Dr. Marie-Claire Moreau

Educator, Coach, Life Strategist

Learn like a tourist!

Have you ever noticed that tourists sometimes know more about your area than you do?  That’s because tourists seek out people and places of interest, and then spend a concentrated amount of time learning about them.

Tourism can be great for homeschooling, too.  Whether you live in a large city or a small rural area, there are always neat things to learn about.  Not only that, getting to know your region can make you and your children feel more connected, too.  Plus, this kind of learning is often free, making it a great way to homeschool inexpensively in your own backyard.

I am fortunate to live in an area that is rich in nature and wildlife and steeped in history.  That means that my children have grown up being able to observe and study all kinds of woodland animals, fish and marine mammals and learn just about anything they want about early Spanish settlers.  We have even found primitive artifacts, including pottery shards, bones and old pieces of china, in the area that we live.  Imagine all of the possibilities!  As a homeschooling parent, I have tried to utilize these opportunities in our studies. 

You can do the same thing.

Think about where you live.  Do you have access to modern sky scrapers, Victorian-era houses, or beautiful architectural buildings? Are you within commuting distance of factories, farms or historical sites?  Are there local museums, railroads, trolleys, brick or cobblestone roads, sites where movies have been filmed or famous artists or authors have lived? How about courthouses, battle sites, or places of very unusual distinction? These are all opportunities for discovery and learning.

How about learning how your area was settled?  When was the land originally purchased? Who were the original settlers? Where were some of the first homes, farms, settlements — and are any of the ruins still standing to look at?  Where were the first roads, churches and schools?  Which famous explorers may have set foot in your backyard and when? How did the names of your town, city, streets and county derive?  Are there graveyards or other remnants of earlier peoples and are these open to the public?  How did the past help to shape your area in the present?  Imagine earlier life and try to spot ways that it influenced the future of where you now live.

Consider a STAY-cation in your own home this summer and focus on learning like a tourist. You won’t believe the learning that can take place.  Plus, the next time you receive out-of-town guests, you’ll be able to share all of the local points of interest with knowledge and authority, rather than feeling like a stranger in your own hometown!

 

Fifty places to learn in your own home town

 

Stuck for new learning ideas?  Craving something different for your child’s classroom?  Tight on funds but feeling like trying something new?  Looking for something to keep hands and minds active on weekends and vacations?

Try my list of Fifty places to learn in your own home town!  And if you think these places aren’t educational, think again! Every one of these locations had to meet at least one these very strict (and unofficial) criteria to make it onto my list…

  • free or inexpensive admission, free tour or free to just walk around
  • within easy commuting distance of most people
  • must offer some kind of “stuff” to take home (map, brochure, nutritional information, etc) for students to read or study later on
  • have some element of fun or curiosity
  • available in most cities and towns

and

  • offer something to learn about

Let’s go!

List of 50 Places of Learning in Your Own Home Town

  1. Museum
  2. Library
  3. Hospital
  4. Thrift store
  5. Real estate office
  6. Book store
  7. Home improvement center
  8. Department of Education
  9. Department of Motor Vehicles / Tag office
  10. Chamber of Commerce
  11. Rest area
  12. School
  13. Church
  14. Friend’s attic
  15. Grandparent’s basement
  16. Court house
  17. Bank
  18. Restaurant
  19. Post office
  20. Community club
  21. Veterinarian
  22. Doctor’s office
  23. Movie theatre
  24. Community Center
  25. Agricultural station
  26. Department of Forestry, Fish & Game, Wildlife etc.
  27. 4-H Office
  28. Bakery
  29. Firehouse
  30. Police sub-station
  31. Grocery store
  32. Building or Zoning Department
  33. Department of Public Works
  34. Water treatment plant
  35. Waste or recycling center
  36. Scrap yard or salvage center
  37. Vineyard or Winery (with parental supervision, of course)
  38. Factory or manufacturing plant of any kind
  39. Farm
  40. Bee keeper
  41. Historical site
  42. Lifeguard station
  43. Law office
  44. College or university
  45. Airport
  46. Office supply store
  47. Pharmacy
  48. Auditorium
  49. Visitor’s Center
  50. Auto dealer

Remember when visiting these locations to look all around, take photos, ask questions, view any exhibits, accept offers for information or demonstrations, and then grab any business cards, brochures, names of web sites or other information that is offered before going home.  Follow up by learning more at home, even creating scrapbooks or journals if you like.  Or, just chat about them again at dinner, at bed time or the next day to see if there may be any extra little bit of learning that can still be squeezed out of the experience.

Hybrid homeschooling

In a world where most everyone tries to fit in, many homeschoolers stand out. Often in many more ways than one.

So why try to conform to a homeschooling method that isn’t exactly right for you?

