I'm hoping to gather a few like-minded families to form a cooperative group this fall for ages 4 to 6 (did you know Kindergarten is not mandatory in Virginia?). I am thinking of Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 to 1. I would be happy to host the entire thing at my home, or we could rotate homes and teachers. Depending on how many kids participate (I'm hoping for around 8), I'd like to have a teacher mom and an assistant each day. Moms would be welcome to stay the whole time, or to drop off their kids.
The cost would be maybe $15 per month (to cover supplies and food for lunch) for all moms willing and able to take turns teaching. If a family wants to do drop-off only, we would charge an extra fee, which would be split between the teaching families--just to make it fair. (This remains to be seen, but it would still be very inexpensive compared to commercial preschools).
The themes for the weeks and months would come from the world around them, along with a value we could focus on each month. I would like to include a field trip each month related to the theme.
The monthly themes will be:
September - Animals
National Zoo or Leesburg Animal Park
October - Birds and Trees
Huntley Meadow- Fairfax County park
November - Marine Life
National Aquarium - Baltimore (the big one) or DC (the little one)
December - Human Anatomy and Physiology
January - Physics: Heat, Light, Gravity, Magnetism, Electricity, Motion (this may spill over into February--so many fun things to do with these!)
Maryland Science Museum - $5 in January, Baltimore
February - Earth Science: Rocks, Volcanoes (may spill over into March)
March - Reptiles, Dinosaurs, Amphibians
Natural History Museum
April - Astronomy, Weather
Maybe the Science Museum of Virginia–2 hours away so it would be an all-day affair (I'd like to do a Planetarium)
May - Bugs and Plants
State Arboretum of Virginia - 45 min away
The values will be things like honesty, respecting others, being kind, and these will be tied into the nature themes by a central book that we'll read several times during the month. For example, we could do Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey when we do birds, and the value could be obedience--or something along those lines. I've got several book lists that go along with these topics, so I'll have to go through them. I'd also love suggestions.
A day at this playschool would look something like this:
Gathering time with either a game or group activity
Activity centers - children choose between puzzles, building toys (Tinkertoys, Duplos, K'Nex, etc.) imaginative toys (kitchen, costumes), and logic games (Thinkfun, pattern blocks, attribute blocks, Mighty Mind, Cuisenaire rods, Memory).
Outdoor play (whenever possible) - running games, playset, riding toys, looking at nature and the changes that are happening through the year in our five acres of woods and stream. When the weather isn't cooperating we can go in the basement and do some active games (races, throwing and catching, etc.)
Focus time - learn about the theme of the month from pictures, books, short science videos, and hands-on activities of all sorts (having taught science co-ops to homeschoolers for 15 years at least, I've got a million ideas AND my home is full of interesting rocks and crystals, dinosaur bones, insect collections, math manipulatives, big posters on every topic under the sun, etc.)
Table time - art projects, sensory play, whatever we think is fun, which goes along with the unit--or not (this is a Waldorf thing).
Story time - several read-alouds on the unit topic (or not) with children taking an active part through narrating back sections of the story, guessing what happens next, etc. (this is a Charlotte Mason thing).
Lunch time - the children take turns preparing lunch and serving their peers (this is a Montessori thing).
Clean-up time, then a "clean" activity like music or a group game
Throughout the whole time there will be activities going on, but no child will be pressured to join in if he doesn't want to. To as great an extent as possible, the adults will be in the background, letting the children be in charge. We may let an extrovert child lead the games after they learn them, We will encourage the kids to share what they see in nature to the extent they are able (each will have a nature journal). We will establish a few rules, but the pressure will be off. Which may mean for some that there will be few art projects sent home. Having had two foster kids in day care part of last year, I'm quite aware that many of the things that the child supposedly created were really no more than "Here, put your hand in this paint and then press it on the page and then run and play again." Really a gift from the teacher to the parent--there will be very little of that dynamic.
