Follow your child’s interests while covering all areas of the curriculum with project and theme study. If your young child loves trains, dinosaurs, monsters, cooking, butterflies or fairies you can find a way to touch on most of the areas considered essential in the ‘school’ curriculum by following their lead. (Caution: Don’t over do….you know what I mean!) It should happen naturally with just a little nudge of support from you.
Start with piles of books, drawing paper or notebooks with colored pencils and a sharpener, of course. Bring a camera, a magnifying glass and find interested people who might have answers to your questions. Since learning can happen anytime might you have all of these items gathered in a satchel, back pack or canvas bag (except the interested people…they wouldn’t fit).
“The important thing is not to stop questioning.” ~Albert Einstein
The questions should be coming from the children.
Trains- How fast do trains go? What do trains carry? Where have all the trains gone? When was the first train built? How are trains different today? Types of Engines-What makes trains move?
Dinosaurs- How much did they eat to stay so big? Bones and biology
Monsters- Are they real? Who believed in monsters in history? What if?
Cooking- How do foods make my body healthy. What do they eat in Taiwan, Russia or Brazil? How much food does it take to feed my family? all my friends? a crowd?
Butterflies-What do they eat? Where do they go? Who eats them? Drawing butterflies. Do changes in the environment affect butterflies?
Fairies- Fairy houses and gardens. Building, taking care of nature and the earth.