Though there exist many teaching models and educational philosophies that families follow, that doesn’t mean each one must always be followed to a “T”.   Homeschooling comes with boat loads of flexibility — and that includes permission for families to completely stick to a particular method, or not.

For instance, following a classical approach is wonderful if it matches your way of thinking and the ways that your children enjoy learning.  But, let’s face it — what if YOU love the ideas but THEY hate reading?

Or, how about  deciding to adopt a virtual approach only to discover that your child really can’t sit that long at the computer?  That can be tough.

Or, what if you are enamoured by a method that involves volumes and volumes of journaling and copywork but your child struggles with writing?  Tougher still.

It’s OK to adapt a particular approach to your own situation.  Every homeschooling method comes with built-in flexibility.  Though it may be difficult to spot when just starting out, over time, you’ll come to recognize areas where changing things up a bit seem natural and easy.

Some homeschooling methods, for example, recommend specific products to teach subjects.  But choosing another product that works better for a child doesn’t mean the benefits of schooling that way are completely lost. 

Other methods, for instance, suggest schedules and activities to do each day.  Rest assured that not doing them all won’t spoil the overall effect of adhering to that philosophy.

We sometimes hear homeschooling parents practically apologizing for not doing things exactly right; that is, according to the schedule or guidelines set by the curriculum manufacturer, author of  a series, or popular conference speaker advocating a certain method.  Sadly, sometimes parents can feel a sense of guilt or inadequacy about not doing things exactly right.

The truth is that it’s alright to deviate if it means great learning, better learning, or just plain-old more enjoyment for the child or the entire family.  In fact it’s more than alright — you owe it to your child.

Authors and developers, particularly if they’re homeschoolers themselves, would never advocate doing something if it didn’t seem right for a child.  That’s why they typically use the word “suggested” when referring to a schedule or particular way of doing things.  Suggested doesn’t mean mandatory.

Hybrid homeschooling applies when families follow a general path relatively closely, but deviate from time to time to better meet their individual needs.  This is different from eclectic homeschooling where this kind of thing is planned and expected.  Hybrids follow a path or a structure, but mold activities as needed along the way.

And it’s OK. 

No apology needed.

Lapbooking

 

Imagine being able to make a book entirely on your own and be in total control of what goes inside.  Imagine being able to hold that special book in your lap and review all of the special things you learned along the way.

That is exactly what lapbooking is — creating a handmade lesson book, designed to fit in a child’s lap, with all of that child’s learning and creativity all folded up inside.

Lapbooks are enjoyable to plan and creative to build.  There is no end to the combination of pages, mini-books, decorative objects or other odds and ends that can be built inside.  Plus, they can be designed around any subject or any theme, and contain just as much or as little as a student wants to learn about, document, and put inside. 

Though the project isn’t for all kinds of learners, lapbooks are particularly appealing to younger students, those with more artistic tendencies, and children who enjoy project learning above traditional kinds of projects.  They can be used for one subject, or several, lending themselves perfectly to the unit study homeschooling approach.

With lapbooks, there is no need to reinvent the wheel — free printable pieces can be found on the Internet.  However, families can design and create lapbooks completely on their own, too.

Supplies include nothing more than tabbed file folders, paper for printing plus basic art supplies.  Students can go a step further and add scrapbooking or other papers, twine and ribbons, stickers and small decorative objects, and just about anything that can be attached relatively flat into the book.

To learn more about lapbooking, begin with some of these articles and web sites.  Then, find others on your own:

Homeschool Share

Homeschool Helper

Lapbook Lessons

Basic lapbooking tips from Squidoo

[Photos: Moreau]

Road schooling

Some call it carschooling.  In our family, we always called it “road schooling”.   Whatever you call it, rest assured that other homeschoolers are doing it, too.

Nobody ever said that homeschooling has to take place primarily at home.  Actually, in the homeschooling world, packing up the books and hitting the road is more common than you might think. 

Road schooling can mean different kinds of things to different people.  In our home, it meant a busy day of activities and appointments ahead.  Usually, we’d pack lunches and backpacks and hit the road, getting as much school work accomplished in between events as we could.

In other households, road schooling might mean taking school books and materials on vacation.  It can also mean taking an educational road trip, too.

Sure, road schooling presents a certain set of challenges, like trying to read or complete written work in a moving vehicle!  On the other hand, it offers a great array of opportunities, too, like learning from new experiences and sites you encounter along the way. And, if your regular schoolwork isn’t possible in the car, you can forego the regular assignments and get creative instead – playing educational word games, listening to audiotapes, learning to read maps, and more.

Road schooling is a great way to break up the monotony of a typical homeschooling day.  Unless you do it all the time, your family will most likely look forward to road schooling days – they can be a whole lot of fun!