Posts Tagged ‘home based learning’
The Titanic’s Maiden Voyage
When the Titanic began her first voyage at 12:00 noon on April 10, 1912, there were 2227 men, women and children aboard. Many of the passengers were rich and famous but there was also over 700 immigrants traveling to a new land. On April 14, the Titanic was traveling full steam ahead in the North Atlantic. The weather was clear and cool however the wireless operator began to receive messages warning of icebergs ahead. Over the next few hours, a total of six messages came for other ships. The captain of the Titanic, E.J. Smith received some of these messages, but not all. There was no set system for passing messages from the operator to the crew and to the captain so, no one person saw all of the messages. The captain asked the men on lookout to watch for icebergs, but these men had no binoculars with them so they could only scan the waters with their eyes.What Grade are you in?
That is a question that always stumped my homeschooled children because we didn’t follow grade levels, we followed their learning level. Many of us have experienced in our lives that different topics have a greater interest, or make more sense to us than others and therefore we may be better at it than something else.
I remember when I was in grade 6 and would participate in my cousin’s grade 9 spelling drills. I always scored higher than he did but when it came to math, I couldn’t keep up with the kids in my class. Unfortunately, since I was in the public school system I was given grade 6 English (in which I excelled and sometimes got bored with) and grade 6 math (which I barely passed). Since I knew that my level of learning differed with each subject I expected the same from my children. Sure enough, one excels in English but not math while the other is completely opposite with math being the stronger subject.
And so, if the child is excelling in English should I stiffle the flow by only allowing him to study at the grade level his age is meant to be at? If he is struggling in math do I keep pushing him forward in that level, or should I lower the level a little to give him a chance to understand. I chose to homeschool so that I could offer my children an education that I felt they deserved. Therefore, I chose not to follow grade levels but instead, to offer them each subject at a level that they could understand and learn from.
By offering lessons geared to the learning level of the child, they are encouraged to learn rather than being frustrated with learning. They are inspired to excel and proud of their accomplishments. They succeed at their own level, which is what is best for them!
Anyone with more than one child can compare and contrast their children. They may have similar mannerisms yet opposing interests and sometimes you may wonder how two could have sprung from the same womb! Children are different, they have different interests, different focuses and different learning styles. So too, must the teaching style for them be different.
My first child was pretty easy to homeschool. He was a book kid, loved worksheets and would sit for hours working on a project. My second child is not as keen of a reader, would prefer not to have to write and won’t sit for hours to do anything. These differences are not a variance in intelligence, just in how and what they learn.
With both children, one of the main things I did was teach what interested them. My eldest son studied Medieval history at least five times. Each time had a different focus, an increased measure of learning and new projects to work on. The younger son enjoyed Medieval History as long as he was reading about knights, catapults and the siege of a castle, but really only wanted to study it once. And so, while one child created graphs about the plague, the other crafted medieval weapons from cardboard, tinfoil and duct tape. Since each activity was premised with a discussion or reading about the time period the history lesson was still being taught, just in different styles.
The older child struggled a bit with math, but when lessons involved money, things made sense! And so, many math lessons allowed counting, converting and problem solving with money. The youngest struggled with geography but enjoyed cooking. So, we travelled the world learning about common foods and recipes found in the various countries.
Free yourself from the “typical” school regime, especially with a more active, reluctant student. Create lessons through field trips, music, crafts, athletics and unit studies that fill the needs of each student. This encourages them to learn because they enjoy the subject, and the manner with which it is taught!
Online Educational Thrift Store
Save a buck on a book, but there is more!
Customers of the Home Education Resource Emporium online educational thrift store have thousands of resources both new and used to browse and purchase. Customers can also sign up their children for the free book on their birthday program, at no extra cost. Special deals, new additions to inventory and other important announcements are sent to customers first! Customers have access to even more downloadable books and resources through the book stores affiliate ebook store. There is also access to the Usborne book catalogue for even more great books.
You may be surprised with the wide array of unique resources available. Take some time to have a look. Become a customer and reap even more benefits!
Home Education Online Educational Thrift Store – http://books.transplanted.ca
Sneak Peek – Soldiers Through Time unit study
Education with a BANG suggests that when teaching active boys, incorporate a subject they love and develop it into a lesson that will help them learn the basics.
The Soldiers Through Time unit study has 7 modules – each module covers soldiers in one particular time period.
Each module can be downloaded separately so you can enhance you unit of study.
Here is what is being said about this exclusive unit study!
The American Civil War
When the Kansas territory had the opportunity to join the Union as either a free state (no slavery) or a slave state many people from both sides of the debate rushed to Kansas to try to influence the vote. As a result there were violent clashes.
