When we think of Leonardo da Vinci, the “Mona Lisa” and the “Last Supper” come to mind — not a brilliant engineer hundreds of years before his time. What many do not realize is that da Vinci was a skilled engineer who inspired the Wright brothers and conceptualized the helicopter. Da Vinci came from very [...]
Posted in Interdisciplinary, News 
Tags: Art, Career, Da Vinci, Engineering, Renaissance 
Comments Off
Integrated learning seems like a pretty simple idea. Kids don’t get fired up when you say, “Let’s go study some English!” They get fired up with dinosaurs, scuba diving, and iPhone apps. Why? Because English is boring. In the traditional sense, that is. (Unless you’re that one teacher who really digs grammar. Seriously, I [...]
Posted in Back to School, Eclectic Homeschooling, Homeschool, Interdisciplinary, Learning Methods, News, Teaching methods, technology, Unit Study, Unschooling Tags: homeschool, informal learning, Learning, montessori, Project-based learning, unschool Comments Off
There has been a paradigm shift occurring in academia throughout the past several years. As online avenues for learning continue to gain momentum and legitimacy in the academic and education world, many of our learning ambitions are being transferred to the virtual realm. Today, not only can an individual earn a college degree by taking [...]
Posted in Back to School, Homeschool, Interdisciplinary, Learning Methods, Online Tools Tags: online classes, online college courses, Open Courseware, Open Learning Comments OffWhat if we scrapped standardized tests? What if we dropped tests and quizzes altogether? What if we quit categorizing children by grade-level? What if we got rid of desks? What if we got rid of teachers? What if each learner had a personalized project and a team of mentors? What if we quit treating learning [...]
Posted in Homeschool, Interdisciplinary, Learning Methods Tags: Change education, homeschool, Learning, Project-based learning Comments OffHappy New Year. A new year is always an opportunity to look ahead with optimism. Everyone can make a positive impact on our lives and world. Whether or not we actually make (and follow-through on) new year’s resolutions, here are five bold learning ideas that challenge the status quo in ‘education’. Embrace all or just one [...]
Posted in Activities, Homeschool, Interdisciplinary, Learning Methods, Literacy, Make, social change, TED Tags: Empathy, Learning, Share, TEDx, TEDxYouth, tolerance, Toys Comments OffCyberchase, an Emmy Award-winning animated series for 8-11 year-olds is now completely available online. This fun, STEM-rich series is full of hands-on math, engineering, and physics lessons weaved creatively into the stories. Learn more about Cyberchase over at GeekMom
Posted in Activities, Interdisciplinary, Math, Online Tools, Science, STEAM Tags: computers, Cyberchase, PBS, STEM, technology, Thirteen, WNET Comments OffUnschoolers are radical mavericks who approach learning 180 degrees in the opposite direction from traditional education. Unschoolers learn in an unstructured environment almost completely devoid of teachers, separate subjects, grades, tests, or quizzes. Instead, unschoolers hack together their learning palette from many sources to create a truly personal learning experience. Unschoolers are active learners who [...]
Posted in Crowdsource, Eclectic Homeschooling, Economics, Electronics, Interdisciplinary, Learning Methods, Make, News, social change Tags: DIY, Hack, make, maker, Maker culture, Open source, Tim O'Reilly, UnCollege, Unschooling Comments Off“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” – Lao-Tzu Humanity has disrupted nature’s path of least resistance by creating cities, structures, roads, and even political systems that defy natural conditions. We [...]
Posted in Eclectic Homeschooling, Interdisciplinary, Reading, STEAM, Unit Study Tags: constrtuctivism, creativity, Homeschooling, Learning, play, Project-based learning, technology, Unschooling, whole learning Comments Off
Back in the 1990′s, Constructivist Seymour Papert (father of Lego Mindstorms), wrote and spoke about learning as opposed to being taught. He showed how technology provides pathways for learning where instructors learn right along with children. As brilliant as Seymour Papert is, his ideas haven’t penetrated the teacher->student relationship in public schools. His visionary model [...]
Posted in Back to School, Eclectic Homeschooling, Interdisciplinary, Learning Methods, News, Teaching methods Tags: child-led learning, Constructivist, Education, Learning, LEGO Mindstorms, pedagogy, Project-based learning, Seymour Papert, Teaching, technology Comments OffSaturday, September 24 is Free Museum Day. Most Smithsonian and Smithsonian-affiliated museums are free on this day. There are many reasons to take advantage of Free Museum Day, but here are our top ten: Expand your family’s interests. Visit a museum that you wouldn’t normally visit. Seek to find possible new interests. Engage with learning. [...]
Posted in Activities, Eclectic Homeschooling, History, Interdisciplinary, Just for Fun, Learning Methods, Science Tags: aquarium, Art, Free museum day, history, MOSI, Museum, natural science, Smithsonian 2 Comments »