Yes, we will work in some math, writing and reading, but it will not be readily apparent to the casual observer. The math will focus mainly on logic, discovering the attributes of numbers, and making patterns (believe me, this is far more important to long-term math success than memorizing that 3+4=7). Reading will be encouraged as we sound out words together in the stories we read. If you'd like to work on academics at home to stay up with what the schools are doing, I'll point you to some things I've liked using in past years (like the Explode the Code series). But I'd recommend that you read some of the articles I've linked in the side bar while considering what else you'd like to add to your child's days.
So if you want your young kids to have some new learning opportunities without being pressured by academic expectations (and quite possibly setting the stage for later academic excellence), this is the group for you.
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Friday, June 26, 2015
How Children Play: Discover (continued from below)
Children are naturally curious, and it's very sad to see a child who is so burnt-out on forced education that when presented with something inherently fascinating (like a butterfly on a flower) he won't even bother to look--just remains deep inside his own world. Schools are limited in their ability to allow a child to discover, so education becomes "canned"--predigested and predetermined, not allowing space for the child to find anything out on his own. It sometimes becomes just a guessing game to find out what the teacher has in her mind. We pretend we're doing experiments when really we are just doing demonstrations.
Self-determination theory holds that intrinsic motivation is much more powerful than extrinsic; in other words, doing something that is meaningful to you will have more lasting effects on your life than doing something to satisfy an external pressure put upon you (see "The school that puts kids in charge of their own education" in the side bar). Discovery is central to intrinsically-motivated learning. I think we are too quick to classify activities as "too easy for you" or "too hard for you" -- too easy or too hard for what? What if he wasn't trying to put that puzzle together the way most people would, but had a completely different end in mind? We need to get away from giving the impression that the world has already been completely explored, and now "you can just sit down and learn everything that has already been figured out for you." That is a dead-end--no wonder kids are bored.
If discovery though play is the prime learning modality for your child from early-on, he will maintain a love of learning even when things get difficult. Below are two pictures of my guys a couple years ago; one is discovering how markers can draw (yes, on the wall too) and the other is thinking about the patterns that are made by circles of dots when you draw lines between the dots in different configurations. He crafted a chart from these, and went on to larger numbers of dots before he discovered the rule behind the patterns. All on his own. Not because he's smart, but because he's curious.
Self-determination theory holds that intrinsic motivation is much more powerful than extrinsic; in other words, doing something that is meaningful to you will have more lasting effects on your life than doing something to satisfy an external pressure put upon you (see "The school that puts kids in charge of their own education" in the side bar). Discovery is central to intrinsically-motivated learning. I think we are too quick to classify activities as "too easy for you" or "too hard for you" -- too easy or too hard for what? What if he wasn't trying to put that puzzle together the way most people would, but had a completely different end in mind? We need to get away from giving the impression that the world has already been completely explored, and now "you can just sit down and learn everything that has already been figured out for you." That is a dead-end--no wonder kids are bored.
If discovery though play is the prime learning modality for your child from early-on, he will maintain a love of learning even when things get difficult. Below are two pictures of my guys a couple years ago; one is discovering how markers can draw (yes, on the wall too) and the other is thinking about the patterns that are made by circles of dots when you draw lines between the dots in different configurations. He crafted a chart from these, and went on to larger numbers of dots before he discovered the rule behind the patterns. All on his own. Not because he's smart, but because he's curious.
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
How Children Play: Challenge (continued from below)
We all (not just children) play by challenging ourselves. "Why do you want to climb Mt. Everest?" "Because it's there," said George Mallory. And we all do the same thing, though usually on a smaller scale: running a marathon, learning a computer language, fixing a car, building a deck, sewing a prom dress.
In the life of a young child, challenge is everything--it's how they are able to do new things each day. Some kids are maniacs for it, and will keep trying something difficult until they succeed or get hurt (or both). Others are more laid back, but still enjoy a quiet challenge; puzzles, games, and the like. A friend of mine likes to take a stopwatch to a playground and have his kids do something--"go climb over that and run back to me"--and then they see if they can do it faster the next time. He says that it doesn't take more than a few minutes for the other kids on the playground to notice what is going on and then they ALL want in on it--who is the fastest, strongest, most agile, etc. The man with the stopwatch is the most popular guy on the playground.
