After two weeks of late nights, and even later mornings, no one is thrilled to tuck in early in anticipation of Back to School Monday morning. Even Alex, who is home schooled and could conceivably sleep in tomorrow, has to support his sister with the whole ‘early to bed, early to rise’ routine.
Tomorrow is a big day: getting back into the school routine, tackling projects that we didn’t finish in the Fall, and perhaps a few new ones as well.
Tonight, Alex asked if he could start researching ghosts. Apparently, he’s looking for a competitive advantage when he faces these monsters.
Well, it’s not on our learning plan, but heck, why not? It’s a perfectly good way to encourage Alex to develop his “learning network” while I perfect my role as a 21st Century Educator (from The Networked Student):
- Learning Architect
- Modeler
- Learning Concierge
- Connect Learning Incubator
- Network Sherpa
- Synthesizer
- Change Agent
2009 promises to be an exciting new school year. Perhaps I better join the kids with the early to bed plan!
P.S. Alex just walked in, he couldn’t wait for tomorrow. He’s so excited because “research is so much fun!” He just Googled ghosts, and ended up – through a complex train from “ghosts” to “magic” to “paranormal” – discovering newly discovered animal species. Well, to sleep, perhaps to dream…
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What is the logic of homeschooling? I look at my time in public schools which is different in Canada and it was scary at times but it also taught me how to effectively communicate with many different cultures of people. I got to play sports and learn leadership skills. There is something magical about playing for a school sports team. It is like…memories..but it is different now…things are worse..meth..guns..violence. Kids are having sex at 13. IF your american you must look at the fact a great deal of children can’t name the capital of Canada..that could be scary too. Playfish a Facebook app has this geography game that is fantastic for http://playfish.com/?page=games geo challenge and also who has the biggest brain.. If you wanted to have a fun educational break the naming of flags and recognizing a country by shape and the point to the capital city would fantastic. It can do what a lot of school teachers can’t..lol
Lost track sorry…what are the advantages of home school vs non-homeschool
I love that video – thanks for posting it
I’m looking forward to the time when my daughter will be old enough to start doing her own research. There’s a world full of knowledge out there and I’m just bursting to share it with her
Over from the homeschool share forum. I am enjoying my first look around. As a home school mom of five, from highschool to 5 years old, the ability to research is HUGE, but we are far from mastery.
Gebadia,
Weighing the pros and cons of homeschooling is an individual decision based on the specific needs of a child, and of the family. This is what works best at this time for my son and myself. It wouldn’t be the best choice for my daughter right now. She attends a small private school for her middle school years, after a full sequence in public elementary school. My son also attended the public elementary school K-2. Believe me, this choice was made based on a lot of hands-on research, as well as investigating all options.
Strudel & Jen –
It’s exciting isn’t it to consider the possibilities? At nine years old, my son is just starting on this path of the networked student, and there is so much he can do that it can be overwhelming. We’re moving forward in baby steps, which is plenty fast enough! Every day, there are new possibilities so mastery seems elusive, but the endless potential is what makes this so much fun!
I’m continually amazed at your patience, ability to go with the flow and ingenuity…thank you so much for sharing!
That video is how Nathan approaches learning, though I need to upgrade some of his skills with an RSS reader and get him using his facebook account.
I also had no idea “Google Scholar” existed! College lectures free of charge through iTunes! Yes! I’ll be using that as well as him for my own research.
Great video and great post! Lots of useful ideas,
Sherri
Love to hear your updates on studies! Kudos to you!