Unschooling physical environment
Deb
We had just a half of year of homeschool last term and it was really before I got convinced about unschooling. So I had the room set up like a schoolroom, bought a full curriculum, etc. Well, we certainly want to do it much differently this time so I'm wondering what's the best way to create a creative, fun, engaging environment for my 7 year old ? I ordered some fun books for pleasure reading already and a couple math games, but I realize that's far from where we want to be.
Any ideas for a good inventory of stuff to have on hand to spark his curiosity would be appreciated. He loves science experiments, animals, jet planes, music, art, and
Video games which I'm fine with so any titles of games would be great, too. Thanks for your input.
Any ideas for a good inventory of stuff to have on hand to spark his curiosity would be appreciated. He loves science experiments, animals, jet planes, music, art, and
Video games which I'm fine with so any titles of games would be great, too. Thanks for your input.
Sandra Dodd
-=-Any ideas for a good inventory of stuff to have on hand to spark his curiosity would be appreciated. He loves science experiments, animals, jet planes, music, art, and
Video games which I'm fine with so any titles of games would be great, too. Thanks for your input.-=-
A list of things might amount to a new kind of curriculum if you're used to people telling you what you need to get and then what to do with it, so don't take any suggestions as full and real lists or requirements. Your attitude toward things is more important than the things themselves.
You might get ideas about what I mean, and ideas of things you might already have around the house, from these:
http://sandradodd.com/checklists
http://sandradodd.com/youngchildren
http://sandradodd.com/museum
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Video games which I'm fine with so any titles of games would be great, too. Thanks for your input.-=-
A list of things might amount to a new kind of curriculum if you're used to people telling you what you need to get and then what to do with it, so don't take any suggestions as full and real lists or requirements. Your attitude toward things is more important than the things themselves.
You might get ideas about what I mean, and ideas of things you might already have around the house, from these:
http://sandradodd.com/checklists
http://sandradodd.com/youngchildren
http://sandradodd.com/museum
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Frantz Family
-=-Any ideas for a good inventory of stuff to have on hand to spark his
curiosity would be appreciated. He loves science experiments, animals,
jet planes, music, art, and Video games which I'm fine with so any
titles of games would be great, too. Thanks for your input.-=-
Why not meander through a Hobby Lobby type store and buy anything he
oooohs over? It seems like he already has quite a few sparks of
interest - they just need fuel.
Margo
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
curiosity would be appreciated. He loves science experiments, animals,
jet planes, music, art, and Video games which I'm fine with so any
titles of games would be great, too. Thanks for your input.-=-
Why not meander through a Hobby Lobby type store and buy anything he
oooohs over? It seems like he already has quite a few sparks of
interest - they just need fuel.
Margo
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
alma
--- In [email protected], "Deb" <vwb777@...> wrote:
==============
So I had the room set up like a schoolroom, bought a full curriculum, etc. Well, we certainly want to do it much differently this time so I'm wondering what's the best way to create a creative, fun, engaging environment for my 7 year old ?
==============
I would like to suggest that you get out of your old schoolroom as much as possible to help break the schooliness of the books or science experiments or maths games you've acquired. Sitting down with books is great, but you and your son might benefit from moving far away from where you've been in order to move back without the schooly associations.
There are masses of science experiments described online but you can avoid setting many up as experiments in a contrived way, eg instead of specially filling up a basin of water to test what floats and what sinks why not spice up bathtime and turn it into a game?
Do you have an airport nearby? I've spent many hours at the perimeter fence of our nearest airport. We'd take the schedules (printed from arrivals/departures before leaving home), an atlas, packed lunch, binoculars, camera, knitting (for me) etc. We often met other plane spotters, who were full of fascinating facts and figures.
We have watched untold numbers of plane related youtube videos look for things like "scary take-offs" to start you off.
Does your son have any pets? Can he set up some bug environments to examine whatever is local to you (info for good bug set ups available online)?
Re games, my sons have recently discovered plants vs zombies which is fantastic fun. (I'll be interested to hear other recommendations in this department.)
Once you start thinking of FUN things to do in the areas of your sons interests it can really start to flow.
Alison
DS(8) and DS(6)
sheeboo2
Some of the most used materials in our home come from the recycle bin--toilet paper and paper towel tubes, yogurt containers, egg cartons, to-go boxes, styrofoam trays......add glue and/or tape and you've got the supplies for marble runs, sculpture, structures, invented games, bug habitats, weapons........
PVC pipe in various diameters and lengths are fun too, especially for building water walls and other outdoor water/mud/sand contraptions.
We have a Celestron pocket microscope that also has a USB hook-up, and it gets a LOT of use (it is great to take on hikes, and also fun to hook up to the computer and make movies of the innards of spider carcasses): http://tinyurl.com/6dzuh4h
Bug nets, buckets, and containers....
