Project Learning, Folder Games, Annie and Her Boys
By Heather Idoni
Added Thursday, August 20, 2009
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The Homeschooler's Notebook
Encouragement and Advice for Homeschool Families
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Vol. 10 No 61 August 20, 2009
ISSN: 1536-2035
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Copyright (c) 2009 - Heather Idoni, FamilyClassroom.net
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IN THIS ISSUE:
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Notes from Heather
-- Project-Led Learning
Helpful Tip
-- Preschool Folder Games
Winning Website
-- A+ Research and Writing
Reader Question
-- Annie and Her Boys
Additional Notes
-- Newsletter Archives
-- Sponsorship Information
-- Reprint Information
-- Subscriber Information
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Notes from Heather
=======================
A few issues back I introduced Daniel Yordy and his 'Project-Led
Learning' philosophy in an article about middle school students:
http://www.familyclassroom.net/Articles20093/20090730.html
Daniel recently received feedback from one of our readers who wrote
to him. I really agree with her assessment -- and in all my 'panning
for gold' for those nuggets to build my own home education philosophy,
this concept is fast becoming a gold brick cornerstone. I think
we are truly onto something big and I plan to implement it more in
my own family!
-- Heather
---
RE: YGuide Academy...
"What you've come up with is something that a lot of parents, myself
included, have always known innately -- but you've taken it and
articulated it into a structure that we can work with. By doing so,
it gives us more peace of mind and encouragement to allow what we
know our kids naturally do, that is to learn by doing things that
mean something to themselves and the greater human community.
I am so excited about your program that I have talked about it with
various friends. Locally I have led a couple of activity-based
homeschool groups within the folds of a few larger homeschool support
groups. When I get the chance, I plan on letting all my groups know
about your wonderful programs. I'm sure it will speak to many others
the way it has spoken to me."
---
Now I want to share with you more from Daniel about Project-Led
Learning. This is especially for those who may wonder how it
really is any different from the Unit Study method...
Enjoy!
-- Heather
---
Daniel writes...
"A reader asked me how Projects compare to Unit Studies. There are
similarities. A unit study is a good attempt to make 'education'
interesting and active, as close to real life as possible, that is,
a simulation. A unit study focuses on one topic in a larger course
and expands that topic into a variety of activities and exercises.
For instance, in history, a study of the life of Martin Luther gives
a look at an entire microcosm of the world at that time.
Some projects will be large unit studies, but not all.
Let me explain the difference as best I can. There is in modern
thinking an idea, stated strongly by some, that children should not
be useful; that anything a child does that is 'education' ought to
be with no profitable purpose. Inside that box of thinking that
is defined by the 'school classroom', experts have raised 'learning'
to great heights. But learning inside that box is by distraction.
'There is no immediate purpose for you in what we are studying today,
so let's distract you into learning something you will remember and
use someday when you are old, by making it 'interesting'...'
Essentially, that is what unit studies in the modern classroom do.
The problem is that home school families take curriculum designed
for valueless classroom learning and think that this is 'real'
education. What I mean by 'valueless' is that the product of the
child's labor goes into the trash can because it has no real-world
value.
We need not do that.
As many projects as possible should be made real. To transform
a unit study into a project, make the product of your child's
work to be something of value, and then make the learning incidental
to creating or performing the thing that has value. Many things
are valuable. Piano students putting on a recital that is truly
entertaining are producing value. Growing a garden and putting
real food on the table is the creation of value. Polishing your
short story until it is worthy of publishing on the Internet for
strangers to read and enjoy is valuable.
The majority of a child's projects will create value. Exceptions
include some social studies -- reading great historical fiction is
an excellent substitute for the real thing. Creating a country
display must usually substitute for spending actual time in that
country.
My favorite projects in college were large assignments that,
upon receiving them back from the college teacher, I took into
my classroom the very next day and used for the good of my own
high school students.
Modern education has completely disconnected students from
productive reality. Everything designed for the modern school
classroom, including many approaches to unit studies, is created
inside that way of thinking.
Learning that surrounds the creation of value is something quite
different.
Project-led learning resonates within the hearts of many who
discover for the first time the idea of a child doing real things
in order to learn. In the brief few weeks that I have presented
what has been percolating inside me for years, I have heard more
than once, 'I wish I had seen this before we took our children
through home schooling!'
I suspect they are secretly saying, 'I wish doing real projects
had filled my years of school.'