Which means that a parent who recognizes that challenges are vital to growth, and provides many opportunities for kids to stretch, is giving them what they need. Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky formulated a theory of the Zone of Proximal Development, which has influenced my homeschool-mothering. He stated that each person grows and develops at different rates, but has distinct "tasks" that he is capable of mastering if he puts forth effort. For example, after I have taken my first ski lesson I'm not ready for the crazy-daring mountainside. The bunny hill is now in my Zone of Proximal Development though.
Each person has a ZPD for math, for language, for reading, driving, sewing, woodworking, computers, etc. Whether or not you proceed to learn that next step depends on your interest and/or need of the skill. So how do you know where your child's ZPDs are? A preschooler may be able to put on shoes that fasten with velcro, but is not yet able to tie his shoes. If he eagerly watches you tie shoes and attempts it on his own, you can be pretty sure he's ready for some lessons and encouragement. Just because he can already do velcro shoes, and lace-up shoes are next, doesn't mean he's ready to move on--it may not be in his ZPD yet, considering the manual dexterity and memory skills necessary.
So the goal can be really big, but if he is able to break it down into small steps that fit within his ZPD, the child will want to embrace the challenge as a form of play.
In the life of a young child, challenge is everything--it's how they are able to do new things each day. Some kids are maniacs for it, and will keep trying something difficult until they succeed or get hurt (or both). Others are more laid back, but still enjoy a quiet challenge; puzzles, games, and the like. A friend of mine likes to take a stopwatch to a playground and have his kids do something--"go climb over that and run back to me"--and then they see if they can do it faster the next time. He says that it doesn't take more than a few minutes for the other kids on the playground to notice what is going on and then they ALL want in on it--who is the fastest, strongest, most agile, etc. The man with the stopwatch is the most popular guy on the playground.
Which means that a parent who recognizes that challenges are vital to growth, and provides many opportunities for kids to stretch, is giving them what they need. Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky formulated a theory of the Zone of Proximal Development, which has influenced my homeschool-mothering. He stated that each person grows and develops at different rates, but has distinct "tasks" that he is capable of mastering if he puts forth effort. For example, after I have taken my first ski lesson I'm not ready for the crazy-daring mountainside. The bunny hill is now in my Zone of Proximal Development though.
Each person has a ZPD for math, for language, for reading, driving, sewing, woodworking, computers, etc. Whether or not you proceed to learn that next step depends on your interest and/or need of the skill. So how do you know where your child's ZPDs are? A preschooler may be able to put on shoes that fasten with velcro, but is not yet able to tie his shoes. If he eagerly watches you tie shoes and attempts it on his own, you can be pretty sure he's ready for some lessons and encouragement. Just because he can already do velcro shoes, and lace-up shoes are next, doesn't mean he's ready to move on--it may not be in his ZPD yet, considering the manual dexterity and memory skills necessary.
So the goal can be really big, but if he is able to break it down into small steps that fit within his ZPD, the child will want to embrace the challenge as a form of play.
Saturday, June 13, 2015
How Children Play: Create (continued from below)
So how do children play? There are three main focuses of play: creating, challenging, and discovering.
Children are constantly creating little dramas with their toys and acting them out. They create art (on walls sometimes), create music as they pull the pans out of cupboards and beat on them, and create patterns as they arrange the pans on the floor from largest to smallest.
Creating is the main thing that goes on at our house. The kids do world-building on paper, with Legos, clay, K'Nex, or in their heads. Sometimes the creation leads to movie-making with paper dolls they have drawn. Sometimes it leads to writing dramas or poetry (we've never had a book produced yet; Luke wrote up 20 pages of notes a book...before he moved on to another book...which also has never seen the light, but still good for his brain). When I was little I loved to create through sewing. I'd lay my Barbie on some fabric and draw around her, cut out two pieces and sew them together, then wonder why it wouldn't go on her; helped me learn about the difference between circumference and diameter.
