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Connections
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| Posted: Oct 03 2008 at 4:11pm | IP Logged
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Janet wrote in response to the post "Book Studies Vs. Chronological Hist." (sorry, I have no idea how to link). about her children's wonderful interest-led projects and "tangents" centered around a general topic she chooses. Her children select, initiate, organize and direct these projects themselves.
I LOVE the description of her homeschool and I know a lot of you have similar children following their own amazing ideas.
So my question is: how do you support your children's interest-led learning projects?
What types of things do you provide for inspiration?
How involved do you get in the execution (without squashing the child's passion)?
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Blessings,
Tracey
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ALmom
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| Posted: Oct 03 2008 at 7:30pm | IP Logged
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Tracey:
I am so uninvolved because, honestly, I wouldn't know a thing and if I followed my natural inclinations and the way I learn best, we would be very bookish here. I tend to be a major detail, chronological person, so I find inspiring books in chronological order with lots of choices for the children and an eye to particular areas of interest. I purchase some punch and create, look for books with pictures of weapons, buildings, constructions, etc. of the time period - even better if they have some description of how they were built, etc. Most of the best books are old, come from library sales and cost between 50cents to $1. I provide supplies - wood, tin (they always retrieve our cans from canned goods after we eat), jars, my grandmothers craft supplies that we inherited, old sheets, old fabric or fabric scraps (or the entire families fabrics that sat in attics for years), pieces of broken furniture, pieces of broken VCRs, or other electronics (my dh makes sure it isn't dangerous in and of itself, we haven't figured out how to assure that it is not dangerous with use), I have old dictionaries, old books with more detail about how something was done, idea books on the shelves, access to equipement (with rules and depending on the age) from hand saws, glue guns, sewing machine, sandpaper, soldering iron (the 5 yo isn't supposed to use it but he did try to melt plastic with it  successfully), goggles (with a requirement to wear them when doing certain things), electronics snap circuit kits, science kits, legos, photographs of historical events (particularly in areas of interest which in our house is mostly weapons). Playdough, clay, markers, crayons, colored pencils, lots and lots of paper, various paper airplane books Seed catelogs, any old references we can find, old popular mechanics, How to Do It Encyclopedia, Growing Up With Science series, Do It Yourself Encyclopedia, cookbooks, yeast, vinegar, baking soda, experiment books, chemistry books galore, How things work books and website, and whatever else we happen upon in an area of interest or study in our house. They are generally always given permission to cook in the kitchen as long as they clean up their mess (which can sometimes be extensive like the experimental volcano that my son wanted to look real - which turned out to be highly reactive, which he expected, and even without the final ingredient it colored walls, counters and everything nearby a nice red. If they discover something and we don't have it in our house, they make a list on our grocery list and we try to oblige at least the first attempt. If they repeatedly perform the same messy explosion, we do require them to purchase their own supplies. We just got something in the spices for crystal growing - cannot remember what it is called but it was on the grocery list. They've gone through numerous bottles now and so the rest they must purchase. Oh, and they will occassionally ask dh about something they need - parts for a catapult or some sort of fitting and dad and the boys make a trip to the hardware store to price it and determine expense and who is paying what. They have numerous plumbing type fittings and pipes. My husband is a resource if they have questions but generally we are the transportation to the store. Now, I honestly don't know where they have gotten what and which things they use the most or even where the ideas come from. Every now and again I'll know something. For instance, my dd history interest from Indians came from reading a few of the CHC Stories of the Saints or Reading Comprehension books. These had a whole list of ideas for hands on projects which began the little trail. This is totally not something I would have expected would have led to such an extensive exploration. (Oh and if your children ever start collecting straws and toothpicks - think blowgun, especially as they begin to ask for bigger tubes and start making heavier darts with points). She said she wanted to try to do things the Indian way - so we got an Indian How book and other references. They really did make a fire in our driveway  and heated rocks and acorns. I wish I'd thought then to begin recording things with a camera. We didn't have digital then so cost of film was a factor. I'd say make sure you take pictures of projects! My dd wanted to make deerskin items and since my dad hunts, we suggested she ask him to bring her the next deer skin from his hunt. All the hunters in his club saved the skins and my dad brought them over in a big plastic bag. She scraped with a rock, tried to rub the smooshed brains over it (and I forget all the other rather gross ingredients of the things they used to tan hides), and at some point it was supposed to be soaked to keep it supple and it hung in our driveway for weeks. It also was stretched over our grill at one point  . She had the tail curing in her bedroom. Obviously we had a few things off as it molded and our garage (it was in the garage as my suggestion as opposed to the kitchen table so she could pursue this as long as she liked without me going totally nuts - I just avoided the garage  ) smelled for some time - as did her bedroom. Eventually she gave up on this (and bought some cheap imitation fabric for the Indian clothing) - but we learned some things along the way too. If I'd been smart, I'd have called my dad and asked where he took his deer head to be mounted and we would have set up a field trip to see the modern process. But by then, dd was off on WWII and the 101st airborne.