I know in my childhood years I made go-carts from piles of junk.
I built a little house in the woods and made it my bedroom; it
even had a woodstove in it that I bought from my sister. I studied
the map of the world for hours on end. I blew up things in my
bedroom. I raised my own animals; I grew my own garden. None of
it was 'school', but all of it I remember better now -- and the
lessons learned -- than most anything from those 12 years of
banality called schooling.
We humans are hard-wired to learn by doing, by creating value for
the real people in our lives. Modern education is simulation. No
matter how well a teacher, or a method, or a curriculum might be
finely tuned to produce 'results', all of it is simulation. It
is not real.
Thank you for joining me on this journey. I hope to inspire you,
to give you sound arguments on why learning ought to be real, not
simulated, to give you concrete ideas on how to guide your children
through projects and business. And I want to share with you my own
journey with my children and with the promise of YGuide Academy."
---
Daniel Yordy has a wide range of experience both inside and outside
of education. He has taught a total of seven years in private
Christian schools, and five years in Texas public schools. He has
assisted his wife in homeschooling their children over a number of
years. He brings firsthand knowledge of every educational environment.
He has also served as principal in a public school and as a director
of disciplinary education.
If you would like further information about project-led learning,
contact Daniel through http://YguideAcademy.com/ProjectLedLearning.html
He would love to help you develop your project ideas into meaningful
learning experiences!
Help your child build his or her own business with 'Micro-Business
for High Schoolers', a nine month course that guides step-by-step
in the creation of a real-world business, while learning a whole
lot. This course could easily become a central part of your child's
high school education: http://www.YguideAcademy.com/MicroBusiness.html
---
Do you have comments to share? Please do!
Send your emails to: mailto:heather@familyclassroom.net
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Helpful Tip
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Preschool Activities
http://www.childcareland.com
"This site is done by a preschool teacher who has put a ton of
lessons and file folder games for young children on her site.
There are videos and lots of stuff! I recommend taking time
and making a bunch of these lessons for the little ones. Then
when you need a few minutes with your older children, you can
have the little ones pull out some file folder games." -- Ally
---
Do you have an idea, experience, or tip to share? Please write!
Send to: mailto:HN-ideas@familyclassroom.net
==================
Winning Website
==================
The Internet Public Library for Teens has put together an
incredible resource for learning to research and write a
research paper. All the steps are there, clearly laid out.
Any high school student can login and follow the steps from
choosing a topic to citing sources. Along the way they provide
links to other helpful articles and websites that further
illustrate the steps to writing and revising a paper.
-- Cindy, http://www.HomeschoolingFromTheHeart.com
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Last Issue's Reader Question
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"Hi -- my name is Annie. I have two boys and a 9 year old girl.
My boys (ages 7 and 4) are always busy, but never constructively --
always destructively, unless I give them something specific to do,
which doesn't last long. My question is... what can I have them do
while I give my daughter some of my time. Since she is the oldest,
I tend to give her the lessons for the day and send her off so I can
work with my middle son, who is struggling with reading, and can't
be independent in school. She is so independent and trustworthy
that I, unintentionally, leave her to herself too much.
Legos and Lincoln Logs are old, and matchbox cars end up everywhere,
including the toilet. Arts and crafts... well, I got tired of
cleaning glue off the walls. For me, this is a tough age (the 7
year old) because he wants to be independent, but is still too
young to do some of the activities he wants to do. He wants to
learn to whittle so he can build a ship (large and small, his
perception is not yet up to par). He also wants to learn to make
fireworks... yikes! Please, I need help!" -- Annie
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Our Readers' Responses
=========================
"We have 10, 8, 5, and 3 year olds. We solved this problem by
allowing all of the children to participate (in some way) with
the same subject matter. Our expectations are age and ability
appropriate, but all are learning from the same materials.
When the little ones mentally check out they have their own
learning (what we call schooling) to do. The younger ones each
have a list of four things to check off with the 5 year old
helping the 3 year old, proudly.
Have crayons and books, scissors, paper, etc. ready for that time
when you need a bit more with the older one. Train the younger
one for a few days about what things to do when you are with the
older one for a few minutes.
If the younger one is not able to complete things by herself,
then have blocks or toys to play at your feet or in the next room.
