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mooreboyz
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| Posted: May 29 2012 at 4:17pm | IP Logged
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I really like the idea of project based learning and did this for a couple weeks at the end of our year. I'm just wondering for those of you who do this do you give set hours or time allotments that they need to be constructive? I started Montessori learning with my 3rd child when he was 5 ish and did it starting from toddlerhood on with the rest. I can tell such a difference between them and my older two. They like to explore and learn things on their own while the older ones seem to need to be told to do this and that. So, I'm considering going more project based with some next year.
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Jackie
7 boys - 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 15, 17 years
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: May 31 2012 at 4:55am | IP Logged
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Jackie, can you tell me what this looks like in your home? I have a ds who would thrive in a project based learning environment, but I'm not good at creating that situation.
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Becky
Wife to Wes, Mom to 6 wonderful kids on Earth and 4 in Heaven!
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: May 31 2012 at 8:45am | IP Logged
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We do elementary Montessori here and a LOT of my son's work is project-based (because that is where he likes things ;) ).
I also provide other expectations, so this naturally limits his time; he can use his free time for further work if he wants, or just wait until the next day.
So we have our school time, and then he has free time if the school work is done properly and timely. He can utilize that free time for his own projects if he likes, but he does have allotted school time.
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mooreboyz
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| Posted: May 31 2012 at 9:26am | IP Logged
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Becky,
What I did the last couple weeks of our year was this...we had just finished our zoology 6 week term (I do 6 week stretches of various science studies) I had them each choose a zoology topic to research and then present on a trifold display board. The 7 year old chose butterflies, the 10 year old chickens (we raise them and he learned how to care for them completely this year and sell the eggs with his 12 yr old brother), and the 12 year old did his on circadian rhythms. They still had to do math, English, history, piano, etc; but, for their science time it was independent researching, reading, planning, coloring, painting, graphing, or whatever. I helped to guide them; but, they pretty much did it on their own. I feel they learned at such a deeper level that I'd like to continue this for their science learning next year. I'm just wondering about time. I don't like to say to them, "ok you have this morning to work on your projects" and then just have them running around the house for 2 hours and reading a bit of a book for 1/2 hour and thinking they did enough. We have so many here that there needs to be some control or it just gets nuts. My expectations need to be clear to them and enforced. I read about using checkpoints which is something I did with this last project. The first week was all about reading and researching as they wished; but, the 2nd week each day they had to complete 1/4 of their board and then present it on Friday. This worked great because they had to have something actually accomplished each day. So, if I could think of a way to do this long term it'd be great.
I had an issue this year where I told my 7 and 10 year old to take 1/2 hour each day and just do some independent science learning each day and they ended up not doing anything. There weren't any goals or expectations which I think is where I went wrong. I asked them merely to write what they did each day in a notebook and it just got pushed aside probably because I wasn't following through.
So, for example, this coming year my 10 year old told me he'd like to learn more about animals. He enjoys this. So, I'm thinking of giving him a thorough spine type book, ordering zoobooks magazine, and showing him some good internet sources like national geographic and such. He'll be responsible for getting books and movies from the library and I think I'll give him a different group each month or so like "amphibians". He will then delve into that and be expected to write or report or do a display at the end of that period.
I'm totally just in the "thinking" part of this planning and so I am looking for ideas on how to make this work because as I've said I know that the kids learn more when they guide themselves.
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Jackie
7 boys - 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 15, 17 years
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: May 31 2012 at 9:30am | IP Logged
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Definitely any "open-study" time needs to have some direction :) My son and I work through "what is the goal for this week (or day or session or whatever the time period is)". So, for something like a half hour of open study, I might him tell me what question he is seeking to answer; or if he wants to do general reading, he has to write down which books he has read, along with any ideas that generates (like "look for video on (this topic)").
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Angel
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| Posted: June 02 2012 at 12:52pm | IP Logged
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Hmmm... I think we are a lot more unschooly than that, but maybe we don't get as much done either. I think it takes a bit of trial and error and experimentation to find the level of freedom you're comfortable with or that works best in your house... as well as the level of project-ness. For instance, I think you have to determine how much of a mess you're ok with and on what kind of time basis, and that also affects the kind of initial parameters you lay down. I think setting clear limits at the beginning is very helpful, but these limits will differ for every family and will also be different for kids of different ages.
In our house, we have certain hours designated as work periods. My teenagers pretty much manage their own days. At this point there is very little work that I require -- math, basically -- and a lot of stuff that is determined on a much more cooperative basis. I don't give them lesson plans. I do check in with them every day to see what they've been doing. We aren't efficient, but I do see that they have a love for pretty much everything but math, which -- see above. They're not that project-based anymore, though, unless you count all my daughter's birding and photography, which she definitely does not consider "school work". I do try to give her a lot of space for those pursuits, though, because they are what she is *about*, if you know what I mean. If I took them over I would ruin them, so I just try to provide her with a decent supply of books and the time to walk around the yard looking for birds and also transportation.
