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Holy cow–I’ve never heard of that Seattle park and I’m a mere 2 hours away. I’ve got to take my kids there.
“What I realized: most stuff kids think is really fun is actually only really fun relative to how stifling life is at school.”
Yes, I agree with that. Things are fun only compared to how mundane the school experience is. Not a good measuring stick for fun if you ask me. The most enjoyable experiences come from things that we choose. When I was a kid, I really enjoyed creative writing and playing sports. When I talk to my kids about school and ask whether they want to go next year, it’s always a no from them. Their version of fun is relative to other fun things they have done. It is not being in a classroom all day, sitting at a desk, listening to a lecture about a specific topic with 30 minutes of recess and lunch or the random field trip.
I absolutely agree that museums are set up for school field trips. One of the Montesssori-type museums where we live has “homeschool days” which are pretty fun because the entrance fee is lowered on that day and they have huge tubs of water and PVC pipes – which my boys love. BUT they also have classes around a specific theme, which I absolutely do not understand. Haven’t homeschoolers opted OUT of the classroom? Do they think we somehow miss classrooms?
Is this a guest post? Since when do Penelope’s kids live near Seattle?
This week my favorite 7th grader had a three day weekend, she has 4-days of half days for benchmarking tests, then she has a four day weekend.
She drags through days, loving the hours she is not at school, basically all she does all those hours is gather strength to endure school again. The biggest obstacle to getting anything out of the day is the early start time.
I can feel her misery.
It seems like school is demanding she waste her life, in her most precious year, the age of 12.
Her fun, her joy, is simply not being in school.
I had this conversation with a school-day-at-home parent who wanted my kids to sign up for a class-type activity with her same-age kids: two days a week.
Her: it’s fun!
Me: what do they do that’s fun?
Her: last semester they made microscope slides of their own bacteria!
Me: (thinking) that’s a normal day around here… (Saying) yes, that’s great.
Her: they have a giant bin of Legos
Me: yes?
Her: and, they get to be around all these other people
Me: yes…?
Her: interesting other people…
Me: I’m reluctant to schedule up two more days. Music and swimming are enough right now. The kids need time to just play.
Her: it’s a fun program.
Me: yes.
It probably would be fun. My kids have fun no matter what. I can’t see them sitting in seats being gradually “allowed” and “guided” to do what are normal activities at home.
We have been so careful choosing a music teacher who gets our philosophy. The kids WANT to learn. They come to lessons eager and excited and prepared. Lessons should be a time to build a connectedness with the teacher and with the music. Even my son who is serious about music likes to use lesson time to play and laugh. Almost anything he wants to know about technique or composer bios, he can learn on youtube. That’s not what lesson times are for.
What’s the point of them doing it if it doesn’t delight them? I hired the playful music teacher.
ooooh, when an educator says fun, run a mile.
I have set up HS museum trips to meet our (loosely-organized) group’s needs. Simply provide a docent to answer questions and LEAVE the KIDS ALONE.
So funny when ‘activities’ are offered to ‘enhance’ our experience: tried the drum circle at a music museum with our teens, moms joining in. After bored looks from the trite spiel we got, docent asked what group ARE we…?
Deadpanned “we are a new cult encamped in the mountains. we want you to join us” long pause. kids didn’t crack. laughter.
Some good came of it: I will procure loud percussion instruments of rebellion and let them have at it on park days
I think homeschoolers could find Zooniverse to be appealing as you’re allowed to build your own project. It says – “Anyone can build a Zooniverse project. Just upload your data and choose the tasks you want the volunteers to do. To find out more, read our How to Build a Project documentation, or click the button below to get started.”
Thanks. That sounds like it’s worth checking out.
mh, you may also want to check out something named the Wolfram Programming Lab. It’s free (sign up required) with some use limitations. Stephen Wolfram recently wrote a blog post ( http://blog.wolfram.com/2016/01/19/announcing-wolfram-programming-lab/ ) on the Wolfram blog about it. As mentioned in the blog post, it was field tested on kids to make it more engaging for them by allowing for different learning approaches. Also, WolframAlpha has a very nice computational knowledge search engine at http://www.wolframalpha.com/ .
“…like Montessori classrooms, where you can do whatever you want as long as you choose from ten things that do not involve competition, fighting, and touching other kids (all things that little boys love).”
You just nailed exactly why my favorite Montessori school failed my son, yet was the perfect fit for my daughter.
Meanwhile, SkyHigh dodge ball is insanely fun, especially on frigid, wintry days.