Pea of Sweetness

Hands-On Learning

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teaching creatively
Sorry I missed yesterday’s 5 Days of Teaching Creatively Blog Post. It really was a great topic: Homeschooling in a Crisis. You should definitely check out some of the great posts. Unfortunately, I was having a different sort of crisis – a BLOG crisis! In fact, I even had to take my blog offline for part of the day! Eek! I’m sure it’s a subject I’ll blog about at some point in time, though, because with a special needs family situations definitely come up!
But on to today’s post! The LAST day of the 5 Days of Teaching Creatively Blog Hop! This has been a real treat for me – not only writing my own posts but reading the others as well! Today’s topic is hands-on projects, and having tactile learners we definitely do a lot of hands-on projects. Children that are tactile learners learn best with hands-on projects! I mentioned this in my TouchMath review how much they really enjoyed the TouchNumerals because they could physically manipulate the numbers and touch points, which just really helped their understanding! We also do a lot of hands-on projects to help with their therapy of sensory integration. Working with different media, textures, etc. is a great way for them to have different sensory experiences.
Touch Numerals
Hands-on projects are a great way to learn many things – including nature. We do a lot of fishing, and we always encourage hands-on learning with the kids while we’re out at the lake. They can get hands-on with the fish and bait, dirt, rocks, grass, trees (bark rubbings are a fun project if you have many different types of trees around), wild flowers, weeds, bugs, etc. It’s not only a lot of fun, but they learn a lot, too! I always try to put myself in their shoes. How would I prefer to learn? By standing back and watching as someone just told me about something or by actually touching it, turning it around, examining everything about it? That is what hands-on learning is all about, and that’s what makes is so enjoyable AND so educational! Whether you are a tactile learning or not many of us learn better through the actual experience than through text or even just pictures. You don’t have to go with a set “lesson plan” to make it a hands-on project. Just go with an idea in mind of things to look for and explore! For example, on one of our fishing trip we went with the idea of finding different types of bugs and comparing how they are the same and different. We were able to discuss the difference between insects and other bugs, their life cycle (like how that caterpillar will turn into a butterfly), and more! We make sure to devote at least one day a week to be completely hands-on, and that is definitely something I encourage everyone to do! And have fun!! 🙂
caterpillar

Hands-On Projects is the final day in the 5 Days of Teaching Creatively Hop! I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have!

Don’t forget to enter the AMAZING 5 Days of Teaching Creatively giveaway! 3 winners and $1000 worth of prizes!! It ends tomorrow, so you definitely DON’T want to miss it!

Be sure to check out the Blog Hop below for other great ideas for hands-on projects!

Education in Toys, Games, and Puzzles

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teaching creatively
I know I have OFTEN talked about how I love using play in learning. I love toys, games, puzzles, etc. that actually facilitate learning as well. In fact, many of them do or you can find a way to encourage learning in the process! I think my “theme” continues – kids learn best when they’re having fun!
In my Educational Planet review I had reviewed a puzzle that helps with learning letters and letter sounds. Not only were they learning letters and letter sounds, they were also learning strategy and practicing motor skills by putting the pieces together! Even just picture puzzles are great for critical thinking and fine motor skills! I think sometimes we forget that we can use just about anything to get their little “motors running.”
Kids playing with puzzles
There are so many different toys and games now that also facilitate learning from the alphabet, music, numbers, problem solving, etc. I particularly look for toys and games that either have built in educational value or those that I know I can come up with a way to add educational value. These kind of activities are great for those days where desk work just isn’t going well and they need more of a hands-on, fun way to learn. It’s also great that you can use toys and games ANY time and anywhere! Again, having young kids, I find games like Hungry Hippos, Memory games, Hi Ho Cherry-O (which apparently isn’t just cherries anymore! Who knew?), and any board games to be a good choice for us. Hungry Hippos is just fun and we get to practice our counting at the end. Memory games are great to encourage critical thinking. Hi Ho Cherry-O is another great game for counting. Board games offer a variety of learning opportunities depending on the game. Games where you roll a dice and move obviously encourages counting! Plus these type of games in general teach important life skills like: turn taking, following rules, winning and losing (a hard one when they’re young, but very important nonetheless!), counting, words and definitions that may be new, different motor skills (some fine motor like holding and moving game pieces or some large motor like dancing or jumping), problem solving (and sometimes solving conflicts as kids can often disagree!) and whatever else you make of it. Again, I really think you have to look for the opportunities and capitalize on them! Have fun! 🙂
Toys, Games, and Puzzles is Day 3 of the 5 Days of Teaching Creatively Blog Hop!
Don’t forget to enter the AMAZING 5 Days of Teaching Creatively giveaway! 3 winners and $1000 worth of prizes!!
Be sure to check out the Blog Hop below for other great ideas with Toys, Games, and Puzzles!

Let's Learn in the Kitchen!

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teaching creatively
Teaching in the Kitchen is not only easy to do – it’s fun and rewarding! A lot of what we forget is when we’re educating our children is we’re also teaching them life skills. Teaching in the kitchen is a great way to incorporate life skills in their learning! The best part is most kids are excited and eager to learn and help in the kitchen!
But what about when you have young children like ours? Our kids are only ages 6, 5, and 2. There can’t possibly be much they can do in the kitchen, can there? Absolutely! They may not be able to help with things like actually putting something in the oven or cutting things, etc., but there are still plenty of things they CAN do and learn! In fact, at one point I had even randomly found little activity sheets with games to go along with a recipe. I wish I could tell you where I found it or what it was called, but unfortunately it disappeared – something that isn’t uncommon in this house! Regardless, they are activities you could definitely put together yourself. There are a wealth of free printables on the internet you could download to go along with whatever you may be learning in the kitchen!

