Project-based Homeschooling: Timeline of My Son’s Star Wars Project

March 19, 2015March 17, 2015 ~ shelli ~ 6 Comments

I wrote about Star Wars and some of my son's projects for my column, but here I will explain how his interest in Star Wars has evolved. It's a good example of project-based homeschooling, and if you have a child who has an interest but doesn't seem to do much with it, this may be … Continue reading Project-based Homeschooling: Timeline of My Son’s Star Wars Project

Project-based Homeschooling: This year’s cardboard projects

July 17, 2014 ~ shelli ~ 10 Comments

It's the end of our "school year," so I'm wrapping it up at home and on my blog. A few more posts to go! As I review our past year, I have found that my seven-year-old has been quite a builder! I've written extensively about his interest in clay here and here. Now I want … Continue reading Project-based Homeschooling: This year’s cardboard projects

Project-based Homeschooling: My seven-year-old and his pottery

June 20, 2014 ~ shelli ~ 16 Comments

Note: This column was published in the Barrow Journal on June 18, 2014. My seven-year-old loves to build things. Mostly, he uses cardboard because we don’t have access to many other materials, but he also loves using clay. For the past three years, I’ve kept air-dry modeling clay on hand because it’s cheap and the … Continue reading Project-based Homeschooling: My seven-year-old and his pottery

Legos

January 30, 2014January 28, 2014 ~ shelli ~ 2 Comments

Note: This column was printed in the Barrow Journal on Wednesday, January 29, 2014. Legos is all the rage in our house right now. My seven-year-old is happiest when he is at his table putting some kind of Lego kit together. He doesn’t have very many of them, but I have a feeling we’ll be collecting more … Continue reading Legos

The Power of Time and Materials

October 17, 2013October 14, 2013 ~ shelli ~ 10 Comments

Note: This column was published in the Barrow Journal on October 16, 2013. One day last week after our reading and math lesson, I helped my son finish one of his creations – a “robot spaceship” made out of recyclables. He used a toilet paper tube for the body, part of a plastic bottle for … Continue reading The Power of Time and Materials

Little Builders

January 31, 2013January 31, 2013 ~ shelli ~ 3 Comments

Note: This column was printed in the Barrow Journal on January 30, 2013. Last October I took my boys to a birthday party, and the birthday boy received a Lego kit. While we were there, my six-year-old sat next to the boy who built the car, helping him find the pieces. Later, when we got home, … Continue reading Little Builders

Boys Like to Build Outside Too

March 1, 2012March 2, 2012 ~ shelli ~ 2 Comments

A couple of days ago I wrote about how my boys like to build and create inside the house with various materials, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that building outside is even more fun! I've posted a photo of our stick shelter before, but the day that I wrote about how the … Continue reading Boys Like to Build Outside Too

Boys Like to Build

February 28, 2012March 10, 2014 ~ shelli ~ 21 Comments

Once after watching an episode of Bob the Builder, the five-year-old told me he wanted to build a bridge. Who says TV is bad for kids?! Thanks to Lori of Camp Creek Blog I tuned into the fact that boys like to build. Boys like hands-on activities. (Of course, lots of girls do too!) Building fosters their … Continue reading Boys Like to Build