Happy New Year. A new year is always an opportunity to look ahead with optimism. Everyone can make a positive impact on our lives and world. Whether or not we actually make (and follow-through on) new year’s resolutions, here are five bold learning ideas that challenge the status quo in ‘education’. Embrace all or just one [...]
Archive for the ‘Interdisciplinary’ Category
Five Bold Learning Ideas to Challenge the Status Quo in the New Year
Posted by ginac on January 3rd, 2012
Posted in Activities, Homeschool, Interdisciplinary, Learning Methods, Literacy, Make, social change, TED 
Tags: Empathy, Learning, Share, TEDx, TEDxYouth, tolerance, Toys 
Comments OffAward-Winning PBS Animated Series Now Available Online
Posted by ginac on December 5th, 2011
Cyberchase, an Emmy Award-winning animated series for 8-11 year-olds is now completely available online. This fun, STEM-rich series is full of hands-on math, engineering, and physics lessons weaved creatively into the stories. Learn more about Cyberchase over at GeekMom
Posted in Activities, Interdisciplinary, Math, Online Tools, Science, STEAM Tags: computers, Cyberchase, PBS, STEM, technology, Thirteen, WNET Comments OffUnschooling and the Maker Culture
Posted by ginac on November 10th, 2011
Unschoolers are radical mavericks who approach learning 180 degrees in the opposite direction from traditional education. Unschoolers learn in an unstructured environment almost completely devoid of teachers, separate subjects, grades, tests, or quizzes. Instead, unschoolers hack together their learning palette from many sources to create a truly personal learning experience. Unschoolers are active learners who [...]
Posted in Crowdsource, Eclectic Homeschooling, Economics, Electronics, Interdisciplinary, Learning Methods, Make, News, social change Tags: DIY, Hack, make, maker, Maker culture, Open source, Tim O'Reilly, UnCollege, Unschooling Comments OffLearning by the Path of Least Resistance
Posted by ginac on October 31st, 2011
“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” – Lao-Tzu Humanity has disrupted nature’s path of least resistance by creating cities, structures, roads, and even political systems that defy natural conditions. We [...]
Posted in Eclectic Homeschooling, Interdisciplinary, Reading, STEAM, Unit Study Tags: constrtuctivism, creativity, Homeschooling, Learning, play, Project-based learning, technology, Unschooling, whole learning Comments OffWhy Seymour Papert Still Matters
Posted by ginac on October 4th, 2011
Back in the 1990′s, Constructivist Seymour Papert (father of Lego Mindstorms), wrote and spoke about learning as opposed to being taught. He showed how technology provides pathways for learning where instructors learn right along with children. As brilliant as Seymour Papert is, his ideas haven’t penetrated the teacher->student relationship in public schools. His visionary model [...]
Posted in Back to School, Eclectic Homeschooling, Interdisciplinary, Learning Methods, News, Teaching methods Tags: child-led learning, Constructivist, Education, Learning, LEGO Mindstorms, pedagogy, Project-based learning, Seymour Papert, Teaching, technology Comments Off10 Reasons to Visit Your Local Museums on Free Museum Day
Posted by ginac on September 21st, 2011
Saturday, September 24 is Free Museum Day. Most Smithsonian and Smithsonian-affiliated museums are free on this day. There are many reasons to take advantage of Free Museum Day, but here are our top ten: Expand your family’s interests. Visit a museum that you wouldn’t normally visit. Seek to find possible new interests. Engage with learning. [...]
Posted in Activities, Eclectic Homeschooling, History, Interdisciplinary, Just for Fun, Learning Methods, Science Tags: aquarium, Art, Free museum day, history, MOSI, Museum, natural science, Smithsonian 2 Comments »Project-Based Home Learning
Posted by ginac on September 9th, 2011
Remember the masses of young Harry Potter fans who stayed-up all night reading J.K. Rowling’s newly released books, then learned everything about all the characters, Hogwarts, the magical creatures, and the spells? Imagine capturing that passion, interest, and engagement through learning of all sorts. Project-based home learning is a more than viable alternative to traditional [...]
Posted in Eclectic Homeschooling, Interdisciplinary, Learning Methods, Unit Study Tags: child-led learning, homeschool, Learning, Project-based learning, Unschooling Comments OffTwitter Co-Founder Credits Creativity, Art, and Empathy
Posted by ginac on September 1st, 2011
Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter, never graduated from college. He dropped out of Northeastern University and University of Massachusetts. Yet, University of California Berkeley’s Haas School recently named Biz to an Executive Fellowship. The Wall Street Journal recently interviewed Mr. Stone and published excerpts. Although Biz works with MBA students, his advice really applies to all [...]
Posted in Culture, Interdisciplinary, Learning Methods, STEAM, Teaching methods Tags: Arts, Biz Stone, creativity, Empathy, Entrepreneurship, honesty, Learning, Truth, Twitter Comments OffMAKE Chronicles Project-Based Learning
Posted by ginac on August 24th, 2011
SpottyBanana loves project-based learning. We can’t think of a better way to showcase project-based learning than through chronicling a maker project. MAKE’s Zero to Maker column is chronicling newbie maker David Lang’s project-based learning approach to gaining Do-It-Yourself (DIY) skills. Follow David as he progresses from novice to maker phenom! At the bottom of the [...]
Posted in Back to School, Interdisciplinary, Learning Methods, Make Tags: child-led learning, DIY, hands-on learning, make, maker, Project-based learning Comments OffClass Dismissed
Posted by ginac on August 10th, 2011
Class Dismissed is a documentary film about learning outside of the classroom. We at Spottybanana.com couldn’t be happier to help promote a project as important as this one. Just like there’s more than one way to solve a math problem, eat an Oreo cookie, or write a computer program, there’s way more than one way [...]
Posted in Eclectic Homeschooling, Interdisciplinary, Learning Methods, News Tags: Class Dismissed, Documentary, Eclectic Homeschooling, Education, homeschool, Learning, movie, public education, Unschooling Comments Off
