Inspiring Intelligence
Posts tagged preK
Free Online Resources
Oct 2nd
After commenting on another blog I follow, I realized I should probably make you aware of some of the great FREE resources available to help the preschool – 2nd grade child explore and learn.
One of our favorites is Starfall.
There are some great online games and my kids cannot get enough of them! It is designed for the preschool child, but they have added some Kindergarten resources.
National Geographic Kids is another great one.
Some of the stuff here is more educational than others, but there are some really great learning resources here!
PBS Kids has some great stuff, and there are some of my favorite shows on PBS! Sid the Science Kid does a great job of teaching some great science topics. Dinosaur Train has taught us a lot about dinosaurs. (I even use the show to learn more.) I credit Word World for teaching some great phonics to my daughter. (The Word World website even has some eBooks.) I could go on and on about how great PBS is…
Progressive Phonics has some GREAT books that I love!
We have printed a few and I have been impressed with the books!
Hunkin’s Experiments has some great science experiment ideas.
Although, many of them tend to be a little too advanced. There are some interesting ideas in there, though.
Scholastic has some great resources, too!
Most local museums and organizations have free resources that support the subject matter, too.
Many of the national chains offer resources, too. Lakeshore Learning has some great free resources that I frequent, too.
Of course, there are plenty of blogs out there, and many have great ideas. That may need to be a post for another day….
What are your favorite resources?
Project Approach
Sep 8th
I have been reading an amazing book called
NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children
by Po Bronson and Ashley Merriman
It has re-inspired me.
Then today, I read an article about study habits.
It reminded me why I reject the typical classroom approach to learning.
I became a big fan of the Project Approach a while ago.
Research supports this approach in most every way.
Brains do not retain information sitting in the same place everyday.
Brains do no retain information that has been taken out of context.
If we allow children to be the engineers of their learning, research shows that they will retain the information better.
I believe in the Project Approach.
So,
what is the project approach?
This website offers some information and great examples of the approach used in action.
I have not found any program that utillizes this approach locally, so I am hoping to start one.
I am just a little excited about it.
To get us started:
I will be reporting our our adventures.
Tomorrow my children and I begin planning our imaginary trip.
Check back to learn where our adventure takes us…
