Learning Life Lessons

Part of teaching a child involves teaching them life lessons. Life lessons include: how to take turns, how to cook, cleaning skills, laundry, how to take care of a garden….any skill you need to live is a life lesson. It’s important to teach these skills or else you end up with an unbalanced child – book smart but not life smart.

Most people learn these lessons as they go through life. It is never too young to start learning these lessons and they can make some really interesting lessons too.

Cleaning can become a lesson in chemistry. How does soap help remove grease? Why are some bubbles bigger than others? Why don’t we mix Clorox with other cleaning projects? What does bleach do? Why does scrubbing work to remove things? All of these are lessons about chemistry, but are also life skills that a child needs. Instead of simply having them help clean the dishes, ask some questions: Why does warm water work better than cold? Why does soap make things easier to clean? As your child puzzles out the answers – with some guidance from you – they will learn new things.

Easy Ways to Stop the Brain Drain

Although not all families can homeschool all the time, every family can spend the summer making sure brain drain doesn’t happen. There is a lot of research that shows a lazy summer – a summer not spent learning – results in brain drain when students get back to school in the Fall. Brain drain is when knowledge that students learned the previous year isn’t there anymore, or when students simply don’t use their brain as well as they used to.

I like to think that homeschooling is a state of mind, a state of learning. That’s what families can do during the summer-  make it a state of learning. Here are some simple and easy ways to do this:

1. Pick a subject and a book each week. Libraries are full of books on almost any subject. Each week pick a new subject and read a book on it. Most libraries have summer reading programs that will reward students who read. So combine the reading program with the new subjects. Kids will enjoy getting to pick the subjects and still learn something new.

The Case Against Textbooks

Have you looked in a textbook recently? Not a college textbook for certain subjects, but the elementary school textbooks (and even the middle and high school ones) that cover the whole year. 

First, look at their size. I can stack the books we have about dinosaurs on top of each other and make a pile that is at least a foot high. The elementary science textbooks are nowhere near that tall. Even if I stack the math, history, and science books on top of each other they aren’t that tall. How can my child learn all about dinosaurs if the books don’t even cover most of it? 

Second, examine the content. There is a page (or less) devoted to most concepts. And while I am okay with a page covering such trivia as geological time periods (because when does any adult – excepting a geologist or paleontologist – use these on a regular basis?), I am not okay with a page covering the Constitution of the United States, or a page – even 4 – covering the oceans. I am certainly not okay with history books that include facts about people that aren’t related to their historical accomplishments. I am not okay with endless repetitions of math problems on paper that present no alternative way of understanding problems. 

Using Vacation Plans as a Basis for Lessons

Everyone has some memories of school or lessons where they learned about something or someplace that sparked their imagination. You wanted to visit the place; see the sights you had heard about. With a little careful planning, every vacation can be this experience for your children. The nice thing about vacations is that everyone takes them. Whether the vacation is to the local zoo, camping and hiking, overseas, or to museums, they can all be used as the basis for teaching. 

First, plan what you are doing on your vacation. If you are going to an amusement park, water park, or theme park you can learn about the history of roller coasters, the physics of water rides and roller coasters (especially force and friction), or the history of the characters and animators there (learning about Walt Disney as a person is actually pretty cool). Most museums have an education section on their web page that can help you plan activities. The Smithsonian Museums actually have lesson plans, virtual tours, and other suggestions to help prepare for your visit there. At the least, look at what exhibits are at the museum and help your children learn more about the things in the exhibit – they will be more interested in the museum when you go there. 

Spring Art Projects

Not everyone has as close-knit neighborhood as mine. My neighborhood is awesome. In a relatively small geographic area we have lots of kids and lots of stay-at-home moms. We have an email list that we use to organize events and play-dates. What is even more fun is when everyone gets together for art projects.

Art can be fun on your own, with your own family. But sometimes art is better with a group. Kids look at other kids and copy. The younger kids try to do what the older kids are doing, and the older kids get to be the heroes and role-models. There are a bunch of simple art projects that can be done as a group.

Chalk Day

Chalk is a great art project. It isn’t permanent (on clothes or the surface), and it gives kids a lot of options. All you have to do to organize a chalk project is collect a bunch of chalk and a bunch of kids. Then find a safe place with lots of drawing area. A park, abandoned parking lot, or an empty street are great places. Then set a time and have a bunch of people show up for “Chalk Day.”

Everything is About Trucks

 I am sure everyone with a boy is familiar with this stage – all things are about trucks.

Things that are large have to be “bigger than a cement truck.” Things that are important have to be “more important than a fire truck.” Car rides become truck-spotting events, and parking  lots become scavenger hunts for fire trucks, cement trucks, telephone repair trucks, and more trucks.

So how do you use a child’s natural inclination to trucks to teach the basics that he’s going to need – like math, reading, writing, and research? You base it all on trucks of course.

We have changed from adding numbers to addition of trucks. We count and add truck wheels. We count and add fire truck ladders. Of course, this also means we spend a while in parking lots walking around finding trucks. Costco parking lots are particularly good for this in California. Our local fire station is really nice about seeing us wander around their parking lot At first they were a little curious, but now they know us by name when we come to count fire truck tires and see how many extra tires they have and more.

