Writing Rubrics a tool for you and your children

I think that I have mentioned that ironically I am working on at a site that trains teachers for public schools. Tonight, the speaker is talking about rubrics. I know that you are thinking what does this have to do with homeschooling, but I am sitting her listening, thinking that this would work wonders especially for my older child on larger projects. A rubric is a preplanned, objective driven assessment tool that helps teachers greade assignments but also helps students prepare their work to meet the stated goals.

Websites Related to writing Rubrics:
http://www.carla.umn.edu/assessment/VAC/Evaluation/p_7.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_2083034_create-rubric.html?ref=fuel&utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=ssp&utm_campaign=yssp_art

http://health.usf.edu/publichealth/eta/Rubric_Tutorial/default.htm

While obviously these are traditionally used in schools, I can see how we can use such a tool especially for some unique work like computer presentation, etc. The benefit to the homeschooling community is not the ability to “grade” our students; frankly, many of us who homschool have moved away from the grading idea anyway. As homeschoolers we can use rubrics as a tool to help our children clearly understand what is expected of them and help them arrange their projects so that the subject / objective is clearly covered. Rubrics can also be a great tool for the kids themselves to evaluate their work before they even turn it in. After completing a project, give them the rubric to review their work and determine if it meets the goals and if they need to adjust something before they consider it finished.

What other “school” ideas have you adapted to homeschooling?

Integrating Technology and Learning

Since I have been hearing about this video all weekend, I figured that I should share it with you:



Mind you it does not strictly apply to us homeschoolers and many of us will see it as confirmation as to why we homeschool, but if you can get past that you may also be inspired. Of course DD's reason for her excitement about this video is that she sees it as yet another reason why she should get a cellphone. I'm not sure that that is going to work, but I am going to allow her to create a PowerPoint in leiu of a self test in Social Studies. We'll see how that goes and go from their. I'm also thinking, she may be getting some interesting emails. Also, I noticed that our library now has mp3 books on their website for downloading. This may be just the thing for DS.

Let me know any great technology ideas that you have.

TeacherTube.com

Did you know about this? It is just like YouTube.com but with an educational bent.

In one of the lectures I sat in on last night and today, the speaker was talking about the integration of technology and education. Mind you for a homeschooler, the usage is a little different, but it certianly can impact our teaching / learning too. For example, check out the following video:



Show it to your children and then have them pick one of the items in the song to do a research on and write a quick summary.

I am looking forward to really crawling around this site to see what else they have to offer.

Mythbusters Science

One of our favorite shows is Mythbusters. It is a great combination of Science and the explosions. A recent episode centered around a very simple idea that had been sent to them about the force needed to seperate two phone books that had their pages overlapping. Here is the viewers video that was sent to Mythbusters to spark the idea . . .



This is a great project to test your kids with because it just seems impossible. It can be a great jump off for conversations about force and friction. While I don't recommend trying to rip it apart with cars, you could make for a very interesting tug of war.

What have your favorite Mythbusters episodes been? Have you done any great experiments after the fact with your kids?

Homeschool with an accent on Home not School - Child directed learning

When we choose to homeschool, sometimes the accent gets stuck on the wrong syllable. We put more emphasis on the school rather than on the home. All activities begin to be an opportunity to teach and learn. The problem is that sometimes this emphasis begins to negatively affect naturally occurring learning; taking educational activities that the kids consider fun and turning them into boring, mandatory lessons.
For example, your daughter loves the new blog you have together. She loves to write posts, but to fulfill her writing for the day; you begin to make them mandatory. Perhaps your son, enjoys learning different phrases in foreign languages to impress his friends, but instead of accepting that this is interesting an most certainly educational in its own right, you require him to write down the phrases and make flash cards to make sure that his pronunciation and spelling are correct.
Who can really blame a parent from pushing and wanting their child do better, especially a parent that is also responsible for the education of their children to the extent that a homeschool parent is? But of all the people to get caught up in the “schooling” ideal and the do better, brighter, more concept, it is the very people who understand that all learning goes beyond school. The very people that understand that learning can be found anywhere, that every interest can be nurtured into a skill, and that our individual desires to learn more is stronger than any exterior force.
So as you plan out you homeschool year, ignore your impulse to organize everything. Make sure your kids have interests of their own that they can develop without your input or oversight. Encourage them to explore and try new things. Try, despite your inclination, to let them develop these interests on their own without your oversight. Only comment to encourage or to help as requested. Let them put the accent back on the Home and away from the school.

Who is the Teacher?

I find it funny that my husband always claims that I am the homeschool teacher. He says that he is not smart enough to teach them. I see it a little differently. I may be the one that does their book work with them, but he is the one that teaches them the skills they will use in life. He is the one always working around the house with the kids – fixing outlets, putting up closet doors, repairing air conditioners. He is the one that taught them to use maps when we go hiking, to plant squash with the corn, to cook on the grill. I think we both bring our skills to the table and each teach the kids in different ways. Hopefully, they will benefit from having learned from each of us. Maybe now they can name the capital Kansas and how to get their on a map : )

How do you and your husband break up the teaching responsibilities? If he is a hesitant husband to “teach”, how have you encouraged him?