Honestly, I think the most important thing is that I don't hyperventilate over danger, smell or mess but let them explore as long as it is not totally life threatening. I don't complain about the mud (at least not too much) but do teach them how to help clean it up. I try not to worry too much what the neighbors think and invariably they drive up when the kids are in the midst of something most consider too dangerous. Or our children pass on tidbits that imply that we let them do all kinds of things all the time when in fact it only happened with dad at home (like forging weapons on the grill - and dh didn't realize they were doing this, he just thought the kids were being awfully nice to offer to watch the food and turn off the grill for him ) It did get slightly nixed when he realized they were forging first and using up the fuel before cooking burgers. (Obviously we are talking about older children here - not elementary).
I let them have time to do and half the time I don't know what they've done till much later (sometimes dangerous so we are trying to strike a balance here). I don't want to sound negligent here. It isn't that I'm not aware that they are outside and stuff - but I'm not always privy to the latest idea and where it is headed and they sometimes take advantage of my ignorance - or we choose to "ignore" if it seems relatively safe (but keep an eye out for progress - ie fine tuning the pointed arrows to the point that their homemade bow and arrows were pretty lethal - at which time rules kept it within safer bounds once again. There are wax spills on the carpet (all the boys experimented with making their paper airplanes usable in the rain by giving them a light wax coating. They melted crayons (or the goulda cheese wax) using a bendable goosearm desk lamp. They made "grenades" out of legos and rubberbands and knocked every book off the shelf imitating battles in the Pacific I suppose. They've attempted hot air balloons and discovered that slinky wire isn't heat resistant enough .
I guess what I am saying is that in our house there are trade offs. I try to provide some structure as creativity we have aplenty (everyone but mom). I am not naturally calm so it does take some effort not to lose it when we have was down the walls, carpets, desks, etc. I do make them help clean. We try to let them experiment and do and stay hands off to some extent - but step in when we must. When we see something dangerous, we address it. I do know that the more they have to get preapproval for experiments the less enticing they seem to be - but some things just have to have preapproval. The older children do know how to use the table saw - BUT we have rules and daddy MUST be home and aware. We have asked that our chemistry whiz use his chemistry kit when daddy is home - but once daddy has a feel for it and how the child is doing, we may relax the rule. I just wouldn't have a clue if it was something toxic or not - and ds may know but sometimes temptations to just see for yourself are greater than common sense.
Janet
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Oct 03 2008 at 9:20pm | IP Logged
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Tracey - I love rabbit trails! Often, I try to anticipate a lovely rabbit trail, but I'm always surprised because the children can quickly take off on their own in a unique direction/tangent and it is such fun.
I get overwhelmed when learning shifts quickly from a routine, so I try to seek a balance. I do encourage pursuing rabbit trails - because I really do love them.
I enjoy investing in some beautifully illustrated general reference books...and google is my friend.  Often, there is a project or experiment involved and I love those as well. I keep some general supplies at hand, but almost always something "unique" is needed - like dry ice. So, I've started asking for a materials list and for the children to give me up to a week to secure and gather materials. In this way, I know what they're up to, dad gets involved if need be, and I have time to collect needed supplies to set them free, and I am prepared to shift gears with our learning. This isn't always how it works...sometimes a rabbit trail is so irresistible we just take off, but this is how we've settled into handling more involved projects.
In terms of getting involved with the execution - it depends. I usually don't. They are usually so invested and so excited I let them at it. If they are unsure, I might supervise a little more. Sometimes/usually, what they're up to is so fun I can't help but hang around to watch. I enjoy encouraging sketches, stories, blog posts, discussions after following a rabbit trail to the end.
HTH! 
__________________
Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Topic: Supporting a child's creative projects