With my younger kids (ages 9, 6 and 6)... our approach is kind of in flux. I'm not quite sure how unschooly we will get in the future, but usually when we are in "school" mode I set certain rules for what they can and cannot do with their work time. They're allowed to do science kits, look at books, do art, take a nature walk or otherwise mess around with bugs, toads, etc., exercise in a somewhat organized way, and sometimes they are allowed on the computer if they're investigating a certain topic. Legos are kind of a gray area around here, because I have a child who is dyslexic and also very mechanical and who learns a lot from building Legos. But we also have a quiet time in the afternoon when he's in the Lego room, so I think for a school time in the morning, what I hope to have available is more Lego education stuff. The actual material "things" are in a closet in the hallway (which my 2 and 4 year olds have totally destroyed incidentally, so that's a big summer project for me -- getting things organized.)
Anyway, my process of figuring out what to have around for them goes like this. Right now my 9 year old wants to build his own remote control vehicle -- from scratch. That's a big project and it has taken a little warming up to from me, mostly with the help of my dad (an engineer) who tells me it's totally do-able. My 9 year old is pretty good at thinking about this stuff, but he needs some time to just think about it. The idea has to percolate for a while. So while I've been warming up, he's been thinking, and now he's been able to break down the project into skills he needs. So he came to me to tell me that he needs to know more about electronics and working with plastic. He has an idea for working with plastic, and he needed to run it by me, and now (with the help of my dad) we need to do some googling on YouTube to figure out how to mold our own plastic. In learning that there is a way he can mold plastic, he learned that he would have to build molds out of wood, so now he needs to learn some woodworking skills. And I have a job, too -- I need to pull all our resources about electronics and look for some stuff for him to build with, either more open-ended or in kit form or both.
At this point, if we were in work period mode (which we aren't really), I would remind him that working on his project --on any one of the skills that goes into making his project -- is an option, but it's the kind of large thing that doesn't fit very well into a timetable. However, it *is* the kind of thing a gifted dyslexic mechanic would learn *a lot* from. So he and I have to kind of meet in the middle. I need to remind him of what he wants to do so he can finish it and not forget about it, and I need to realize that projects like this get messy and often escape their boundaries.
But this is a BIG sort of project, and definitely not every project fits into that category! Sometimes the kids only want to build something out of cardboard boxes that goes along with something we've been reading about, and it will take about 45 minutes of a morning and it's done. A project like that is more to synthesize learning than anything else. I might suggest such a project as a choice during a work period or the kids will come up with it by themselves, collect the materials, etc., and it's my job to help with tape, glue... saying yes... etc. Submarines were like that this year. We were reading about them, and one day after chores were done, the 6 year olds rescued some bottles from the recycling bin and asked if they could make submarines. I said yes -- and consented to their being tested in the sink as long as the boys cleaned up their mess. It took about 45 minutes and then it was done, but the boys got to try out some interesting principles about buoyancy.
If your son says he wants to learn about animals, I would ask him some questions first before I did anything. First I would ask him what kind of animals he's interested in knowing about and if there's anything special he wants to know about them. That'll get you a starting place. I do things similarly with my older kids. From there you might find him a pile of books he can choose from, for you to read to him or for him to read himself. If you can find a book of projects that goes along with that subject -- say you're studying sea creatures and you find a book about ocean art or experiments or whatever -- then you can use that to springboard for ideas to offer. You know, "I saw this really interesting fish mural to make from tissue paper. Would you like to make one?" Or list it as a choice on a whiteboard (the way I used to) or a lesson plan or whatever.
That's sort of the way we do things here. Obviously you have to find your own comfort level -- for instance, I sometimes have to nix totally off the wall ideas that people want to do right this second because we don't have time to set up a giant paint buffet or if I'm completely unprepared or if I think the 2 year old will eat the materials. But I *do* think that independence really does come from having some level of choice in their work, so I *try* to say yes more than I say no. And I do try to make the choice I give them a real choice... that is, they can pick from any of the choices I give them and it's ok, or they could choose to do some other sort of approved activity, too.
I've been writing this reply a little bit at a time all day, so I hope it makes sense! I know I'm sort of more freewheeling than a lot of people, too, so... if it's really not what you were looking for, I'm up to brainstorming a more organized way. 
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Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
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4Real Forums : Planning and Ordering our Days
Topic: Project based learners
