Class Dismissed is a documentary film about learning outside of the classroom. We at Spottybanana.com couldn’t be happier to help promote a project as important as this one. Just like there’s more than one way to solve a math problem, eat an Oreo cookie, or write a computer program, there’s way more than one way [...]
Archive for the ‘Interdisciplinary’ Category
Class Dismissed
Posted by ginac on August 10th, 2011
Posted in Eclectic Homeschooling, Interdisciplinary, Learning Methods, News 
Tags: Class Dismissed, Documentary, Eclectic Homeschooling, Education, homeschool, Learning, movie, public education, Unschooling 
Comments OffHowtoons: Geeky Comics Show Kids How to Make Stuff from Household Items
Posted by ginac on February 26th, 2011
Howtoons is a comic-based website full of rich comic strips containing ingenious instructions on how to make things using basic science and engineering principles. Aimed at 8 to 12-year olds, Howtoons uses rich, colorful animation and a fun story to engage children’s natural interest in humor, comic strips, and having fun. Our youngster gravitated to the marshmallow [...]
Posted in Activities, Art, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Programming, Eclectic Homeschooling, Ecology, Environmental Conservation, Interdisciplinary, Make, Music, Physics, Science Tags: Arts, comic, Comic strip, Howtoons, Online 2 Comments »Personalized Pretend-Play Comic Poster
Posted by ginac on February 24th, 2011
We’re huge fans of interdisciplinary projects, especially those that encourage creativity. We also create projects around our child’s interests, so comic strips and comic books are sometimes part of the learning experience. Pretend play and dress-up are also popular — imagination rules! We’ve created a really fun project that combines the fun of pretend-play dress-up [...]
Posted in Activities, Art, Eclectic Homeschooling, Interdisciplinary Tags: Art, Batman, Bruce Wayne, comic, Comic strip, creativity, interdisciplinary learning, script writing 1 Comment »Child-Led Learning is the Focus of Brightworks
Posted by ginac on January 15th, 2011
Gever Tulley, author of 50 dangerous things and TED presenter, has taken his Tinkering School to the next level. Tinkering School is a summer camp in California that engages children in fun and challenging hands-on make projects. Kids work with power tools, wood, metal, rope and more to design and build contraptions such as boats [...]
Posted in Interdisciplinary, Make, technology, TED Tags: California, Summer camp, TED (conference), Tinkering School 7 Comments »My Favorite iPod Touch Apps for Smart Kids
Posted by ginac on December 29th, 2010
The iPod Touch isn’t a toy. It’s a tool. A powerful but easy to use mobile device with a full internet browser, complete communication tool options, art tools, photography and video tools, games, book readers, note keepers, calendars, voice recorders, musical instruments, and even a flashlight! To us, educational apps that mimic worksheets or memorization [...]
Posted in Electronics, Interdisciplinary, Learning Methods, Online Tools, technology Tags: Apple, ios, iPhone, IPod, IPod Touch, Liquid crystal display, Project Gutenberg 1 Comment »Lunch and Learn
Posted by ginac on December 17th, 2010
Sometimes lunch is really challenging. Our youngster, who loves to move around constantly, cannot sit still long enough to finish his meal . . . ever! He’ll try to eat while standing, spinning, or even standing and reading, but not really ever just sitting. Well, we decided to change things up a bit for lunch. I [...]
Posted in Activities, Eclectic Homeschooling, Interdisciplinary, Just for Fun, Learning Methods Tags: Homeschooling, hyperactive, Learning Comments OffWe’re Crazy About Child Led, Project Based Learning!
Posted by ginac on December 6th, 2010
We are fanatical about child-led, project-based learning. Don’t misunderstand child-led learning to mean the child gets to watch Sponge Bob all day if he/she chooses! We simply work on projects that involve things our child is already enjoying. For example, now he’s obsessed with secret agents so we’re learning about spys in history, making secret agent tools, [...]
Nifty Interactive Math Calendar Makes Unique Gift
Posted by ginac on November 24th, 2010
Ron Doerfler, author of the Dead Reckonings Blog, has created an awesome free 2011 mental math calendar called Lightning Calculation. Ron describes this calendar as an interactive calendar for developing abilities in mental calculation. The calendar boasts over 4,000 exercises with most of the answers cleverly displayed so as not to give themselves up too easily. [...]
Posted in Eclectic Homeschooling, Interdisciplinary, Just for Fun, Math Tags: Calculation, Calendar, Interactive, Math, Mental calculation, Publishing Comments OffGeek Dad – A New Book of Project Ideas To Do With Your Kids
Posted by ginac on August 29th, 2010
Our philosophy is to make learning fun! That’s why our math lessons include objects, gadgets, and puzzles. In fact, all ‘subjects’ are represented through our project-based learning. Kids get such a thrill from creating, they seek additional knowledge on their own (this is what we call learning). So, its exciting to learn that we are [...]
Home Learning Summer Fun: Our YouTube ‘Life in a Day’
Posted by ginac on August 1st, 2010
YouTube recently wrapped-up submissions for its Life in a Day project, which is a crowd-sourced, experimental, documentary-style movie made from video submissions for the ’Life in a Day’ on July 24th. The completed video will premier at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and will name twenty selected crowd-sourced video creators co-directors. So, what does this have [...]
Posted in Activities, Crowdsource, Eclectic Homeschooling, Interdisciplinary, Just for Fun, Learning Methods Tags: Crowd Sourced, Day in a Life, Documentary, homeschool, YouTube Comments Off
