Badges Project

After a friend of mine went to Yellowstone this past fall and her daughter collected jr ranger badges, I got me a homeschooling idea. I discovered that on ebay one can purchase girl scout badges for about $1 a piece. Some of them say something, like "gardening" while some of the older ones are just images - a bird, a butterfly, a horse. So we're doing some nature study these days with that same friend, and I've purchased badges for our girls to earn. We're pretty unschoolish, so while my background in outdoor education peeps its head out of the backpack now and then, mostly we just explore and play. We might develop a website someday based on this idea - homeschool badges - where homeschool families can gather online, earn both literal and virtual badges, and get ideas to connect with nature (and other badge-earning projects). But for now we're just keeping it small. Thought I'd pass along the idea!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Autism Community Store Review

Image
We visited the Autism Community Store today. It's just east of Iliff and Quebec. They do a good job of creating a calm, not overwhelming environment despite being jam packed with all manner of resources. My son especially enjoyed the hanging swing and the "sensory cave," a closet-sized space with soft cushions, soothing lights, weighted blankets, and a lava lamp filled with bubbles and (plastic) fish. I perused the book shelves, which includes a lending library as well as titles for sale,  and spent a good long time gathering cards and flyers for local resources to support my hive of homeschooling families. Looks like they make their own weighted blankets, beanbag animals, and weighted vests. We picked out a blue swirly chewelry and a stand for our exercise ball to replace our broken office chair. As I helped my son put his shoes back on before we headed out the door, I giggled at a sign right in front of us: "No shoes, no shirt, no skirt, no problem." He
Read more

Math for the Reluctant Artist

Image
My daughter, currently eleven years old, believes she is "bad at math" because computation steps don't stick in her head. We've gone over long division and adding fractions repeatedly, and it just doesn't stick. It doesn't make sense to her, and she's the kind of learner who wants to understand the Why of something before she'll understand the How or What. In most areas of our homeschooling journey, we unschool. This means I keep a gentle pulse on what my children are learning through experience and play. But like many unschooling mamas, I wonder about math. How much is "enough"? When we sit down to "do a little math," it often ends (at least with my daughter) in tears, anger, and frustration. It doesn't matter that I explain that she actually is skilled at math - her numeracy skills are fabulous and her ability to see patterns and relationships is quite advanced. It doesn't matter that I point out the math she uses in Min
Read more

Art in Children's Literature:

Image
This past school year I taught an art class to grades 1-6 at a homeschool enrichment program. Each class was based on a children's book; we either learned about replicating the style or created something based on the story. We studied the techniques used by the artist to explore the Elements of Art and various aspects of art like warm and cool colors. I tried to expose students to a variety of mediums, and to using mediums in interesting ways. Students were encouraged to do the project suggested, but creative exploration was always encouraged. I loosely followed the seasons and some holidays with my choices, but not always. Here is a list of most of the projects we did in our art class. Links on titles take you to Goodreads. More ideas can be found on my Pinterest board. Projects from Art with Literature Let's Paint by Gabriel Alborozo   We painted using liquid watercolor and tools other than brushes: pipettes, cotton balls, paper towels, etc.
Read more