Learning Space in Homeschool

Do you have a dedicated learning space in your home?

We have a dedicated space where we keep art supplies, one for science supplies, and one where we keep writing supplies and our workbooks. But do we have a desk and a “school” area – nope. Why would I have one?

Homeschooling is not the same as teaching your kid to study and do homework. When children go to school during the day and then come home and need to focus on a task – like homework – they need a set space to do it. A desk in a quiet area with light works well. But for a homeschooled child, who learns all the time and in all spaces, a dedicated learning space is almost counter productive.

That doesn’t mean we don’t have a set space where my child does bookwork – we do. He does his at the kitchen table. We use the same chair, in the same spot, in relatively the same time everyday when he is practicing letters, doing math worksheets, or working on some other bookwork. When it comes to learning, we use the whole house.

Music in a Homeschool Setting

Music in a Homeschool Setting

by: Natasha Wunderlich

I want to start this post by stating that I love music. I started piano by age 4. At age 10 I started flute. I can play most woodwinds, write music, and compose. I have played in concert bands, orchestras, symphonies, jazz bands, and even a rock band. I love music.

Music is important. There have been many articles on how music can help learning, how learning an instrument helps develop self-discipline, and how learning music helps develop the brain. Learning to appreciate music is also important. It is around us in our daily lives all the time. It is in movies and TV shows. It can help us learn new things (think of the Periodic Table of Elements song by They Might Be Giants).  

The Socialization Issue in Homeschooling

The Socialization Issue

by: Natasha  Wunderlich

When I tell people I am homeschooling my children the thing most people respond with is, “But what about socialization?”

This is the question every homeschooling parent gets asked a lot. It is also the question that homeschooling parents get tired of answering. However, it is important that we, as a homeschool community, know how to answer this question and how to address worries about the issue.

My short answer is this, “My son goes to activities and has friends and spends more time out of the house than in it. He’s doing fine socially.” This answer lets people

Question-Based Learning

Guest Post by: Natasha Wunderlich

Questions are an important part of learning. Parents often despair of hearing the question “Why?” It comes out of young children’s mouths a lot. Sometimes the questions are asked because they want attention; sometimes questions are asked because they want answers and are curious. Kids, being the tricksters that they are, sometimes even ask the question to see if parents will answer the same way all the time.

From the time they turn two until about five, kids ask “Why?” It seems that after they turn five, the incidence of “why” questions decrease a lot. Then they simply stop.  Some of the decrease can be attributed to schooling. As children grow and attend school, more of their questions are asked and answered at school and less by parents; parents stop hearing the questions and answers. Also, schools aren’t set up to encourage children to ask why. They are set up to encourage children to learn the material and to ask why only in the context of certain material – not simply ask why in general.

I made myself a promise that I would answer all of Nicholas’ questions. Sometimes the answer is simple and sometimes it is not. When he asks why the sky is blue, I give him the real answer. I explain about light and reflection and particles and wave lengths. How much of it he absorbs I don’t know, but I do explain. When he asks why planes fly, I explain Bernoulli’s principle and lift.  When he asks me why cows make milk when they eat grass I tell him that I don’t know and we will have to look it up. The new use the computer and look it up. He learns through his questions. This is our form of question-based learning.

This form of question-based learning also encourages him to continue to explore and ask why. I don’t want him to stop asking why. Why questions are the questions that allow you to explore the world and develop a sense of what is around you. Why questions help develop a sense of wonder and exploration. Why questions have led to the greatest discoveries. How would gravity, electricity, or the computer have been discovered if people hadn’t asked why or developed a sense of exploration?

Question-based learning can also occur when someone asks you for an explanation. Instead of giving the explanation, ask what your child thinks. When your child asks, “Why is the cement truck there,” ask them, “What do you think a cement truck might be doing there?”  This type of questioning will encourage them to use their imaginations and link things they already know with things they are seeing. It will encourage them to explore the world they have heard about and know about (in their minds) with the world they can see in reality. It helps them make connections and problem solve.

Questions are great things. While they can get tiring – especially when it is the same question, over and over – they are really a sign that a child is learning and ready for more information. Parents should take these opportunities to help their children learn. Remember, “I don’t know, let’s look it up” it always an acceptable answer. Looking up an answer will develop a bond between you and your child and will help develop reading and research skills. Plus, it can be a lot of fun.

Questions are amazing opportunities.

Natasha Wunderlich

I’m a homeschooling mom who made the choice to homeschool because I saw how rigid schools were and noticed how fluid my son’s learning style was and how hands-on his learning style was. We have been at it for over 2 years now (we started when he was 2) and are enjoying our time together. Learning and teaching has brought us closer together as a family. I do believe in structure and lessons, not simply free form schooling, but those lessons are child-centered and directed by his interested. We are moving on through Kindergarten and 1st Grade material now, and watching him learn and grow is awesome. You can find me on: www.wunderfulhomeschool.wordpress.com

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