Mudspark Life Learning

New ebook! Nerd Schooling  by Clea Danaan puts together my experiences as a teacher and homeschooling parent. It's an exploration of learning through what kids are really interested in - Minecraft, graphic novels, roleplay games, and more. Being a nerd means expressing your true self, and we learn best when we do what we are interested and care about. My son, for instance, has been studying Swedish on Duo Lingo, I think mostly because his favorite game developers are Scandinavian. He is watching Gravity Falls and making his own comics characters. He plays Minecraft with friends online. What is he learning? Well besides Swedish, he is learning a lot about the country and the different flags. He learned some about the native Sami people. He is making characters and worlds, developing leadership skills, and learning what makes a good game flow. Want some ideas for incorporating activities like this in your homeschool classroom or regular classroom? Check out Nerd Schooling ! The cov...

Today we worked on regrouping using Math-U-See manipulatives. We used just the 100s, 10s, and unit pieces.  I drew a large grid for spaces for each of the numerals, and used problems in our Brainquest workbook. We added the units together, trading them out for tens if we had more than 10, then placing that ten above the two other rows, just as you would when writing it out. Then we did the same with the tens bars, pulling out groups of ten tens and then placing the new 100 plate above the 100s place of our rows. We then wrote out what we did in the workbook. Subtracting with regrouping was a little different. We took away the number of units in the second row from the units in the top row, and moved the remaining units to the bottom (answer) row. If there weren't enough units in the top row, we converted a tens bar into 10 units cubes and put them in that upper right square. We then subtracted how many we had un the middle right square and put the remaining units cubes in...

My kids are currently 9 and 13, and some of their favorite activities are making playdough, building forts, playing in the mud, and making blanket forts. All sorts of questions and discoveries arise through this sensory play that is often considered more appropriate for much younger children. Like why does Oobleck work the way it does? Why does the ratio of 4:1 make this substance but not that? What is the point of cream of tartar in playdough? Why is this mud grittier than that mud, and why does it smell like this? What makes clay from the ground turn into art class clay or stucco? You get the idea. You don't even have to come up with any sort of lesson plan - in fact, when I get all teachy, they lose interest. They don't listen. Play is important for all ages, even and maybe especially play that you think they are too old to engage in. What will you play today? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For more ideas on natural parenting,  check ou...

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. ...

How do I choose the right homeschool curriculum?  This is the first thing homeschooling parents ask. They are comparing their ideas of school to their projected ideas about homeschooling, thinking they have to cover EVERYTHING that school "covers" and do it well. Obviously we want our kids to get a good education, whether that means school or homeschool. I remind parents, though, that regular school is about managing 30 kids with divergent needs. Homeschooling is about one kid, or maybe three or seven. These are kids who have grown up with your rules and guidelines. In school teachers spend several WEEKS working on procedures like lining up, turning in homework, and using inside voices before they even get to  actual curriculum. Then their days are divided into blocks of time broken up by recess, trips, assemblies, and those very procedures. Homeschool doesn't have to work like that, and you can get lessons done in much less time, whether you do formal lessons to go...

Science: MinutePhysics http://www.youtube.com/user/ minutephysics?feature=watch  NationalGeographic http://www.youtube.com/user/ NationalGeographic/videos  TEDEducation http://www.youtube.com/user/ TEDEducation/videos DiscoveryNetworks http://www.youtube.com/user/ DiscoveryNetworks/videos  AnimalPlanetTV http://www.youtube.com/user/ AnimalPlanetTV/videos Sick Science:  https://www.youtube.com/user/ SteveSpanglerScience Videos and cool science experiments from Steve Spangler and SteveSpanglerScience.com Crash Course Chemistry: https://www.youtube.com/ playlist?list= PL8dPuuaLjXtPHzzYuWy6fYEaX9mQQ 8oGr Crash Course Astronomy: https://www.youtube.com/ playlist?list= PL8dPuuaLjXtPAJr1ysd5yGIyiSFuh 0mIL SpaceLab:  https://www.youtube.com/user/ spacelab Can plants survive beyond Earth? Can proteins observed in space reveal the mysteries of life? These questions and more get answered by SpaceLab, a YouTube channel cre...