Literature is pretty straightforward the way it’s taught in schools. Usually kids are read to, or read to themselves, a story or novel. Then they usually take a quiz on what they’ve read, or write a book report or paper. Sometimes a teacher gets a little creative and throws in a movie tie-in, lets the…
Tag: Resources
5 Websites to Help You Better Explore Your Interests
So let’s say your daughter loves cooking. Lately she’s into making all chocolate desserts. Maybe she watches some YouTube videos or experiments on her own with some cooking books from the library. You find out there’s a local chocolate factory that gives tours. While she’s at the factory, she asks lots of questions. The tour…
10 Unusual Ways to Explore Geography
Take a little child to a multicultural festival and she is immersed in new sounds, sights and flavors. Hang a map on the wall and watch your children start pointing out different countries and asking lots of questions. Give an older child an atlas or map while taking a trip and see his joy at…
10 Unusual Ways to Explore Art
My memories of art in kindergarten: cut and paste creations, detailed instructions of how to color inside the lines and reminders to “follow directions.” High school art wasn’t much better. I wanted to create art and often had pretty cool ideas of what I wanted to make, yet I often felt frustrated. While the three dimensional…
10 Unusual Ways to Explore Writing
I think most kids are born natural storytellers. By the age of 5, they’ve already come up with hundreds of unique story plots, plays or songs. Their imaginations are incredible. Unfortunately, most kids lose that drive and excitement for creating their own imaginative worlds by the time they’re 8 or 9. By focusing on perfect…
10 Unusual Ways to Explore Science
I think all kids are born scientists. They all want to explore their world and figure it out from the day they’re born. They ask questions about where things come from, how things work and what they do. They love to play with water, snow, ice and mud. Unfortunately for many children, their explorations are…
10 Unusual Ways to Explore Math
I confess. I never really liked math. I played the school game well so I received pretty good grades, but after I passed the test (even after receiving an A in most cases), those rules, theorems and facts didn’t stick around for very long. The problem was everything was drilled into me, or as I…
Why Lesson Plans Don’t Work Part 2
When I wrote last week about why lesson plans don’t work, I realized this position would be a bit controversial since almost all schools, including many homeschooling families, rely on lesson plans. But I feel it’s important to get the message out that most learning doesn’t need to be strictly pre-planned; in fact, in most…
25 Connections Game: Designing Clothes
Today in the 25 Connections game I’m going to tackle the topic of Designing Clothes. In case you’re new to these series of posts, I’m taking a topic and connecting it to 25 other ideas, resources or topics. Sometimes we might feel that our children have limited interests. How can we widen their world and…
Exploring Holidays as a Family
What is it about holidays that make those days seem extra special? How is it that even on a holiday you might not really observe, like St. Patrick’s Day or Sweetest Day, the day just feels different somehow? Part of it might be the awareness that other people ARE making a big deal about that…