Looking for a simple way to engage your children in some fun learning this summer? Why not try a few learning centers!
What is a learning center? Quite simply, a few goodies based on a certain theme that you put together for your children to explore. Yep, that’s it. Easy and intriguing.
Here’s the latest summer center at our house. The topic for the next couple of weeks is the good ol’ USA!
Everything on the table (almost) was under $1.00 or free! I’ve told you many times before how much I love curriculum sales, yard sales and Goodwill. Well, when I find something cheap, I usually buy it. When I decide on a theme for my center, I go on a treasure hunt around the house to see what goes with the theme. Even the star fabric was 1/4 yard of $1.00/yd fabric = 25 cents!
I can’t wait to hear about the centers you put together this summer!
Too many people think I have this homeschooling thing all together. Ha! Remember when I promised you a copy of the test at the end of our simple machines unit? Well, not only did I never create or give a test, I also decided to ditch a couple of the planned lessons. Why? Because life got in the way and I’m ready for Thanksgiving break!
Here are the last things we did…
This experiment determined which of the following materials provides for the least amount of friction when placed on a piece of scrap wood. (Everybody has an art table that they simply cover most days with a pretty tablecloth, right?)
And this challenge was to design a parachute that would allow for the most friction so our “little person” could arrive safely on the ground. Neither worked! We were supposed to have bowls, but since I wasn’t prepared, we tried to design our own. See, I’m tellin’ ya, that it’s not all peaches around here!
I think I’ll just quietly add the resources that have been in the sidebar and put simple machines behind us. We’ll get around to it again in four years, right??
We started our short and sweet simple machines study yesterday. As an introduction to simple machines and for self-discovery of how machines work, I set up some little centers. The kiddos had to visit each center and complete a few thought-provoking questions about what they learned. Afterward, we talked about each machine type more thoroughly and thought about when, where and how we use simple/complex machines daily.
Center #1 – Levers
We practiced using several levers like hammers (both ends) , can openers, bottle openers, nut crackers and paint can openers.
We also experimented with the fulcrum of a lever placed in different spots to see at which point the lever was easiest to move and how much work the lever was able to do at each point.
Center #2 – Wedges
We had a nail with a sharp end (wedge) and a nail with a blunt end and tried hammering both to see which wedge was easier to go through the wood.
Center #3 – Inclined Plane
Using a stack of books with string tied around them, we pulled them up a simple ramp made from a piece of scrap wood, then we pulled the stack straight up into the air. Since we don’t own a spring scale, we tied a rubber band to the string and measured the stretch for each of the attempts to get the books to a certain level. Upon seeing that the rubber band didn’t stretch as far when the books were pulled up the ramp, we concluded that less force was necessary using the inclined plane as compared to pulling the books straight up. (Make sense??)
Inclined planes were further studied as we took two screws – one with threads very close together and one with threads far apart – and noticed how many turns it took to get each in the wood. More turns were required for the closer threaded screw, but the job was much easier than the screw with threads far apart.
Center #4 – Wheel and Axle (along with Pulleys and Gears)
Using the same rubber band trick as mentioned above, we determined whether or not less force was required to pull a piece of wood using wheels.
For gears, we pulled out the gear set we have in our toy closet and closely observed how they work.
For pulleys, we simply talked about how they work. My children are around pulleys all the time on the farm, so they were pretty familiar with their function. As a side note, you can find inexpensive pulleys for experiments at a tractor/farm supply store.
I had a discovery booklet made up with leading questions for each of the centers. Since I used so many ideas and clip art from various books I have around the house, I don’t feel comfortable placing the booklet on Homeschool Share. I will, however, plan to post the test I give at the end of the week. I’ll let you know when it’s up.
I can’t believe we’ve knocked another unit out! I was somewhat dreading this unit because the topic seemed rather dry and dull, but I was in for a pleasant surprise once we dove in!!
The A Journey Through Learning lapbook was an outstanding spine. I had never used one of their lapbooks before, but it won’t be the last one! It was put together in a very organized, simple to implement way – refreshing!!
We also completed some of our own inventions using ideas from the Teacher Created Materials Inventions book. (You can find links to the books I’m mentioning below.) The kids LOVED creating their own inventions. I’ve put together a little slideshow of our lapbooks and inventions….
I’ve had lots of questions about the projects we complete as part of our homeschool life. I’ve even presented a workshop specifically concerning this topic, as well as including it as a topic in my most popular workshop “Creative Homeschooling”.
I’ve been wanting to write a blog post about incorporating projects into your homeschool for quite some time, but Jimmie finally gave me the kick in the pants I needed when commenting on my post about our Presidents of the United States study. So for Jimmie and everyone else who ever wondered, here are the basics about adding projects to homeschooling… )
Why add projects?
