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The Spark Station-An effective educational tool

by Mary Ann on September 30, 2010

This is the second in a series of posts , starting at basics of using The Spak Station.

WHERE IS THE SPARK STATION LOCATED AND DOES IT MATTER?

It does matter where The Spark Station is located. It is best if it is an actual closet in the room the family studies in. If it is a different sort of container it is best stored in the family study room. If it cannot be stored in the study area then it needs to be easily accessed.

If you use an actual closet that is not in the room you use for family study then it needs to be in an adjoining room or hall. If it is a few rooms away, on the other side of the house, or on a different floor it will not work well for children. The closet will need shelves so you can put items for older children higher than items for younger children.

Use clear tubs or bags inside your Spark Station, with pictures or labels on them so that everything is visible. Make it colorful, exciting, and interesting. Don’t stack it in a way that is difficult for children to manage, to get out and to put away.

This isn’t your living room and it isn’t Better Homes and Gardens. This isn’t about tasteful arrangement; this is about an inspirational explosion!

If The Spark Station is a container other than an actual closet, it is sometimes stored in another room. There are some things which need to be considered in this event.

* It needs to be easily moved to the room where the family studies.

* You need to be able to segregate items for older children and younger children.

* You need to be able to secure the container so that it cannot be accessed by your children until you get it out.

* It has to be a size that will accommodate the needs of your children. You may need multiple containers if they are small.

* It needs to be easily accessible to your children during study time.

* Don’t overfill the container so that your child can get the contents in an out by themselves as much as possible.

* This isn’t your living room and it isn’t Better Homes and Gardens. This isn’t about

tasteful arrangement; this is about an inspirational explosion!

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Drop in at Creating a Magical Environment for Learning Fun .

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The Spark Station-The basic home schooling tool

by Mary Ann on September 30, 2010

This is the first in a series of posts, starting at basics of using The Spark Station

WHAT IS THE SPARK STATION?

The Spark Station is a magical space where children love to learn and where parents inspire their children.

It is a tool that allows parents to introduce their children to topics of interest that they hope their children will engage with. These can include math, science,writing, reading, geography, geology, family history, cooking, adult skills and so forth.

It is also a tool which helps parents respond to the things that are of current interest to their children.

It is designed to allow children to choose from a number of activities and topics of interest and engage with them in their own way. It allows children ages 0 to approximately 12 to learn about a great many things in a survey manner as opposed to an in depth study.

As a tool, when used correctly, it can be very helpful in relieving the tension that comes when parents require children to study a certain topic in a certain way. It is helpful in removing barriers to self education because education becomes enjoyable. It is helpful in removing the pressure to learn from the child and can help parents feel more confident that their children are learning.

The Spark Station is usually an actual closet which can be secured from children and is used only at specified times.

The Spark Station isn’t your family learning time. It is a tool that is offered during family learning time. Because The Spark Station is such an exciting tool and parents get so anxious for their children to use it, they often confuse it with structured time. During your structured family learning time, school time, educational time, structured time, whatever your family calls it, you gather together for the amount of time you have pre-determined and
you learn together. On some days all of your children might find something they want to do in The Spark Station. You may have a child who wants to play a game that isn’t in The Spark Station or read a book or cook or any number of other possibilities. The Spark station is just one tool in your educational arsenal to create a magical and inspiring learning environment.

You do not have to spend all your structured time in one room, every day, just using The Spark Station. Occasionally your structured time might be in the park talking about how ducks swim, why they don’t sink, what they eat, etc. You might be examining trees and bushes, flowers and weeds and comparing them,dissecting them, or naming them. Maybe you will visit a museum or the city water plant. Your structured time is about inspiring and learning, not about a room and a closet.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Creating a Magical Learning Space for Kids learning fun for kids

The Elements of the Spark Station Spark Station-best-homeschooling-tool
The Spark Station Phases Spark Station-phases

This is Basic home school basics

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Home learning basics and getting started articles

by Mary Ann on September 29, 2010

When I was in about fifth grade I learned to crochet. It wasn’t easy to learn. I had never done anything like it before. I felt like I was all thumbs and it wasn’t always easy to conceptualize what it was I was supposed to do. With time I did learn and I made a small purse. My teacher coached me through almost every row until it was done. I still have that purse.