People are built to create - it is hard-wired in. There is a way to kill this desire though, or at least diminish it and that is to do everything for them. To give them only finished products to play with--pre-scripted toy sets that steer you into playing with them a certain way. To fail to provide the raw materials of play, at a level kids feel comfortable with.
When we were new parents we were poor so we would both bring home stacks of paper from our jobs for our kids to play with (mine were covered with EKG print-outs and my husband's with energy policy proposals). One side was blank, and so our kids would cover these papers with sketches until the floor was literally covered with artwork. Our kids (so far) have all become good artists, and when we had more money we'd buy nice sketch notebooks for them. But it was funny how those sketch books didn't usually fill up as fast as the scratch paper laying around--they were a bit intimidating.
So not having lots of money isn't necessarily a drawback, but impoverishing your child's environment IS. Some parents don't want to have to step over Tinkertoys, or have crayons laying around that their child might draw on the couch with. So they give their kids screens (iPads, lots of TV time) because they are not messy. And though some vouch for Minecraft as a creative outlet, generally what you get with screens at best is pre-digested creativity, at worst is zero, even negative creativity, as the child feels like what he can do could never compete with the colorful stories and images on the screens.
Children are constantly creating little dramas with their toys and acting them out. They create art (on walls sometimes), create music as they pull the pans out of cupboards and beat on them, and create patterns as they arrange the pans on the floor from largest to smallest.
Creating is the main thing that goes on at our house. The kids do world-building on paper, with Legos, clay, K'Nex, or in their heads. Sometimes the creation leads to movie-making with paper dolls they have drawn. Sometimes it leads to writing dramas or poetry (we've never had a book produced yet; Luke wrote up 20 pages of notes a book...before he moved on to another book...which also has never seen the light, but still good for his brain). When I was little I loved to create through sewing. I'd lay my Barbie on some fabric and draw around her, cut out two pieces and sew them together, then wonder why it wouldn't go on her; helped me learn about the difference between circumference and diameter.
People are built to create - it is hard-wired in. There is a way to kill this desire though, or at least diminish it and that is to do everything for them. To give them only finished products to play with--pre-scripted toy sets that steer you into playing with them a certain way. To fail to provide the raw materials of play, at a level kids feel comfortable with.
When we were new parents we were poor so we would both bring home stacks of paper from our jobs for our kids to play with (mine were covered with EKG print-outs and my husband's with energy policy proposals). One side was blank, and so our kids would cover these papers with sketches until the floor was literally covered with artwork. Our kids (so far) have all become good artists, and when we had more money we'd buy nice sketch notebooks for them. But it was funny how those sketch books didn't usually fill up as fast as the scratch paper laying around--they were a bit intimidating.
So not having lots of money isn't necessarily a drawback, but impoverishing your child's environment IS. Some parents don't want to have to step over Tinkertoys, or have crayons laying around that their child might draw on the couch with. So they give their kids screens (iPads, lots of TV time) because they are not messy. And though some vouch for Minecraft as a creative outlet, generally what you get with screens at best is pre-digested creativity, at worst is zero, even negative creativity, as the child feels like what he can do could never compete with the colorful stories and images on the screens.
Thursday, June 11, 2015
Nature Kids Philosophy: Playschool rather than Preschool
Play is the prime learning modality for all people. This may seem like an extreme statement until you investigate what constitutes play. We usually associate the word with children, and many studies have been done which show that children learn best through play, and when deprived of play they fail to grow in both creativity and academic progress--see side bar.
