Best Learning for the Coming Year

Someone once said, “I learn best when I teach myself.”

This week, ask your kids what they’d most like to learn about, then pursue those ideas throughout the week.

An easy and enjoyable way to do this is to ask your children what books might interest them the most this week.

We can all learn so much from simply reading a book -- new ideas, new places, new people, or even new ways of thinking.

You and your children can take a “field trip” to your Public Library or browse books online through Libby or other book sites. Then see what captures their interest the most.

Here are a few ideas you can check out today, covering various learning areas. Read them together and see how much can be learned in a fun and interesting way!

Picture Books:

* Roxaboxen (creative thinking)
* Between Two Windows (creative thinking/art)
* Giraffe Math (math)
* Amazing Visual Math (math)
* Counting on Nature: How Animals Use Numbers to Survive (math)
* Sea Turtle Life Cycle Story (science)
* What Are Stars Made Of? (science)
* Can You Hear the Plants Speak? (science)
* The Soup That Healed the Forest (science)
* 13 Colonies: One Nation: Story of America (history)
* Little House Picture Book Treasury (history)
* Story of Biographies (literature/all subjects)

Older Readers:

* Imagination Station (creative thinking)
* Imagination Chronicles: Art Explorers (creative thinking/art)
* Math Curse (math)
* Grapes of Math (math)
* Math-terpieces: The Art of Problem-Solving (math)
* Science Comics (science topics)
* Crazy Science Facts For Teens (science facts)
* Mission Earth Eco Adventures (hands-on science)
* Secret Museum of Impossible Inventions (STEM)
* Innocent Rebel: Young American Adventures (history)
* Robot Island (literature)
* Great Minds for Curious Kids (literature/all subjects)

Remember to jot down the books in your Reading Log, and discuss new thoughts and ideas that came from the books, too.

Happy homeschooling!

Monday Homeschool + Weekly Learning Ideas

What do we do on Monday when our weeks become overly busy or we face unexpected difficulties?

Some weeks, everything flows smoothly. Other weeks, things are more challenging.

Life doesn’t always go smoothly. This, in itself, is a good homeschool lesson. Having the ability to cope, to be flexible, to change directions, to adjust, to laugh at life’s lemons and to smile at simple joys – these are skills that make life and homeschool easier.

Yet, we still have to Do Something on Monday when facing a busy week. What do we do when we haven’t had time to think of activities or lesson plans?

What Do I Do Monday? is a book by John Holt, who has provided momentous ideas on education and learning. Mr. Holt was a homeschool pioneer, whose thoughts, beliefs, and writings on homeschooling and unschooling were ahead of his times.

Prior to writing numerous books on how children learn (and how they fail), John was a school teacher. But as a teacher, his focus was primarily on observing learning processes in children, rather than forcing a curriculum on them. As a result, his views often conflicted with those of school administrators.

So John turned his attention to helping parents and teachers. He shared first-hand experiences, insight, and details on children actively engaged in learning. He spent years with students and with families, closely observing how children learned best, then documenting and sharing his findings.

Some of John’s books include How Children Fail, How Children Learn, the previously mentioned What Do I Do Monday?, Freedom and Beyond, and others. His books can be found in libraries or online, and are especially inspirational to homeschooling and unschooling families.

Here are some learning ideas and quotes, courtesy of John Holt:

* “I believe that we learn best when we, not others, are deciding what we are going to try to learn, and when, and how, and for what reasons or purposes.” – John Holt

* Ask your children: “What would YOU like to do Monday?” If they can’t think of anything, try a 10-minute brainstorming session on what could be interesting, new, different, fun, etc. Then allow them to decide what they'd like to learn, and when and how, and give them the freedom to pursue those ideas this week.

* Make lists of favorite things during the day, the weeks, and in the months to come. Keep a running list in a notebook or journal. Encourage everyone in the family to keep his or her own list. Then review your lists for learning ideas each week.

* Examples: Here are some examples of "favorite things" from John Holt.

1. Places you like. These can be big places, or they can be little places, and you can like them for different reasons. Put them on your list, as many as you can think of, then learn more about those places.

2. People you’d like to know. Jot down the names of people who interest you, then learn more about them. They can be people from the past, people in the news today, people in your community, or even ancestors in your family.

3. Books you’d like to read. One favorite book can lead to another. Keep a list of books you’d like to read online or check out from the library. Write down favorite authors, too, and read other books they’ve written.

4. Paintings, sculptures, or other artwork. Keep a running list of art projects or techniques you want to try. Learn about different art movements or styles, such as Cubism, Pointillism, Futurism, Pop Art, etc., and try your hand at them.

