My Top Ten Learning Resources

It is Top Ten Tuesdays and I have a list for you all. It has been a while, but I am back in the routine. It seems that way for many things, that they are all slowly coming back into routine after the move. So for today's list I have: My Top Ten Learning Resources.Click on the Top Ten Tuesday links and join in!

Some people may wonder just how do some Moms homeschool with out a curriculum? Well there are a variety of ways to do this, for the variety of families that do it. But for the purpose of my list here are MY top ten resources. This list is in no particular order. Mostly because it would take me ten times as long to write this if I then had to decide which were my most favorite.

1. Symposiums, panels, etc. I have taken my kids to the in the local University, the community and the Native community. The last one we went to (a proposal session) they were participants in, along with the adults.

   Link to my blog post of doing this with kids.

2. University. For elementary kids? Yep. I used the local University for a resource when I was in highschool. Also my kids have been apart of classes, demos etc set up through the Native center, homeschool group, my Dad, friends, local camps during March Break etc. University students are learning the latest info. Many are excited to share and will share with kids.

3. Newspaper. I will buy a newspaper and sit down with the kids. We read the headlines and when one of us (the kids or I) see one that catches our eye, we read the article and discuss it. This teaches us what is going on in the world around us. The other thing is by discussing it the kids really start thinking, forming opinions and they prove to be great learning experiences....don't forget the cartoons and editorials, there is much to learn there.

4. You Tube. There are all kinds of great videos. Funny ones, ones by PBS and from the history channel. Mix these up together and it will stick pretty well. Also you tube often has videos showing how to do things, such as experiments to do with the kids. Link to you tube: PBS documentary history

5. Experiments, demonstrations and models. Hands on learning is often memorable. I remember my favorite models from my school days. They were a working model of an aqueduct and a play-dough model of the digestive system. I can still today tell you extensively about these two things. Along with this is Art. We most often use it to learn about a time in history. It is good for understanding the social issues, morals, ideal and belief of a time period. This is picture of SW's canopic jar.

   

6. Games. Math games for multiplication. Quiz game for knowledge of a variety of subjects. Scrabble for spelling. There are many more of course. We do not do this for all our learning but it sure is a good supplement especially for things that many learn from memorizing. It takes longer. For example quiz games. Play them over and over and those answers will become learned. And because they were learned over time they will be remembered over time. Here is a link and a pic of one of our favorite sets of quiz games.

   Link to professor noggin

7. Our Traditional knowledge. Our cultural teachings taught from the people with them are a great resource that teaches about both our culture and our history. This is a picture taken of Grandma when she is talking about a teaching at a powwow.

   

8. Field trips. These are great learning experiences. We have gone on field trips to learn all kids of things about nature, wild life, fossils, geology, history. We have been to a marine museum, art gallery, and the Nations capitol. The possibilities are endless. If I had the money we would take WAY more field trips. I would love to be able to spend a year traveling with the kids. I think families who get to do this are having such a learning experience. This is a picture from our field trip to the conservation area. There is a praying mantis in this pod, surviving for the winter.

   

9. Currclick. They have lots of great unit studies about a variety of subjects.

10. Books. Can't leave out books! There are all kinds of books, not just textbooks. You can learn something from many types of books, and there are all kinds of different educational books out there.

    

Put these all together (along with tons of other ways) into a unit, a theme filled week, shape it into a curriculum yourself or take them as individual learning experiences. There is plenty to learn outside of a box if you want to go that route.