So I don't post over here very often! That has become clear!
I'm looking for some help and advice though, and this is the place to come for it, I reckon.
I am struggling to get school and farm life both done, and farm life is losing. I notice we are not tending the garden, not incubating eggs, not breeding poultry .... then we are doing science from a school book! that can't be right. But with a 10yo plodding through 4th Grade and an 8yo whizzing through 3rd, I am not happy for them to just keep on learning what happens when you plant a bean. Or that you can double a recipe.
So. What I am looking for is ideas, resources, unit studies maybe? Ways to access material which will enable me to build on what we do, to make it a science lesson, or whatever. I need some ideas for work around soil fertility and so on, as well as eggs, incubation etc .... that will fulfill the need for an ongoing programme of work at about the right grade level.
Does anyone else use this approach? Any tips or ideas?
We use CLE Curriculum, so farm life is very much the theme, but there is a lot of seat work, and I need to move away from this in some areas.
Comments
Oct. 6, 2007 - 4H or cooperative extension
Posted by Anonymous
Here in the US we have 4H clubs for kids thru the Cooperative Extension. They have many free publications - I have gotten several over the years and we aren't members. Do you have an equivalent type of organization in England? If not, if you search the web for Cooperative Extension, University of Maine. You should be able to download many of the pamphlets for free.
Hope you find some helpful information. :)
~Penni
Oct. 7, 2007 - Hi there!
Posted by UK
If you check back in the archives of the UK blog you should find a whole post about unit studies with links to loads of online resources to get ready made unit studies and also, make your own advice!
Also, have you got a membership to Enchanted Learning? That is worth it's weight in gold for this kind of work!! It works out to be about £10-£12 for a year's subscription and that allows you full access and downloads for a whole year. They have tons of science worksheets and information that we often use for whatever we are doing in 'real life'.
I think we often think of 'school' as seperate from life! When you are doing things around the farm and answering the kids questions - they are learning!! And those lessons won't soon be forgotten after the test either! I often simply put in our 'school diary' under science 'Discussed _________ today' The next day might be 'Looked up about _________ further online today' or 'Did some hands on work with why ________ works that way' Just plug in what ever you are doing.
Remember as well, that it doesn't matter if the kids learn about planting every year. They will understand it to a greater degree and ask deeper questions each time you do it, building on their previous knowledge! This also reinforces what they learned last year. And if you talk to kids who are in school, you will find that most of them to the same 'hands on experiments' each and every year! So don't be afraid of repeating.
You are right that it is silly to be doing science from a book when they could be living it everyday! I would lean towards being child led on this subject. Just let them work with you and when they ask a question - look into that question in the coming days!
Hope this helps!