•;Discover . . . to foster thinking. When
a student utters, “Oh, . . . I see!” something has clicked in the child’s brain, and
because he has discovered the answer
rather than being told the answer, he
will never forget it. Because little or no
instructions are given, good discovery
activities stimulate thinking as the child
takes the initiative to observe, experiment, and draw conclusions.
Reading Marx will not
net understanding of
communism, but a
communist lunch will.
The ultimate discovery activity is in
the “Endurance: Russia” unit, which
teaches the abstract idea of communism.
Reading Marx will not net understanding of communism, but a communist
lunch will. Pack each child a fabulous
lunch with loved items, including Hostess Ding Dongs. When lunchtime rolls
around, Mom pins Russia’s flag on her
shirt, informing the kids that she is
Mother Russia, and she asks the kids to
pass the state’s lunch to her. She reminds
them that there is no private ownership
in communism, only state ownership. If a
child objects, she banishes him to Siberia
(the bathroom), explaining that there is
no dissent allowed in communism either,
because Mother Russia takes care of her
people by following the communist tenet
called “redistribution of wealth.” Practice
redistribution by giving each student one
potato chip while Mother Russia eats all
the sandwiches and Hostess Ding Dongs
in front of kids. Whoa! Through personal
experience kids discover communism
and become staunch capitalists to boot!
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www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com
•;Dramatize . . . to visualize. It is easy to
imagine history being dramatized, but . . .
science? Dramatizing photosynthesis
makes an abstract concept visual: H2O is a
kid wrapped in a white sheet covered with
paper raindrops, holding a watering can,
sporting lightning eyebrows. CO2 is a kid
with CO2 pinned on him and clear plastic
bags tied on him to simulate a gas. The sun
has sunglasses and a sun mask, while the
chlorophyll, where photosynthesis takes
place, is a kid in a baker’s hat named Chef
Cloro Phil. He’s ready to mix all ingredi-
ents together to get a bag of sugar!
•;Dialogue . . . to internalize. Jane Healy,
Ph.D., in her book Endangered Minds,
states, “Conversation builds the executive
brain.” Healy cites the writings of Russian neuropsychologist Alexander Luria,
who believed that using language—both
internal language, where one talks to
one’s self, and external language, where
one talks to others—helps shape a child’s
“growing powers of reasoning.”
•;Drill . . . to crystallize. Drill does not
have to be a test. It could be a culminating event like the one described in the
“Obedience: Kings and Queens” unit,
where a medieval feast displays banners
and costumes made, demonstrates jousting with swimming noodles and juggling
with scarves, and provides the setting for
reports about kings and queens—as parents sit “beneath the salt” and eat ground
beef boar’s head with celery tusk on bread
trenchers.
Gifted, Special Needs, Average
Learners
Traditionally, gifted students in a public
school classroom setting were rewarded
with double work or with a project, which
translates into a unit. Struggling learners
were given more drills when they had dif-
ficulty—just repeat what they did not get
the first time but slower and louder, and
they will surely get it. Crazy! The average
student simply fell through the cracks as
long as he answered the questions at the
end of the chapter.
Remember, we are
teaching children, not
curriculum.
ing, because every sense is employed in
learning: hands-on doing grabs attention,
discovery causes reasoning, drama creates
memories and retention, and dialogue internalizes facts and concepts, while drill
crystallizes everything. Remember, we
are teaching children, not curriculum. All
children respond to the hands-on of
doing, the wonder of discovery, the memory
of drama, the expression of dialogue, and
the summary a drill provides.
Jessica Hulcy, co-author of KONOS Curriculum, the first curriculum written for homeschool, is an educator, author, and formerly
popular national homeschool speaker prior
to her near-fatal wreck in 2009. A graduate of the University of Texas, mom to four
grown sons, and “Grandear” to grandchildren, Jessica lives with her husband Wade
on acreage in Texas. Recently Jessica and
Wade started the ultimate online help for
homeschooling moms called Homeschool
Mentor.Vi sit www.homeschoolmentor
.com and
www.konos.com.