5. Things you like to do. These can be trivial (simple) or not so trivial (more complex). Ideas could include cutting-and-pasting paper shapes, making castles from boxes, building structures with construction kits, writing skits or plays to perform, learning to play an instrument, making doll clothes, building a bookshelf, creating a computer program, etc.

In just these 5 ideas listed above, there could be weeks of learning ideas, hands-on activities, and new knowledge and skills gained through them.

Tip: An “Idea Jar” is an alternative, or a complement, to list-making. Have kids jot ideas on paper, then cut them apart, fold them up, and drop them into the Idea Jar. Each Monday, have them draw a few ideas from the jar, and there’s your learning ideas for the week!

Continue adding to the jar or to your lists as often as possible. Then you'll always have learning ideas at your fingertips each Monday!

Happy homeschooling!

5 Secrets for a Fun, Educational Homeschool Week

Here's 5 Secrets a Homeschool Family shared with us:

5 Subjects – 5 Days. Or one subject per day.

This homeschool family shared "5 Secrets" about their interesting homeschool schedule. A typical homeschool day for them revolves around one subject per day (or five subjects per week).

And best of all, their schedule is flexible, depending on how they’re feeling each week.

Here’s an example from one of their recent weeks:

1. Monday - Language Arts / Literature: Selecting favorite books to read and using them to recognize nouns, verbs, and all parts of speech. Then creating and writing sentences, paragraphs, and their own stories, while focusing on using descriptive parts of speech, new vocabulary words, and proper spelling.

2. Tuesday – Science / Experiments: Using the Scientific Method to test ideas or hypotheses when contemplating a variety of experiments. The experiments they choose can last the entire day, from morning till night, and Mom said Science Day is their favorite day of the week. The kids eagerly record their ideas, experiments, predictions, test methods, and results in their Science Journals at the end of Science Day, too.

3. Wednesday – Social Studies / History: Currently they’re reading the “Who Was?” series of historical biographies, which include over 200 books, such as Who Was Ferdinand Magellan?, Who Was Sacagawea?, Who Was Albert Einstein?, Who Was Amelia Earhart?, Thomas Edison, Ben Franklin, Mark Twain, Martin Luther King, Maria Tallchief, John Kennedy, Louis Armstrong, The Beatles, etc. The kids are enjoying the format, and the topics cross over into Literature, Science, the Arts, as well as providing social issues to discuss and their impact on today’s culture.

4. Thursday – Math / Technology: Since Math Day lasts all day, they sometimes start with reviewing math facts, such as using Multiplication and Division Flash Cards and timing the kids on how quickly they can get the answers. Then they move on to Math Games, such as Swat, Splat, or Math Bingo. They might also use manipulatives or toys such as Math Fidget Toys, Tubo toy, or Montessori-type math items to practice Math skills. Soon they’re creating with Marble Run sets, Mazes, Lego blocks, Construction sets, Bridge-Building kits, etc. These use mathematical planning, reasoning skills, logic, creative thinking, and critical thinking skills. At some point during the day, they’ll do some math worksheets, which usually focus on solving word problems.

5. Friday – Cultural Arts / Music: This is another favorite day for the kids, according to Mom. The kids get to choose the types of art, craft, and music activities they want to do on Fridays. Mom also said she found it interesting that if the kids read a historical biography such as Who Were the Beatles?, they were interested in playing Beatles music that week. Or if they read Who Was Pablo Picasso?, the kids were engrossed in creating their own versions of Picasso art.

Although each of the days above has a designated subject, this family finds that topics and subject areas often overlap.

So even if Monday is Literature Day, they could find themselves thinking about Math if they’re reading The Phantom Tollbooth, or Science and Time Travel if reading A Wrinkle in Time.

Or if Wednesday is History Day, they could be covering Geography or Science or Math or Art or Music, depending on the type of Historical Biographies they’re reading.

Also, there’s flexibility in this family’s schedule. If they don’t “feel like” Social Studies on Wednesday or Math on Thursday, they’ll switch things up.

Or if Mom realizes the kids are getting overwhelmed by too much Math one day, they’ll switch to doing something else, even if it’s unrelated to Math.

Maybe they’ll take a field trip to a local museum or library, or go on a picnic and a nature hike, or bake or cook favorite recipes, or bring out tubs of craft items and create something off the top of their heads. They often find that Math works its way into whatever they’re doing, anyway.

