to enjoy them without spending money.

 

I just bought several of Ed Emberley's drawing books on a recommendation of a homeschooler who is also an art teacher.

We play classical music (often from Pandora or Performance Today episodes) during dinner and during school activities that don't require as much concentration (like art/handwriting/etc).

What about handicrafts?  Knitting or Peg Loom
 

Educational toys and games I can think of at the moment:

Snap Circuits

Ticket to Ride

GeoPuzzles

Digit (used to be called Pick It)

Logic Puzzle books

For your little ones, letter and number cookie cutters (to use with play dough)

 

My kids love maps - we have maps on the walls, to look at in the car, extras in the house.

 

Have you thought about composting? I'm thinking of starting vermicomposting soon (we have a small yard so no good space for a compost pile). I just have to get a container.

[....]

Hi!  Does your library have The Unschooling Handbook by Mary Griffith?  That book gave me alot of ideas on non-schooly learning resources.  I've also gathered ideas from unschooling, relaxed homeschooling and eclectic homeschooling blogs.  Just off the top of my head, here's what my kids like:

 

Art:

art instruction videos on Youtube - 2 of my kids are really into Manga, so they watch the videos and follow along in their sketchbooks

good quality art markers

sketch pencils, compass, small ruler, Maniken (that wooden dude who poses, so they can see body and angles when they draw)

how to draw books from the library

sketchpads

small watercolor set (although my kids seem to prefer sketching right now)

 

Math:

Zometools - these were expensive (probably more $ than I would normally spend on something like that), but there are free activities on their website to download

numerous math websites - like Math Playground, websites about fractals, Fractal World Generator, etc

living math books - we've read most of what our library has on this subject.  We also have a number of Life of Fred books.

My younger kids like tanagrams, a cheap scale with weight set, playing with Base 10 blocks, geoboards

play Chess (this is our next endeavor - we're going to learn some strategies)

wrap-ups or math puzzles (like with puzzle pieces - we have one for + and -)

 

Science:

Like Suzan said - Snapcircuits!

my kids like any building set or bridge-building kits

Ein-o science kits from Hobby Lobby

Physics Workshop (this was a huge hit in our house)

Simple Machines kit

Owl pellet dissection (Home Science Tools)

microscope + A World in a Drop of Water and other books from the library 

Youtube videos where they watch microscopic animals doing whatever it is that microscopic animals do

Life of Birds series (this is on Netflix right now)

Planet Earth series

random science lab equipment - we have a bunch of plastic beakers, graduated cylinders, tweezers, etc from HST

 

Language Arts:

Mad Libs

Spelling City (website)

Wordsmith Apprentice (workbook where you pretend you're a newspaper editor)

Spelling Bee: The Game (website)

Funbrain (website)

Basher books about Punctuation, Grammar, etc

Scrabble of Bananagrams

have the kids make their own comics

 

Geography:

world geography puzzle 

United States geography puzzle

Stack the States app (someone on this board told me about that)

geography cards (they look like trading cards)

 

A gazillion library books...  I require each of my kids to have a book going at all times (they have to read at least once a day).  We also have at least one read-aloud going at all times.

Schoolhouse Rock DVD - my kids have learned alot from that.

 

We have a number of reference books around: Kingfisher History Encyclopedia, Visual Encyclopedia of Science, Art: A World History, Write Source 2000, etc.  

 

I hope something out of there helps!  

 

 

 

[....]

 

Have you thought about composting? I'm thinking of starting vermicomposting soon (we have a small yard so no good space for a compost pile). I just have to get a container.

 

We're doing this too - with worms!!   :eek:  My husband and my daughter built a composting bin out of a plastic bin and eco-Earth (I think that's what it is).  Several of the worms escaped from the holes they drilled in the top!  I was walking through the kitchen in the middle of the night and I saw one making a break for it across the kitchen floor.  It was an interesting project.  