Building materials, like Lego also get lots of use, as do our Citiblocs: http://www.amazon.com/Citiblocs-Original-Wooden-Building-Block/dp/B00267SW96
If you check Ebay, you should be able to find a box of 500+ for under $50.
Posters, maps and diagrams of things he enjoys may be fun to put up on the walls--not to memorize, but to be inspired by.
I buy baking soda, vinegar, corn starch and food coloring in bulk so we always have them on hand for concoctions. Borax is good to have on-hand too. http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiments has some fun experiments, as do many other online sources. I've learned to just let Noor do her thing (over and over again) with these materials and participate in a "Wow, that's really cool" kind of way rather than trying to point out surface tension, etc.....she comes to realizations on her own and then asks questions which I answer *after* she asks. One of our favorite books for experiments from household materials is: "201 Awesome, Magical, Bizarre, & Incredible Experiments": http://www.amazon.com/VanCleaves-Awesome-Magical-Incredible-Experiments/dp/0471310115
If you don't think you can offer experiments without teaching, I'd leave this area alone for now.....do the experiments for fun and learning will happen naturally.
Your son may enjoy Snap Circuits: http://www.snapcircuits.net/
Mind Ware: http://www.mindware.com/Home/HomePage.aspx has lots of cool materials. Some of the stuff is expensive, some not. Again, be careful if you're prone to wanting to turn fun into a "teaching experience." Let him chose things he finds interesting and let him use them in his own way, without concern for their intended "educational purpose"--There are some small motor kits there that he may really enjoy.
Brie
PVC pipe in various diameters and lengths are fun too, especially for building water walls and other outdoor water/mud/sand contraptions.
We have a Celestron pocket microscope that also has a USB hook-up, and it gets a LOT of use (it is great to take on hikes, and also fun to hook up to the computer and make movies of the innards of spider carcasses): http://tinyurl.com/6dzuh4h
Bug nets, buckets, and containers....
Building materials, like Lego also get lots of use, as do our Citiblocs: http://www.amazon.com/Citiblocs-Original-Wooden-Building-Block/dp/B00267SW96
If you check Ebay, you should be able to find a box of 500+ for under $50.
Posters, maps and diagrams of things he enjoys may be fun to put up on the walls--not to memorize, but to be inspired by.
I buy baking soda, vinegar, corn starch and food coloring in bulk so we always have them on hand for concoctions. Borax is good to have on-hand too. http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiments has some fun experiments, as do many other online sources. I've learned to just let Noor do her thing (over and over again) with these materials and participate in a "Wow, that's really cool" kind of way rather than trying to point out surface tension, etc.....she comes to realizations on her own and then asks questions which I answer *after* she asks. One of our favorite books for experiments from household materials is: "201 Awesome, Magical, Bizarre, & Incredible Experiments": http://www.amazon.com/VanCleaves-Awesome-Magical-Incredible-Experiments/dp/0471310115
If you don't think you can offer experiments without teaching, I'd leave this area alone for now.....do the experiments for fun and learning will happen naturally.
Your son may enjoy Snap Circuits: http://www.snapcircuits.net/
Mind Ware: http://www.mindware.com/Home/HomePage.aspx has lots of cool materials. Some of the stuff is expensive, some not. Again, be careful if you're prone to wanting to turn fun into a "teaching experience." Let him chose things he finds interesting and let him use them in his own way, without concern for their intended "educational purpose"--There are some small motor kits there that he may really enjoy.
Brie
sheeboo2
I forgot....if he enjoys building things, keep an eye out at flea markets and yard sales for building materials like hinges and pulleys. Buy him a set of basic, sturdy tools, if you dont already have some at home....add wood scraps, nails, screws, etc.
Brie
Brie
sheeboo2
-----Re games, my sons have recently discovered plants vs zombies which is fantastic
fun. (I'll be interested to hear other recommendations in this department.)-------
Noor loves Plants Vs Zombies too as well as Angry Birds, but one of her favorite resources for games is the free website Armor Games:
Www.armorgames.com
Fancy Pants, Sushi Cat and Stackers are some of her favorites
Brie
fun. (I'll be interested to hear other recommendations in this department.)-------
Noor loves Plants Vs Zombies too as well as Angry Birds, but one of her favorite resources for games is the free website Armor Games:
Www.armorgames.com
Fancy Pants, Sushi Cat and Stackers are some of her favorites
Brie
sheeboo2
For art, the recyclables are great too, as are fabric scraps and all kinds of sewing notions. A hot glue gun can take the place of sewing. Clay and Sculpy are nice to have as well for making all kinds of things; Noor mostly uses it to make her own Pokemon figures and accessories for other toys.