Baking Cookies
Baking Cookies
Here are some ideas for little ones to learn in the kitchen:

  • Baking. Baking is always a fun project for younger kids. They get to experiment with textures, motor skills such as rolling dough, using cookie cutters, etc. Whatever it may be. Allow them to add ingredients while discussing measurements and comparing different measuring tools. Explain what each ingredient is and what it does.
  • Decorating. It may not look as “pretty” when kids decorate, but it helps them learn independence by allowing them to choose how to decorate. Plus decorating is an art!
  • Water Play. There is so much you can do with water. You can add things to water, freeze water, boil water, etc. with some amazing results. The possibilities are endless!
  • Health and Nutrition. Younger kids may have a harder time grasping the more in depth concepts of health and nutrition, but they can surely understand when you put things in basic terms such as: this is healthy, which means it’s good for you and your body. Talk about eating well-balanced meals and why you choose specific items for meals.
  • Games. As I mentioned, you can use printables or make up games for times when you are working on a project that takes a while. You can talk more about what you are making while it bakes or cooks and do coloring projects or games related to your project!
  • Coordination and motor skills. This may be something we focus a little more on because our kids have special needs, but it is still an important life skill. Don’t be afraid to let your children try things like pouring their own drink, mixing things, scooping things from the pan to a plate. Yes, it can be messy, but the only way they can learn these skills is by doing! So don’t be afraid to let them!
  • Senses. There is not many places better than the kitchen to learn about the senses. You have different sounds, smells, tastes, textures, and sights. The kitchen is the PERFECT place to learn and talk about the senses! Don’t miss out on all those wonderful opportunities!

Schooling in the Kitchen is the 2nd day of the 5 Days of Teaching Creatively Blog Hop!
Don’t forget to enter the AMAZING 5 Days of Teaching Creatively giveaway! 3 winners and $1000 worth of prizes!!
Be sure to check out the other great Schooling in the Kitchen posts below!
 

Delight-Directed Teaching

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teaching creatively
Delight-directed teaching? What is it? To be honest, I hadn’t even heard of this term until I decided to participate in this 5 Days of Teaching Creatively Blog Hop! I figured I could guess what it meant based on definition. I thought it would be such a fun hop to participate in, and then when I saw the first topic I stopped dead in my tracks. What? I thought maybe I just shouldn’t participate. I mean if I don’t even know what the first topic means what can I possibly add to this Blog Hop? Well, how about a new perspective? Sometimes the “teacher” has to become the “student,” so with some help from the other awesome participating homeschool bloggers taking part in this Blog Hop I learned a little more about what delight-directed teaching is all about!
The first thing I learned is that although I had never heard of that term it is definitely something I have always incorporated in our homeschooling. Our first year I actually didn’t use a curriculum at all. We did do book work, though, but the day was often directed by their interests – what they wanted to learn about or explore that day.
Then you may remember I posted about my dilemma of feeling like I NEEDED to get a curriculum this year. It is First Grade, after all, no longer Kindergarten. Plus I am the type of person that loves direction and schedules. I often was finding, though, there were days where the kids would be having a hard Sensory day or we are sick, etc. then I would get REALLY stressed out because we were “falling behind.” Then there were also days that we just didn’t feel like doing that specific type of work. So, did I ditch the curriculum? No. Obviously we’ve obviously picked up some new curriculum as well for our Crew Reviews! We became more flexible, though, and started having days that were delighht-directed, and I didn’t even know it!
There are days that the kids enjoy and WANT to do a variety of curriculum, and then there are days where they just want to “play.” There is learning in play, though, and that is where the delight directed comes in! Aurora LOVES cats, so we can “play” veterinarian and talk about the different types of animals, what makes them different, what makes them the same, etc. We can talk about the difference between domesticated and wild animals. We can even go online and talk about animal anatomy and how they are different or similar to us. We just had an extremely full lesson, and it didn’t even feel like it!

mouse
Making a mouse – What parts does a mouse need?
Brayden loves games. Everything games. Not all games are bad. There are SO many learning games out there. In fact, two of the current curriculum we are reviewing have a computer “game” you can use. He asks to “play” these games. Now, if I were to say well, no, we have to stick to this curriculum today his motivation would go right out the window and chances are high he wouldn’t do much at all that day. So again, by responding to what he loves he is still learning and would actually be learning MORE for the day than if I stuck to a strict schedule!
Practicing Writing to win stars
So, I actually use delight directed learning often, and it works great for us! Not only do they enjoy learning, they actually learn better when it is enjoyable for them! Plus learning really is so much more than JUST reading, writing, and arithmetic. It’s about life, God’s creations, every day experiences. How better for them to enjoy and learn these experiences than when their learning is directed by the things they love?
Delight-Directed Teaching is the first day of the 5 Days of Teaching Creatively!
Don’t forget to enter the AMAZING 5 Days of Teaching Creatively giveaway! 3 winners and $1000 worth of prizes!!
Be sure to read the blogs below for more great Delight-Directed Teaching Posts!