They encourage independent learning.
They require creative and critical thinking.
They require writing and research.
They allow for choices.
They allow for meaningful, hands-on experiences.
They allow for varied learning styles to be met.
They encourage real learning about a subject that isn’t simply memorized for a test and then forgotten.
Our methods of learning are continually changing – mostly because I want my children to experience all forms of learning and not become “stuck” when they’re required to do something later in life in a different way than they’ve learned. For example, if I only gave paper and pencil tests for every subject throughout their entire homeschool career, they would probably struggle when asked to complete a project at some point that requires creative thinking, the ability to put together a nice visual product and speak about it. On the other hand, if I never gave paper and pencil tests, this wouldn’t prepare them adequately for possible future tasks either. I hope this makes sense. I’m continually changing the approach so they’ll be prepared to handle whatever task is thrown their way!
Even more so, though, I feel like projects have helped my children understand and retain information greatly – as compared to simply learning about a topic and regurgitating the info back to me on a test. Why? Because they become part of the learning through their projects! In order to complete the project, they have to “know their stuff” about the topic AND put it together in an organized, thoughtful, expressive way. Besides this, we expect our children to present their projects – to further embed the learning and to become comfortable with verbalizing themselves. Believe me, just because they can put together a super project, doesn’t mean they can automatically speak about it. This is a separate skill to be learned, but just as important.
What are projects?
Projects can really be anything!
play/skit/speech/storytelling
story/report/book report/article/newsletter
mobile/diorama/model
experiment/demonstration
scrapbook/poster/journal
art/craft/cooking/other handicraft
How do I add projects to our learning?
This is a doozy, so I think I’ll break it down into a couple of areas:
When? By the time my children are seven, they’re introduced to the world of projects. I always complete the first projects alongside them. Once I see they’re capable of completing a thorough project without my help, I’ll be available as a resource for questions or ideas. By the time they’re in 5th grade (hopefully earlier), they’re expected to complete projects on their own with very little direction from me.
If you’re starting projects when your children are older, I suggest still working along side them at first and giving very clear expectations for final outcomes until they are able to complete a thorough project on their own.
When I say give very clear expectations, this is a little misleading. I typically give my children expectations that are open-ended. In other words, “I expect your diorama to show at least five important aspects of Native American life. I also expect that all surfaces with be covered and several 3-D models will be present.” This gives them a direction without me telling them exactly what to include and how to include it. Clear as mud?
Where? Most of the time, projects are interjected into our unit studies – which happen to be science and history related. A typical unit plan might be to learn about a topic together over the course of a week or more (depending on the subject.) At the end of the unit, I decide how many projects that unit warrants. For instance, if the unit was really long, I’ll expect five or more projects to be completed. If the unit was really short, one might be enough. They have a length of time to complete the projects, we set a date for presentations and the presentations become the finale of the unit.
I will usually come up with a list of several project choices from which my children can choose. I try to vary the learning styles required in the project list so my son who doesn’t prefer too much writing can find projects to suit his needs. Here’s a sample list of project choices I might offer if I expect them to complete THREE projects:
file folder report
diorama
skit with siblings
scrapbook page
newspaper article
commercial
In this list, all will require some reading, research and writing, but can you see how they allow for a variety of learning styles – writing, speaking, organizing, crafting, acting, etc?
We have also completed language arts projects such as bound poetry books and math projects such as grocery story price comparison charts. Remember that most any project is going to involve reading, research and writing – so language arts is always included!
As for grading, well, we don’t give many grades around here. We do talk about what was really good about the projects and what could be improved next time. Through my gentle direction, my children have quickly learned how to critique their work. (If not handled with care and lots of encouragement, this could turn into self-bashing. Don’t let them do that to themselves!)
If I’ve noticed that one of my children really needs to improve a certain part of their projects, I will simply include that more specifically in my instructions to them next time around. For example, one of my children was not very thorough in his/her research and writing during our past unit. When the next project time rolls around, I’ll be sure he/she chooses a project with plenty of writing and make it very clear how much of each I expect. You see, project time allows for choices, but mom’s still the boss! )
I sure hope this has been helpful and not muddied the water! Please ask whatever questions you may have and I’ll write a second post if I need to clarify anything.
You might find the following posts helpful in seeing some of the projects we’ve completed in the past.
Just in case you ever wondered, one of the things Melissa and I have included in the NaturExplorers units is project-based learning. Each unit gives several ideas for hands-on, writing/research and other projects you can assign!
You never know what I might be writing about - homeschool plans, field trips, projects, family life, and so much more. I hope you'll consider using the subscribe button at the top of my blog to keep up with all the happenings at Westward Academy. And, by the way, I love comments!
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