A child, even at two, should be trained (not just told) to make
her own fun. This will do wonders to her creativity and future
learning." -- David
---
"I have four sons and know what you are talking about -- down to
the glue on the walls! I avoid science experiments as I am afraid
one day my water heater will come through the floor!
But I will say I thought this day would never come -- and I did
find some things to keep them busy and occupied, without a lot of
issues at times. Part of it first required my attention to make
sure they stayed where I asked them to be, but I would get audio
books instead of having him read aloud (as my son loved stories,
but hated to read) and gave him a box of popsicle sticks and a
hot glue gun. You have to stay near a plug, and he wanted to
listen to the story. It would keep him occupied for an hour or
more at least -- and I gave him a stern talk about hot it was and
how special it is that he gets to use it -- and it really helped.
He was about 6 when I started this with him.
For the 4 year old, I had a special box with Ziploc bag activities
and file folder games. I would set the timer and they had to do
the one activity for a certain set amount of time (like 10 minutes)
before they could choose the next one. They also had to stay in
a certain area, usually on a large blanket I would spread on the
floor, while I was working with another child. 'Preschool Activities
in a Bag' is a great book for making these activities:
Everything had to stay on the blanket or they lost it." -- Martha
---
"Annie -- This may not be exactly the answer you are looking for,
but I would recommend working on the reading with your son in the
evening when the 'regular' school day is over. It will free up
your daytime a bit and the reading lesson can be presented as more
of a 'for pleasure' reading time. I find my daughter gets the short
end as well sometimes; she is more responsible with her assignments
and babysits her little sister as well. We have 'girls night out'
while dad stays home with my son and youngest daughter. It's a
great time to reconnect. We don't get out that often, but we really
enjoy the time we do. It has become very special."
---
"I recommend getting a lot of boxes from the grocery store and
letting them do some big muscle creativity. They can build a rocket
or a sailing ship or a club house in the back yard -- and if the
boxes are wrecked you can recycle them and get more. They really
sound like normal, healthy, little boys -- and all they need is
enough space and material to work off their energy." -- Anne
---
"Dear Annie -- First of all, let me encourage you that this too
will pass -- with a little help from the Lord and from you as mom,
not just as teacher in the home. :) I, too, have extremely active
boys (4 and another one on the way!), so I completely understand
the frustration you feel! It is very important to be able to occupy
the younger ones while schooling with the older child -- however,
teaching self-control and respect for your time is also equally
important. I have found that having specific boundaries/rules with
consequences have helped tremendously when it comes to teaching my
boys self-control and respect. There is a catch though -- you, as
the parent, must follow through with whatever you have told them --
no matter how inconvenient. For example, my younger ones know that
if they make a mess, they must completely clean it up to my standards,
and I must be willing to enforce that rule. If you take the time
now to develop their character, you will reap the fruit and be so
grateful that you dealt with it now rather than later. If your nine
year old is well behaved, then I would place more of a focus on her
being able to do things independently while you work with the boys.
We also have a 'game' that we played with our boys to help them with
self-control: table-time. Table-time is very specific, focused time
to train them to work independently and quietly. For example: When
our oldest son was around five, we started out with 5 minutes of
table time. We would give him an age appropriate activity that he
could do all by himself, such as a puzzle, or Legos -- but we always
told him what we expected him to do, like build a church, house,
car, etc. Sometimes it was drawing or modeling with clay. Then
we had a timer and we would set it for those five minutes -- and
these were the rules:
1. No talking or getting up from the table at all during table time
2. You must do your very best to accomplish the task
3. If you are finished with your task before the timer goes off,
then you must think of something creative to add to your project
without getting up from the table or speaking about it.
4. If you break any of these rules, then we start all over again.
Now at first this was very difficult for each child to do and I
had to stay in the same room with them helping them to remember
the rules. Once they successfully completed the game for a full
week, then we would increase the time by 3-5 minutes each week
until they eventually worked up to an entire hour of table time.