Dictionaries state that play is to engage in something for enjoyment, rather than for a serious or practical purpose. But what this definition misses is that any time you are doing something simply because you WANT to, because you enjoy it, this is play, whether or not it has a practical purpose or outcome. Right now I am finishing a room in our basement--making trim out of oak that came from the trees we felled when we built our house. Hard work, yes. Play? Absolutely! I am exercising my creativity and am excited about the project--and it's challenging. Think about it - what does "play" look like for adults (not watching others play, but actually playing)? It looks like making fabulous new creations (art, music, crafts, or culinary) or having "man vs. mountain" experiences: challenging, stimulating, one-of-a-kind experiences, where you walk away with new knowledge and insights.
This is just what our traditional learning environments are missing. A few years ago a large study was done by Stanford University which followed children from preschool age through elementary school. It found that while children who attend preschool are a bit ahead academically of non-preschool children upon entering kindergarten, the gap disappears by second grade for most children (the exception being children from low-income families). But there was a strong finding of negative socialization among middle and upper class children attending preschools, which was worsened in those who spent longer hours at preschool. This finding showed up by second grade, around the time the academic boost wore off as well.
Basically what happens is that the kids are all excited about learning at first, and love the teacher's attention and the fun of being with peers each day. They willingly work on ABCs-123s-Colors-Shapes, etc. and get those down right away. But after a few years the magic has worn off. They are tired of "direct instruction" as their learning modality. They have "given you the best years of their lives" and now what do they have to show for it? ABCs-123s-colors-shapes only take you so far when you are not mature enough to handle more complex subjects. And then you get bored and start acting out. This is exactly what the study found - the children who had been in academic preschools became learning-resistant about second grade. It's just not fun any more.
Why, then, the push for early academics--the "universal pre-K" that politicians are talking about lately? While it's debatable whether this would benefit low-income children, it will for SURE not benefit the majority of kids--which makes it simply another egalitarian tool in the hands of the social engineers.
What children need is more self-directed play in an enriched environment supported by a mentor. That is what I wish for my son's early years. And what I propose to provide--for him and some other lucky youngsters.
Dictionaries state that play is to engage in something for enjoyment, rather than for a serious or practical purpose. But what this definition misses is that any time you are doing something simply because you WANT to, because you enjoy it, this is play, whether or not it has a practical purpose or outcome. Right now I am finishing a room in our basement--making trim out of oak that came from the trees we felled when we built our house. Hard work, yes. Play? Absolutely! I am exercising my creativity and am excited about the project--and it's challenging. Think about it - what does "play" look like for adults (not watching others play, but actually playing)? It looks like making fabulous new creations (art, music, crafts, or culinary) or having "man vs. mountain" experiences: challenging, stimulating, one-of-a-kind experiences, where you walk away with new knowledge and insights.
This is just what our traditional learning environments are missing. A few years ago a large study was done by Stanford University which followed children from preschool age through elementary school. It found that while children who attend preschool are a bit ahead academically of non-preschool children upon entering kindergarten, the gap disappears by second grade for most children (the exception being children from low-income families). But there was a strong finding of negative socialization among middle and upper class children attending preschools, which was worsened in those who spent longer hours at preschool. This finding showed up by second grade, around the time the academic boost wore off as well.
Basically what happens is that the kids are all excited about learning at first, and love the teacher's attention and the fun of being with peers each day. They willingly work on ABCs-123s-Colors-Shapes, etc. and get those down right away. But after a few years the magic has worn off. They are tired of "direct instruction" as their learning modality. They have "given you the best years of their lives" and now what do they have to show for it? ABCs-123s-colors-shapes only take you so far when you are not mature enough to handle more complex subjects. And then you get bored and start acting out. This is exactly what the study found - the children who had been in academic preschools became learning-resistant about second grade. It's just not fun any more.
Why, then, the push for early academics--the "universal pre-K" that politicians are talking about lately? While it's debatable whether this would benefit low-income children, it will for SURE not benefit the majority of kids--which makes it simply another egalitarian tool in the hands of the social engineers.
What children need is more self-directed play in an enriched environment supported by a mentor. That is what I wish for my son's early years. And what I propose to provide--for him and some other lucky youngsters.
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