Then, when Abraham Lincoln, who was against slavery, won the election in November 1860 making him president of the Union, the southern states decided they no longer wanted to be part of the Union. A month after the election South Carolina seceded (broke away from the Union). Soon after Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana. Georgia and Texas also split from the Union. These colonies formed their own country – The Confederate States of America. Eventually they were joined by Virginia (eastern half), Tennessee, Missouri and Kentucky.
On the next page – colour the map of the United States to show the Confederate States (red) and the Union States (blue)
Explorers made great discoveries – So can you!
Christopher Columbus took a risk and found the “New World”. Magellan took a risk and did not fall off the end of the Earth but went all the way around it. These explorers dreamed up an idea, followed it through and became great explorers.
Homeschoolers can be explorers too. Although there are the basic subjects to build a foundation like English and Math, home educators can explore other subjects of interest and curiosity and add them to their lesson plans. School curriculum does not cover espionage but homeschoolers can. Explore the world of spies learning geography, history, science and more. What about herbology? The study of plants used as medicine is another interesting yet not required course to study.
It is important to explore many subjects and interests in order for your child to make an informed decision on what they may want to pursue as a career. It is also more interesting for the child to discover topics that they are curious about.
Bringing up a family should be an adventure, not an anxious discipline in which everybody is constantly graded for performance.
– Milton R. Saperstein
Explore the world, one subject at a time and increase the education of your child while also satisfying their curiosity!
A Lesson in Falling Leaves
The changing seasons provide a great learning lesson opportunity.
What makes the seasons change? The answer to this question will start a great topic of study. You could also include what happens to various aspects of nature when seasons change – like the leaves on trees change and fall to the ground putting the tree into a hibernation of sorts. Walk through the woods and try to identify trees by their bark, once their leaves are gone it is a lot harder to know what tree it is.
Fall can also create other learning opportunities besides the obvious nature studies. Leaves fall off trees can inspire a lesson on Gravity. Leaves change colour can produce an art lesson on colour mixing. Animals gathering food for winter storage can lead to a variety of lessons on animal behaviour, which animals hibernate, what animals eat and more. Even the changing temperature can allow for math lessons and a graphing exercise.
The leaves on the ground can also be great use for lessons. They can be used in crafts to make various tree fairies. They can be used for rubbings or shapes and they can be put into a tree journal to help remember what leaves match each tree.
Autumn is a great time of year, with lots of inspiring lessons to fall into!
Snips and snails and puppy dog tails – that’s what little boys are made of. It is true boys and girls are different. The same can be said for how they learn.
While many girls enjoy the audio-visual aspects of learning including reading, writing and storytelling, many boys prefer the kinesthetic, hands-on aspects of learning. Anyone who has been around an active little boy understands the struggle any teacher would have with making that boy sit still for lessons. Keeping them still and focused is a challenge for most of their education.
These boys (and sometimes girls) need to be offered education that keeps them moving, having fun and learning, all rolled into one. This can be accomplished through use of manipulatives, learning games, field trips and experiments. Making it a more enjoyable learning environment will help these boys learn better, and achieve higher results. Creating lessons around topics they enjoy can also add to a beneficial learning experience. Dirt and mud and gross things are often inspiring to little boys and can keep their attention through a lesson. Superheroes are characters of interest to many little boys (and big boys too) and so can be used to inspire creative writing, science experiments and even math problems.
Education with a BANG suggests that when teaching active boys, incorporate a subject they love and develop it into a lesson that will help them learn the basics of education like math, science, history, english and geography. Not only will it ease the stress on the teacher, but it will benefit the child who will then love to learn!
Exclusive Education with a Bang unit studies are available right now at www.homeeducationresourceemporium.com/unit-studies
Look for the unit studies on soldiers, pirates, spies and more and put some BANG into your lessons.
Sneak Peek: History of Fashion Through Textiles
History of Fashion Through Textiles is a 4 module unit study covering cotton, silk, wool and flax. It describes the process from raw material to cloth, including the history of the use of the cloth. Activities within the unit study include math, history, science, art and more making it a cross-curricular unit of study.
Here is a sneak peek:
Module 3: Cotton
Back to School Tips – Downloadable workbooks!
Getting ready for back to school means having lesson plans ready to go. A great asset to you lesson plans is downloadable workbooks.
Ebooks are quick to download, ready when you are, no problems with out of stock or out of print resources. Ebooks are broad ranged or specific so they can be used for review or in a theme study. Downloadable workbooks let you print only the pages you need, as many times as you need them. There are thousands of titles available and even a chance to preview some of the pages before you buy!
All you need is internet access, a computer and a printer and you can have thousands of books, workbooks and theme units at your fingertips!