I also had special 'rewards' as they reached certain successes --
although I never would tell them until afterward. After moving up
to ten whole minutes I would say to them, 'Wow! You did 10 whole
minutes without breaking the rules, why don't we have a popsicle
to celebrate?' It was usually little things -- sometimes I would
take a picture of their project so that daddy could see it or we'd
display it somewhere special... the point was to let them know how
proud I was of their efforts, and it was always a pleasant surprise
to for them to see what I would reward them with next. The other
important part of the game was that all materials/activities used
were themed and were off-limits unless they were being used for
the game or for school. This made them special -- we had a puzzle
box, a paint box, a sticker box, a Lego box, etc. Once you get
them to an hour's worth of table time, then it becomes a part of
their daily routine and it becomes a tool for you. You now have
an hour block of time to be able to work with your oldest as needed
-- and you can divide those blocks into educational activities for
your 7-year-old -- such as math table time, art table time, and so
on. That doesn't mean that you can just walk away and leave him
to his own devices! You check on him, encourage him, etc. We have
used the table time concept in church, at doctor's visits -- just
about anywhere. It is really helpful -- not just for you, but for
your children. It helps them focus, reach goals, and feel good
about themselves in general. But it only succeeds if you are
willing to invest the initial time and commitment into it. As for
your four year old, he will see his older brother doing table time
and will probably want to join in too. The timer will probably be
less for him, but the concepts are still the same. Put together
themed activity boxes for him that are age appropriate as well,
and you will also have a resource at your beck and call whenever
you need it.
Lastly, there must be consequences for destructiveness, and you
mustn't back down. Not only should they clean up after themselves,
but there should be a consequence that speaks to them not to do it
again. The most important instruction that a homeschooling parent
can offer is instruction of the heart and of character; academics
will take care of themselves, but you really have only a limited
time to lay a proper foundation for true success in life." -- Nicci
---
"Annie -- For your son who wants to whittle I would recommend you
let him use a plastic knife and whittle a bar of soap.
I would also recommend you let the boys get as much fresh air as
possible. Outside free play is the best. I recommend you read
'Last Child in the Woods' by Richard Louv.
It really opened my eyes to the benefits of outside free play."
-- Sandy
Editor's Note: I featured this topic in a past issue! You can read
more here if you are interested in 'Nature Deficit Disorder'...
http://familyclassroom.net/Articles20072/20070423.html
And here is a great book on soap carving for beginners...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0764308599?ie=UTF8&tag=hsaudio-20
My boys made the tree on the front cover at camp. It is an easy and
satisfying project -- we just used Ivory soap bars -- cheap! What
is more, you can 'melt' the shavings with water and mold them into
new bars. A plastic candy mold works for this. All 'projects' end
up in the bathtub -- there is no waste! And the disposable plastic
knives are SAFE! Boys (and girls) can whittle to their heart's
content! :-)
---
"You could be describing my family - boys and girl the same ages!
Not sure if you let your kids play on the computer, but when I do
my kids will go nonstop, which does allow me to do other things.
I recommend http://pbskids.org/ and http://kidsedwebsites.com/ for
the oldest (although there are things for the younger as well) and
http://www.poissonrouge.com/ and http://www.starfall.com/ for the
younger. If the older boy can help the younger, then that will keep
them both occupied while you work with your daughter. And the stuff
they will be doing is educational to boot. It may be best to save
computer time for when you are working with your daughter so that
they look forward to that time every day, instead of thinking that
they can do it all day. Other than that, find a place in the yard
you don't mind them digging and have them dig a swimming pool or
look for buried treasure! (If you hide a toy every so often it may
help!)" -- Cheryl W.
---
"If your son wants to learn whittle, give him a bar of soap (Ivory or
something similarly soft) and a plastic knife and send him outside.
You could even draw or print a template (bear, car, rocket or even
a boat)... there may even be some templates on scout sites. My guys
used to love making things with pipe cleaners, too -- a big bag and
just let them go... no tape, no glue. Would they sit for an age
appropriate audio book? My boys loved Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and Magic
Tree House on audio. There's also a series called Laugh and Learn
that they really loved.
Could you sit outside doing something with your daughter while the
boys run around or play in a sandbox? Boys have LOTS of energy to
burn so physical activity is good." -- Jen K.
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Answer our NEW Question
=========================
"We are home schooling our 7 year old son for the first time this
year. He's in 2nd grade. Everything is going great -- with one
exception that is. Cursive writing. He just isn't getting it.
We're using A Beka for our curriculum, and although it's the
beginning of the year, we've already jumped in with cursive. My
question is this: 'What ways have you used to teach cursive writing
that worked for you?'
I'd appreciate any input on this. He is so smart and flying through
everything else, but this is going to drive us both crazy I think.
Thank you." -- Angela L.
---
What advice would you share with Angela?
Please send your answer to: mailto:HN-answers@familyclassroom.net
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