There are some great FREE web applications for drawing and animation. Check out Pencil: www.pencil-animation.org/
Sketchfu: http://sketchfu.com/
Doink: www.doink.com
Jam Studio is a free online music maker: http://www.jamstudio.com/Studio/index.htm I know there are many others as well, but haven't tried them.
Noor suggested that your son may like the game Flight at Armor Games: http://armorgames.com/play/7598/flight
and this book on paper airplanes: http://www.amazon.com/Klutz-Book-Paper-Airplanes-Stillinger/dp/1570548307
Brie
There are some great FREE web applications for drawing and animation. Check out Pencil: www.pencil-animation.org/
Sketchfu: http://sketchfu.com/
Doink: www.doink.com
Jam Studio is a free online music maker: http://www.jamstudio.com/Studio/index.htm I know there are many others as well, but haven't tried them.
Noor suggested that your son may like the game Flight at Armor Games: http://armorgames.com/play/7598/flight
and this book on paper airplanes: http://www.amazon.com/Klutz-Book-Paper-Airplanes-Stillinger/dp/1570548307
Brie
Deb
Making it less " schooly " makes total sense. I'm not sure why I felt our dining room had to to look exactly like a schoolroom when the basis of the plan is to UNschool him.
We have a few animals at this point; a hermit crab, two very sweet mice, and a dog, and we have a butterfly habitat that's needing some caterpillars again as he really got excited a out that process.
One question...do you use anything maybe resembling a curriculum for math? That's the only subject I'm still a little nervous about.
We have a few animals at this point; a hermit crab, two very sweet mice, and a dog, and we have a butterfly habitat that's needing some caterpillars again as he really got excited a out that process.
One question...do you use anything maybe resembling a curriculum for math? That's the only subject I'm still a little nervous about.
--- In [email protected], "alma" <almadoing@...> wrote:
>
>
>
> --- In [email protected], "Deb" <vwb777@> wrote:
>
> ==============
> So I had the room set up like a schoolroom, bought a full curriculum, etc. Well, we certainly want to do it much differently this time so I'm wondering what's the best way to create a creative, fun, engaging environment for my 7 year old ?
> ==============
>
>
> I would like to suggest that you get out of your old schoolroom as much as possible to help break the schooliness of the books or science experiments or maths games you've acquired. Sitting down with books is great, but you and your son might benefit from moving far away from where you've been in order to move back without the schooly associations.
>
> There are masses of science experiments described online but you can avoid setting many up as experiments in a contrived way, eg instead of specially filling up a basin of water to test what floats and what sinks why not spice up bathtime and turn it into a game?
>
> Do you have an airport nearby? I've spent many hours at the perimeter fence of our nearest airport. We'd take the schedules (printed from arrivals/departures before leaving home), an atlas, packed lunch, binoculars, camera, knitting (for me) etc. We often met other plane spotters, who were full of fascinating facts and figures.
>
> We have watched untold numbers of plane related youtube videos look for things like "scary take-offs" to start you off.
>
> Does your son have any pets? Can he set up some bug environments to examine whatever is local to you (info for good bug set ups available online)?
>
> Re games, my sons have recently discovered plants vs zombies which is fantastic fun. (I'll be interested to hear other recommendations in this department.)
>
> Once you start thinking of FUN things to do in the areas of your sons interests it can really start to flow.
>
> Alison
> DS(8) and DS(6)
>
Schuyler
Why you are nervous about math? You don't have to answer, just think about it.
Are you nervous about math because you have an issue with math? You have an
issue brought on, perhaps, by the idea that school really underscores that math
is hard and needs to be gone over and over and over again to just get the
computational levels. If that's true. If you have a math phobia of your own, why
would you want to pass that on to your son? Why would you want him to have huge
faith in his own ability to learn everything except those things that brush up
against numbers, which is a huge amount of the world. Surely that would make
math much more scary and sacred and weird in the context of the rest of stuff
being unschooled.
We have never used a curriculum for anything. Simon and Linnaea are quite
comfortable with numbers. They don't get nervous about their inability to handle
a math problem. Numbers are all over life. It's hard to avoid them. It takes
some skill and effort. Simon and Linnaea don't need to bias their interests
toward non-numeric things. Like I can remember doing. I can remember being put
off something because it might have math. What a sad thing.
Here's more responses: http://www.sandradodd.com/math/.
Schuyler
________________________________
From: Deb <vwb777@...>
One question...do you use anything maybe resembling a curriculum for
math? That's the only subject I'm still a little nervous about.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Are you nervous about math because you have an issue with math? You have an
issue brought on, perhaps, by the idea that school really underscores that math
is hard and needs to be gone over and over and over again to just get the
computational levels. If that's true. If you have a math phobia of your own, why
would you want to pass that on to your son? Why would you want him to have huge
faith in his own ability to learn everything except those things that brush up
against numbers, which is a huge amount of the world. Surely that would make
math much more scary and sacred and weird in the context of the rest of stuff
being unschooled.
