Take Advantage of Real-Life Learning ExperiencesPosted by: Livia McCoy on Jul 25, 2011 in Livia McCoy, Kids Learning |
There is nothing like a real-life experience to make you want to learn something new. In the education world, we call this "authentic learning." My grandsons found a pill bug (sowbug, roly-poly bug) under the house where we are vacationing. "Can I keep him for a pet?" one of the children asked.
Within thirty minutes we had learned:
- Pill bugs are in a family of woodlice and they can roll themselves into a ball.
- Pill millipedes can roll themselves into a ball, too, but they are not related to pill bugs.
- Children often keep pill bugs as pets. Some people who have tarantulas for pets keep pill bugs in the same cage, because they clean the tarantula's cage.
- Pill bugs need a very moist environment.
- Pill bugs can live up to three years.
My point here is that when you have a real-life experience that excites your children, you can use the opportunity to learn something new. What they learn will stick with them for a long time... possibly forever.
Posted by - Connie McCarthy on Jul. 28, 2011
I so agree! The best kind of learning is "hands-on."