Playful Learning

I was recently introduced to a book called Playful Learning: Develop Your Child's Sense of Joy and Wonder. It is a great book and really fits with our homeschooling style, despite the fact that it isn't written specifically for homeschoolers. The author is a teacher, curriculum developer, trainer of teachers, and helped open a school. Her book gives immediate implementation ideas for Montessori, Reggio Emelia and Harvard Project Zero styles of education for use in the home. It is written to help parents encourage learning in a fun, no pressure way in the home. The subjects covered are reading, writing, math, science, art, social studies, geography, and social skills. A chapter of the book is dedicated to playful learning spaces. The subsequant chapters are how to set up these spaces for each subject and projects to have available for learning at a moment's notice. The end of the book is full of useful printables to aid in the learning.

I wanted to tell you girls about this book because I think it will help form your schooling. I've always struggled with the idea of having a "school room" because this seems to convey the message that learning occurs only in one room, mostly while sitting at a desk. The reality, I believe, is that learning occurs in every place and at any time.

We've been putting some of the ideas in the book to work already! The picture above is of you, Punkin, sorting beans. You started using one of the printables in the back, but ran of room for your "pink" beans (AKA pinto beans). So we made our own graft! You sorted anasazi, pinto, and white beans, as well as lentils.

We are also working on putting together writing, bird watching, reading, music, and art spaces. Eventually, you will also have a science experiment space, but I have to figure out where and how. I love the idea of having several places that you can "do school" in. I also love the idea of you being able to do it whenever you like. But, most of all, I like the idea that learning will be fun for you, not a drudgry. Learning the parts of a flower won't be based on memorization, but on pulling flowers apart and analyzing them. This isn't lazy homeschooling, though, to be sure! It is thoughtful and planned out. I have to watch for your personal tastes, make inviting areas that are simultaneously not distracting, and be on the lookout for what you are doing so that I can present you with projects when you seem interested in something specific. If they are to be good projects, I will have to plan them! And that, my daughters, is where this book comes in! I hope it is the springboard for our schooling that it seems to be!