a few more cards and things

First, here is the map Kieron colored. He got kind of tired of it so as a hands-on alternatives it wasn't entirely successful. I wonder if I have the only kids that seem to think of lapbook type projects as a penance. Perhaps the hands-on needs to be reserved for engineering projects, science labs, and arts and crafts that don't have an educational component.

To find out if it had any educational benefit I might have to ask him to narrate what the map is about. Then I could have just skipped the coloring in the first place.














Here is something I was experimenting with -- giving Kieron little "command cards" for his reading assignments, in the form of bookmarks.

















Here's a jpg of the printout itself.
















This was a mixed success, too. He did the reading all right but it still seems just as directed and "passive" as just following an assignment sheet. Also, the Native American Legend readings are obsolete now because Sean read the whole book yesterday and thought it wasn't very good, and narrated every single story in great detail, so I don't have the heart to make Kieron read them unless to add to the ongoing discussion.... that is a thought. Lissla gave me some suggestions for things to read that I plan to look into; perhaps more representative of some Native American thinking than the legends, and that was what I wanted to try to get across in the first place.


Here are the narration cards I mentioned the other day. I haven't used them yet but I like them .... : ).





















Here are the laminated bead cards I made the other day. So far, not much interest on Aidan's part. I think they are too abstract for him right now.




















I am looking through all these and thinking they seem very "schooly". And yet I am trying to move towards a more self-directed approach that doesn't rely so much on ME tutoring, and allows for more choices. Still thinking....