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.

Homeschooling While Working

For about three years, I was able to bring my kids to work. People often asked how I got their work done while getting my work done. They would have their school work set out on the conference room which they would work on independently. Then, I would often set them up at the end of my desk, one at a time, to review their school work or answer any questions that they may have had. I also had a few secret ways to sneak in some extra work and gain myself a few quiet minutes.

One of my great secrets was actually Netflix. Netflix has a huge library of documentary films, so I would call in films related to whatever we were working on. The children would watch them and then write a brief paragraph about what they had seen. Through this they were able to explore space, learn about the concepts of strands, and explore the new continent with Lewis and Clark. My dd, who is older than ds, also watch documentaries like Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices and Bowling for Columbine . The most interesting and frightening was Super Size Me (be warned if you choose to watch this one, you will never eat McDonald's again) .

Another trick that I employed was the use of NPR during the ride to and from the shop. National Public Radio brought new ideas to our mind and incited interesting conversations. The kids never saw NPR as a trick, but as an interesting form of entertainment. Recently when dd was riding home with a friend and her father, the friend kept asking her father to change the radio station. He was listing to NPR which the friend considered “old people” radio. Her friend’s father in order to appease his daughter asked dd what radio station she would like to listen to. Little did he know that dd loved NPR. Her friend’s hopes were dashed when dd revealed her love of NPR. The father and dd began discussing some of their favorite NPR shows like Car Talk and Wait Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me. Her friend slid back in her seat and knew that she had lost the battle. I think developing a love for talk radio is like acquiring a taste for Opera, you have to be introduced to it early. You also have to train yourself to be an active listener.

I wished that I had been able to harbor the ability for them to each help each other, but unfortunately that occurs very rarely and there is no way to predict when it may happen.