The next hurdle was learning to read actual directions. Yikes. It was like reading Greek. I had learned how to crochet but without a teacher constantly at my elbow or being able to read the directions I couldn’t really use my new skill. In order to learn to read the directions I had to go back to the beginning and learn to connect the skill with the actual execution of a pattern.

Over the next few blogs I am going to help you do that. You have learned about The Spark Station and the Five Rules of Engagement. Maybe you have tried them out, spent a few days or weeks seeing how it felt to use The Spark Station. If you are like most people you have had a lot of frustration learning this new skill. Now I want to take you back to the beginning and help you execute better. Let’s review the absolute basics. Each blog will connect you to all the other blogs related to the basic concept for those who really want to know more.

We will briefly cover:

1. WHAT IS THE SPARK STATION?

2. WHERE IS THE SPARK STATION LOCATED AND DOES IT MATTER?

3.IF I DON’T HAVE AN ACTUAL CLOSET WHAT CAN I USE: CREATIVE IDEAS WITH THE SPARK STATION

4.WHAT GOES IN THE SPARK STATION? : HOW TO USE THE SPARK STATION.

5.WHAT IF I DON’T HAVE ANY MONEY: LOW COST HOME SCHOOLING.

6.WHAT ARE SPARKS?: ENCOURAGE CHILDREN TO LEARN

7.WHAT MAKES THE SPARK STATION WORK?: HOME SCHOOL TEACHING STRATEGIES

8.A PATTERN TO FOLLOW: HOW TO HOME SCHOOL EFFECTIVELY

Readers : I will be posting the blogs beginning tomorrow , so please check the blog regularly for updates .

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Parents and children working together in home schooling

by Mary Ann on September 28, 2010

Children Working Together

“Should I let them each pick something different to work on at the same time? The difficulty that I’m having today is with the children (3,6,9,11) fighting over who gets to do what part of the project and fighting over materials – really just the 9 year old.”

Working together on a project

Doesn’t this sound like real life! One of the things to remember about the Closet is that it is a tool within a system which gives your children a place where they can love learning. It doesn’t change what happens in real life when children get together. That being said lets see what we can do about the above scenario.

Working together can be fun

The Closet can be so much fun for children. They love using the contents to learn and project learning is especially appealing to all ages. “The use of project learning is an incredible way to encourage the child to venture into new areas of study.” (Leadership Education: The Phases by Oliver and Rachel DeMille) Everyone wants to be a part of it.

The other interesting thing about the Closet is that it seems to draw a family together. It is definitely not unusual for everyone to want to congregate over a project, book or game. That is part of the magic of the Closet.

So when the whole group works together you handle it like you would any

The younger the child the more they need "you" to feel included

other activity that occurs in your family, from going for a drive in the car to making a cake. It is helpful for you to think about the project in your head before you put it in the Closet. Is any part of it really unsafe for any child? If it isn’t appropriate for children under 3 then you have to be prepared to offer that child an alternative activity and it has to include you.

How many parts and jobs are there to the project? Will everyone be able to do something? Have an idea in mind as to how you can help them divvy it out. Can you draw jobs out of a jar, for instance; for example, stirring, pouring, reading the directions, and so forth?

Children working independently

It helps if you make sure that there is a space large enough to do the project so that everyone can see. Is there room around the table, do you need to put in another leaf, would it be better outside, etc.

Although you don’t want to take any part of the learning away from your children and you don’t want to micro manage, it is important for you to assist with logistics and rules so that everyone can have fun and learn.

As you use the Closet and your children get used to working together in this way it will be less contentious and more fun. Give it time; any new enterprise takes learning and getting used to.

Whenever the Closet is available your children may opt to all work together and then they might opt to each do something different. That is great. Either way they are learning and loving it.

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