Note: this post was actually written on Sunday, July
7th, 2013
Nothing has
resonated with me more in terms of an unschool pedagogy (is that a
contradiction in terms?) than project based homeschooling – as brilliantly
explicated by Lori Pickert in her blog (http://project-based-homeschooling.com/camp-creek-blog/). (And its benefit is certainly not restricted
to homeschoolers). The whole goal of
this method is to mentor self-directed learners in pursueing their passions –
and assisting them with sustaining and deepening their self-chosen work. It works by channeling motivation in the pursuit of a child’s most meaningful form of
activity (work - play), building ability, knowledge and the skills to learn.
Project
based homeschooling is grounded in Reggio inspired learning classrooms, where
materials and environment are valued as a third teacher, and can serve as
provocations – inviting the child to create, make and build just by having
these materials be accessible and in sight. Another
Reggio principle is the work of the mentor. The mentorship process begins with
documentation of the learning process – these can serve as a record for the
mentor, as well as to assist with reminding your child of things they had
planned to do, or questions they had asked, materials they needed and that are
now available.
Setting
aside a dedicated project time is part of the mechanics that make the learning
wheel turn. Setting aside this time
communicates the importance of the child’s work and also that you are committed
to being there, while they are engaged in their task – for whatever purpose
they may need you for.
So these are
the basics, to start of with, and then it gets deeper as you help with the
reflection, the deepening and the layering of learning – till your child
decides they are done with this and are ready to move on to the next relevant
aspect of learning.
Its been
about four months – since the spring, that I started implementing bits and
pieces of this in my homeschool-unschool-whatschewmaycallit school situation, and was
pleasantly astounded to find that some small changes had immediate impact. Here are some things I learned...
Starting
with the environment
Reduce
reduce reduce…the number of toys you have out
- and about. Too much is too distracting and leads to shallow play. For
my two year old, I took out the whole shelf of books, boxed them up and have
relegated them to storage. I hand selected a total of ten books with two main
themes that are my two year olds current interests – animals and babies– these
would fit on the shelf lying down and standing up. In the bedroom is “Good
night moon”, her current bedtime favorite. Ever since that day, she has
consistently picked up a book from the shelf to read many times in the day,
while before that day, I would bring books to her, rather than the other way
around. For older kids, it is probably fine to have books lined up sideways,
but my five year old actually requested that I put them out facing outwards on
his bookshelf. So once again, I chose a few themes that were his current
interests – human physiology (magic school bus), baking (some cookie
recipe/story books) and books on planes. There is a basket of library books
next to a floor cushion in front of a window. Next time I would invite him to do the choosing himself.
Focus on enhancing depth of play by adding
more of the same such as a lots and lots of blocks along with things that make
sense located next to it, like animals or cars.
I put all the blocks together, combining some large wood pieces along
with the smaller blocks. My son sat down one day and made some ramps, tunnels
and bridges while the smaller blocks served as scaffold or garages.
Focus on transforming
spaces into areas full of potential making. So less finished products, and more
tools and materials for making products. A central cabinet in the living room
that held household utility materials and cleaning supplies is slowly being
transformed into an art studio supply area. Most cardboard recycling ends up in
here now. And my son got into the spirit of things too, and I was gratified
when he said, “So instead of buying toys, from now on we can just make toys”. And
has has been much more engrossed in making his own toys – eg light sabres and
masks. This area also holds paints,
masking and duct tape, toilet paper rolls, lacing and ribbons and balsa wood
and toolboxes with tools. I now view all spaces as potential for enriching
making, doing and learning – a previously bare wall now sports two yards of
felt. And both the five year old and two year old have their own workspaces, ie
their own desks with a bulletin board where we can post things relevant to
their specific interests.
Tracking and
Journalling
Another
change since four months ago when I started on this journey more intentionally,
is I am actually aware of what my kids are doing. I have been keeping a journal
of their daily interests and doings – along with my own notes about how I could
be supporting their learning. Journalling seems to have multiple benefits.
Another is my son really got that his work was important enough to keep track
off. He said, “I want a journal to keep track of my building projects. He also
has been telling me things to write down in my journal so I can remind him
later. He can already see how I can
support him better by writing things down consistently.
Identifying
and feeding interests – The Projects
So I must
admit I had the most trouble with this part.
Not for the two year old mind you. Her passions were plain to see – from
the moment she screamed, “Babyyy” as we passed by an aisle full of dolls, it
was clear that she was into babies. Real babies, plastic babies – all babies
except furry babies – no dressed up teddies for her. And she is still regularly
looking at her animal book. So with her it was feeding a baby interest and
animal interests.
For my five year old, finding one deep interest was
impossible. Or so I thought. I journalled furiously, trying to track everything he did, hoping a pattern would emerge. There was a pattern – a wonderful kaleidoscope
of interests. They all seemed valid and full of potential. He was interested in
the weather, volcanoes, dinosaurs, making sweets and desserts, to name just a
few. He had questions about everything under the sun. I was breaking a sweat
tracking every question, checking in with five different topics, till finally,
in line with Lori’s advice, I picked one
interest to pay just a little more attention to, feed a little more than the
others. Ansel had started off asking
some questions about our bodies. There were questions about teeth, - and dentist visits. Frida had begun
labeling her anatomy and enjoyed having her body traced on large chart paper.
So why not start with a body project? So we did, and this is the longest that I
have kept track of an interest. It is almost two months since we started and
Ansel is still going strong. So what did
I do to feed it? Nothing more than write down his questions, put them up on
poster board on a wall in large writing. Nothing more than offering him a
sketchbook for a project journal and asking if he would like it covered so he
could decorate it. Its not even feedinto
g it so much as attending or bringing awareness to an interest – shining a light in that direction. That’s
really all it takes to sustain an interest.
That assuaged any feelings of doubt about whether I was directing his
interests by “feeding it”. So we started with him picking out a book from the
library – “I just want one” he said, and so one it was. He was especially
interested in the blood and platelets. And then we discovered some magic school
bus episodes with body themes as well as “Once upon a life…” on youtube where
they have animations on different body
organs and parts and he watched both these in earnest over the next two
months. After printing out a series of
pictures on macrophages gobbling up bacteria, he said, “ I want to know about
everything, but I think I’m most interested in the body”.
Constructing learning through making
One of the aspects of project based learning is that there
are several different mediums through which that theme may be explored, played
with, built and integrated into more and more complex structures of knowledge.
For instance, I thought Ansel might “draw” white blood cells, use clay to sculpt structures, use cardboard boxes to build bodies – but he
did none of these things. He did do other things that I hadn’t thought of. He thought up and narrated stories
about germs invading bodies, he created a model of germs attacking the body in
the sand pit – coloring the sand (germs) blue and red(blood). He created a blood bank (with food coloring
and water) and also a bottle with a vaccine, and set up a shop with a sign“shots for lots” and proceeded to give us many many injections. Note: (the "mice scream for ice-cream' shop pictured below was also the "shots for lots" clinic.
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| Germ invasion |
This is authentic learning – when the things you make are
needed, are unique to your own purpose and they are deeply meaningful.