We have never used a curriculum for anything. Simon and Linnaea are quite
comfortable with numbers. They don't get nervous about their inability to handle
a math problem. Numbers are all over life. It's hard to avoid them. It takes
some skill and effort. Simon and Linnaea don't need to bias their interests
toward non-numeric things. Like I can remember doing. I can remember being put
off something because it might have math. What a sad thing.
Here's more responses: http://www.sandradodd.com/math/.
Schuyler
________________________________
From: Deb <vwb777@...>
One question...do you use anything maybe resembling a curriculum for
math? That's the only subject I'm still a little nervous about.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Joyce Fetteroll
On Jul 11, 2011, at 2:27 PM, Deb wrote:
http://joyfullyrejoycing.com/
The big reason learning math makes people nervous is that schools do a
very poor job at helping kids learn it. When kids pick it up from
using it -- my daughter probably learned most from video games :-) --
it gets absorbed as naturally as speaking. When it gets taught
abstractly, divorced from it's context and real use, it's as effective
as learning a foreign language in school is.
Joyce
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> One question...do you use anything maybe resembling a curriculum forThere are several pages on unschooling math here:
> math? That's the only subject I'm still a little nervous about.
http://joyfullyrejoycing.com/
The big reason learning math makes people nervous is that schools do a
very poor job at helping kids learn it. When kids pick it up from
using it -- my daughter probably learned most from video games :-) --
it gets absorbed as naturally as speaking. When it gets taught
abstractly, divorced from it's context and real use, it's as effective
as learning a foreign language in school is.
Joyce
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Gwen Montoya
What has helped me is to think about why my kids like what they like -
beyond the broad subject titles. Does he have a favorite kind of science
experiment? What kinds music does he like?
For example - my oldest (10) loves animals. Over the years I've noticed that
she really likes things she can classify - so dogs & dog breeds, cats & cat
breeds, dinosaurs (but not nearly as much as you might think considering
dinos are a typical kid fascination!). When she added Pokemon to her
interests, it was easy to see why - all the types & breeds & levels is right
up her alley! So when I brought out a bird book we've had for years, but
never used - I was pretty confident she'd like it.
I love recording things on Tivo & getting DVD's from the library about
subjects that are interesting. I find it much easier to get a quick overview
of a subject watching a documentary and then I can follow it up with books
or websites or whatever - that seems to work for Megan also (right now we
have about 10 different documentaries/tv shows about Egypt sitting on the
tivo. We may or may not get to them soon. We may never watch them, but they
are there if we do)
There are shows like Build It Bigger
http://science.discovery.com/tv/build-bigger/ and Mythbusters that might
spark his imagination.
Gwen
beyond the broad subject titles. Does he have a favorite kind of science
experiment? What kinds music does he like?
For example - my oldest (10) loves animals. Over the years I've noticed that
she really likes things she can classify - so dogs & dog breeds, cats & cat
breeds, dinosaurs (but not nearly as much as you might think considering
dinos are a typical kid fascination!). When she added Pokemon to her
interests, it was easy to see why - all the types & breeds & levels is right
up her alley! So when I brought out a bird book we've had for years, but
never used - I was pretty confident she'd like it.
I love recording things on Tivo & getting DVD's from the library about
subjects that are interesting. I find it much easier to get a quick overview
of a subject watching a documentary and then I can follow it up with books
or websites or whatever - that seems to work for Megan also (right now we
have about 10 different documentaries/tv shows about Egypt sitting on the
tivo. We may or may not get to them soon. We may never watch them, but they
are there if we do)
There are shows like Build It Bigger
http://science.discovery.com/tv/build-bigger/ and Mythbusters that might
spark his imagination.
Gwen
On Sun, Jul 10, 2011 at 1:09 PM, Deb <vwb777@...> wrote:
> **
>
>
> We had just a half of year of homeschool last term and it was really before
> I got convinced about unschooling. So I had the room set up like a
> schoolroom, bought a full curriculum, etc. Well, we certainly want to do it
> much differently this time so I'm wondering what's the best way to create a
> creative, fun, engaging environment for my 7 year old ? I ordered some fun
> books for pleasure reading already and a couple math games, but I realize
> that's far from where we want to be.
> Any ideas for a good inventory of stuff to have on hand to spark his
> curiosity would be appreciated. He loves science experiments, animals, jet
> planes, music, art, and
> Video games which I'm fine with so any titles of games would be great, too.
> Thanks for your input.
>
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]