[momto2Cs]

Some language arts materials we've enjoyed (games):

You've Been Sentenced

Rory's Story Cubes

Apples to Apples/Apple's to Apple's Junior

Brave Writer Language Games

 

 

Sciences:

The Amateur Zoologist (oop, but easy enough to find cheaply), along with a few basic tools (magnifying glass, containers, etc.)

The New Way Things Work + The Way Things Work videos on you tube

Crayon Physics (free) / Crayon Physics Deluxe ($20)

Microcosmos (on Netflix, streaming) - amazing insect documentary!

 

Geography:

Scrambled States card game, and there's a book

Seterra

 

I'll be back later with more!

 

[Soror]

Thank you so much ladies. I am going to file away these ideas. Right now I am just making sure the kids have plenty of free time and I'm trying to just watch to see where their interests lead them. I've been available for the most part and saying yes more, letting them have time to get bored and limiting electronic media. Ds has been very interested in his bow so I've helped him make a target. We figured out how to fix his bike chain the other day. He has been listening to audios of King Arthur and poetry.

 

Dd is ALWAYS dying to create something. Today I helped her sew a little cover for her doll bed. She likes to cook daily. I really wish she was a proficient reader. I could get her some more art supplies as well, at the rate she uses them she goes through them fast.

 

Both are interested in sewing so I need to get some more supplies for projects. I have a sewing book but not the materials. I had planned to get that started this winter but I really need to get it together now when they're both interested.

 

I see you mentioned the World in a Drop of Water book Evanthe and I remember reading about Gillian using that book as well so I will have to order that when our microscope comes in. I appreciate all the other science links as well, we will check those out.

 

I would like some more geography resources so I'm glad to see various ones listed. We have 10 Days in Europe and Asia and those are absolutely great dh, ds and me are all learning geography and having fun.

 

I need to get back to going to the library as well but I've not had a good track record lately.

 

Thanks Suzan for the ideas for the little ones. I do need more playdough, not sure what happened to ours.

[Soror]

I was just reading on Lori's blog about boredom and found it to be so interesting. I just said how I wanted to give them time to be bored but in reading what she wrote I think I should rephrase it:

 

Championing boredom for kids doesn’t even scratch the surface of best practice. We can do so much more than just leave a hole in their schedule where they can wallow. Boredom is the least possible effort we can make in the right direction.

 

We can invest in our children’s interests, abilities, talents, strengths, and ideas.

We can invest in their unscheduled time and flood it with tools, materials, collaboration, and support.

We can build a place in our home that honors making and doing, not just watching other people make and do.

We can build a family culture that celebrates meaningful work.

 

Give your kids too many bored afternoons and you run the risk of making them so fearful of empty time that they’ll try to avoid it like the plague. Make it too challenging for them to discover the pleasure of making ideas happen and they may never discover it. Compared to over-scheduling, boredom seems like a valuable anteroom to having ideas and doing higher-valuer activities — the first step down a path toward self-direction. But boredom is the easiest, chintziest, least-effort-expended way for you to help your kids head down that path. And the return on your scanty investment is in no way guaranteed. You can do better.

 

Give your kids a workspace — an art studio, a workshop, a lab for ideas.

 

Give your kids a block of time devoted to making and doing — and protect that time. Make it one of your big rocks. Honor it. Invest in it. Give it at least the same level of attention that you give soccer and tae kwon do.

 

Give your kids an example to follow. Don’t just send them off to do something that you yourself never do. Live the life you want them to live. Work alongside them and become a family of doers. -

 

See more at: http://project-based-homeschooling.com/camp-creek-blog/boredom-lazy-parent’s-strategy-inspiring-creativity#sthash.6lhWOn9f.dpuf

*This* is exactly what I'm trying to do. I want to lead by example. I want to give them space and support them. It is all to easy to just leave them by themselves and then bemoan the fact that they aren't coming up with anything to do but what they need is a little bit of encouragement and support.

 

So, I guess I'm on the right path here. I need to be there. I need to keep an ear out for opportunities for all of us for things we enjoy. I need to think about what kinds of materials and supplies we could use.