Overall, they’ve found this homeschool schedule fun, interesting, educational, flexible, and a great way to provide a well-rounded pool of knowledge and learning activities. It’s something your family might enjoy experimenting with, too.

Click any of the Labels below for more ideas for all subjects areas.

Happy homeschooling!

Love of Learning + Months (Years) of Activities!

What’s more important than education and learning? The LOVE of learning!

How do children develop a love of learning?

By immersing themselves in things they enjoy, things that interest them, and things they wonder about.

Below, we’ll include many “love of learning” ideas for your children to do, to experiment with, to research, to learn more about. These will cover Science, Math, Technology, Life Skills, Social Studies, Reading, Writing, Literature, Art, Music, and more.

Any topics that interest your children, or that they wonder about, will be learned and retained more thoroughly when topics or ideas captivate and fascinate them.

The brain has a huge capacity for constantly learning, for continuously absorbing new information, and for storing and recalling this knowledge. This occurs more rapidly when thoughts and ideas are truly interesting to your children.

Provide the freedom and flexibility for your children to wonder, ponder, peruse, and use the vast amount of knowledge and wisdom that’s literally at their fingertips.

Allow children time to experiment, create, try new things, and simply play throughout their day.

How do children “learn how to learn”?

Simple, really: “Children learn as they play. Most importantly, in play children learn how to learn.” – O. Fred Donaldson, Author and Play Specialist

Ask your children what they want to learn more about today. Then do that again tomorrow and each day that follows.

Here are some activities and ideas to help them start thinking about and developing a “love of learning”.

When doing the activities ask them:

1. Which is their favorite?
2. Why is it their favorite?
3. What more would they like to do or learn about?
4. How could they expand upon the experiments or activities?

Here are Activity Ideas for a Month of Learning or YEARS of Learning!
Remember to discuss each activity and ideas inspired by these:

1. Build with Legos, K’Nex, Magnetic Tiles, Marble Runs (math, technology)
2. Create clay figures, animals, jewelry, vases, mugs (science, life skills, art)
3. Draw family members, your backyard, your room (social studies, math, art)
4. Sketch urban areas, architecture, your city’s projects (social studies, math, art)
5. Paint landscapes, mountains, streams, oceans, habitats (science, art)
6. Paste shapes, tissue paper, stickers to create collages of landmarks (geography, social studies, art)
7. Design new games, board games, video games, fun games (technology, science, math)
8. Bake cupcakes, pastries, experiment with new food creations (math, science, life skills)
9. Experiment with creating slime, volcanoes, tornados, kitchen science reactions (science, math)
10. Glue junk items, gears, cogs, nuts, bolts to create sculptures (technology, science, art)
11. Make clocks, thermometers, rain gauges, anemometers (math, science, life skills)
12. Create dioramas of dinosaur eras, animal habitats, cityscapes (social studies, science)
13. Draw famous people, places, animals, insects, events (history, social studies, art)
14. Design maps of towns, cities, neighborhoods, states, regions, world (geography, art)
15. Construct stages for puppet shows, dramas, theater performances (math, science, art)
16. Make musical instruments, play music, perform concerts (music, art)
17. Write/Animate stories, plays, scripts, games, comic books (writing, reading, art)
18. Read stories aloud, using character voices or rewriting endings (reading, literature)
19. Draw favorite scenes from books, video games, or movies (reading, literature, art)
20. Compose music inspired by songs, musicals, video games (music, art)
21. Create scripts inspired by favorite movies, plays, video games (reading, literature)
22. Program code for games, apps, electronics, robotics (technology, science, math)
23. Hike through parks, take nature walks, photograph scenery (science, art)
24. Devise outdoor fun, games, scavenger hunts, forts, play items (science, math)
25. Create new styles of sports, basketball, baseball, football, soccer (research, reading)
26. Build bridges, architecture, sculptures with straws, toothpicks, marshmallows (technology, science)
27. Design solar system models or ecosystems, using new ideas, new materials (science, math, art)
28. Construct models of human body, dinosaurs, dragons, cars, planes, ships (math, science)
29. Build robots, transformers, solar-powered or battery-powered items, electrical circuits, snap circuits (science, math)
30. Design and create journals, sketchbooks, notebooks to record your experiments, activities, and paintings (math, science, life skills, art)
31. Construct and create boxes to display or hold your creations, by deconstructing other boxes and reconstructing new boxes to showcase your projects (math, life skills, science, art)

Encourage your children to take these ideas and run with them! To have fun with them, to be as creative as they want, to put their own unique spin on them. The “love of learning” that will occur can last a lifetime!

Happy homeschooling!