Lapbooks For Fun & Learning: Lego

How much fun is it to learn about something that you already have immense passion for!

This was a fun, quick, easy to complete (no prep for mum) learning experience all about Lego....now what boy isn't going to be interested in that?

A huge thank you to Amy over at Walking By The Way for taking the time to create this.

We, or should I say B as I had very little to do with it, completed this over a week, as it is laid out to do. He literally begged me every day and when circumstances meant that we had to skip a day, well let's just say that this mumma was not in the good books!

Oh these are the reasons why I am always so drawn to child interest learning or delight directed as I often see it called these days.

He used the computer and the internet to visit various sites whilst following along with the study.

He watched video's, completed building challenges, daily handwriting, was required to read quite large portions of  small text on the screen, looked up word definitions, completed mathematical equations and more. Never once did he complain or whine, in fact he asked every single day to do this work.

Seeing the joy of learning, when it is something you are genuinely interested in, is amazing to sit back and watch.

Another huge thank you to Amy for putting this together.

I am pretty sure there are loads of boys out there that have thoroughly enjoyed this Lego Learning Unit.

Now all I need to do is find one on Star Wars!

Time 4 Learning Review - Part 2

You might remember that we had a months trial to Time 4 Learning during September. I posted an initial review for both levels that we were using ~ Level K and Level 3 ~ these include pictures and details on what was covered and our thoughts on Time 4 Learning.

I wanted to come back and sum up just a little on how we finished up with Time 4 Learning.

Both kids were quite ill for a week so we missed that last week of the trial, which they were both disappointed about.

Overall I was very pleasantly surprised  as to exactly what was covered in both Level K and Level 3, from the small amount of time we got to work with the program it appeared to be very thorough in both Language Arts and Mathematics.

I can see that this is definitely an entire curriculum and will meet all requirements across the years.

However for our famliy we want to do as much of our learning activities together, not sitting alone on seperate computers. Whilst I agree that technology plays a very important role in the lives of today's children, I now know that after this trial period working mainly on the computer is not something I want for my children.

I feel that Time 4 Learning would be fabulous as a supplement and this is something that I am still considering, however the cost (when using as a supplement) for me is a little deterring. When something is utilised to supplement your exisiting curriculum it is generally the first thing that gets put aside when time is restricted and as this is a subscription based program I am just not sure that it would be value for money for us.

In saying that though, if you have no qualms about your children using the computer to do the bulk of their work then I would recommend you take a closer look.

I'd like to thank Time 4 Learning for the opportunity. This was the first time we had ever looked at an all encompassing curriuclum and it was great to see what it entailed.

Reading Concerns

I'd be lying if I said that I'd never experienced concerns over B's reading, because I did and I think for many home schooling parents this is the one area that they stress over. What if I can't teach my child to read? Where does that leave us in our home schooling journey?

Thankfully for most home schooling families this concern quickly resovles itself and even if it does take a little time in the end it is, in the majority of cases, resolved and the child grows into reading.

So then, once they are reading you need to deal with the battle of what they 'will' read and what you'd prefer them to read. Does anyone else struggle with this? 

We've all seen the articles and blog posts galore on 'twaddle' and what it potentialy does to children's minds. However if we are making our children read the classics for instance even if they have absolutely no interest in the story then is that really any different?

Granted we may feel better about ourselves and yes we can rattle off to our home school friends that little 'Freddy' just got through his 9th classic for the year, whilst all of the other home school mums look on in awe, but was has that done for 'Freddy' and his desire to read?

Would you as an adult continually read books that held little interest for you simply because, say, your husband said you had to read them? I think not! So I wonder why we do this to our children? What makes it ok?

Admittedly I would much prefer to see my children reading quality literature most of the time but when a child has struggled with reading, is it not more important that they are at least reading?

I found this article interesting and this blog post written in response to the article, both offer food for thought.

For me, for now, I am happy to see him carry around a book and have his nose in it, regardless of the 'twaddle' it may very well contain.