I am a visual learner unless the reading content is exciting! Then I do not mind learning about it. The new TV mini series, Hatfields and McCoys got me thinking about how kids learn or adults for that matter.
Growing up, I was always into watching a movie about it....then would go gung ho into learning about it more and check out every book at the library and devour it.
History is very exciting to me but the way schools and textbooks usually present it, well it stinks. It is boring in my opinion and the main reason a lot of people hate it. Every so often I would get a teacher who made me live history, feel it, breathe it and then it became AWESOME!
I try to do that with my kids. They get focused on something and we go with that for our schooling! Whether for history or science or ? They are into the show River Monsters, this means each episode we check out in our many books....the place the host is at, the fish he is hunting, etc. And because of this, my boys can say oh yeah.....I remember where that is and they have -----fish there! Or a lot of times with Mythbusters, we will work in a smaller AND safer version of their experiment!
I have always been interested in the Hatfield and McCoy feud. I could not wait to see the mini series and though I have just started it, I am enjoying it. Chances are, I will be checking into some books to further read up on it! And then passing them along to my boys! And recently when we went to Seattle for a homeschooling field trip, we stopped at the Klondike Gold Rush Museum. It was wonderful as they had 5 people whom they followed through their lives and times during the gold rush era and then beyond into their deaths. Many had books written about them with more detail. We bought several because it was SO interesting. ...

Everyone is calling Google+ the platform of the “early adopters” - - you know, those people who are some of the first to try new tools and experiment with new technologies. I’m convinced that’s why I see so many homeschoolers hanging out over there!

If ever there were a group of folks who are known for researching and investigating new and different ways of integrating technology into everyday life - - it’s homeschoolers!! We were playing around with educational tech LONG before public schools were coming around to the idea. I firmly believe that if you want to find out where the trendsetters are in terms of experimenting with new and innovative ways to educate children, simply peek into the windows of almost any homeschooling family.

Google+ is becoming popular among homeschoolers because they are always on the prowl for new information. And G+ makes it incredibly easy to share and procure information on most every conceivable subject. Unlike other traditional social networks, on G+ you don’t have to have gone to high school with someone to pick their brains. You can connect with people just because they...

• work with desert animals in the Mohave
• are researching differences between string theory vs loop quantum gravity
• offer free samples of world music for kids
• work as a page at the White House

Imagine a world where your kids can research information on owls not by reading about it in a 10-year-old text, but by following the stream of someone who is interning at a raptor center and cataloguing their daily duties!

But Google+ isn’t only for the benefit of our kids....homeschooling parents can certainly benefit as well. By using compiled homeschooling lists, you can quickly add a large number of other homeschooling moms and dads to your “homeschooling circles”. I’ve found the information on these streams to be incredibly enlightening. In a single day I can find out information ...