Home school is community learning

One of our learning projects - Tomales Bay clean-up - content for: social studies, math, art, science, language arts, civics. All those areas of study with bonus: adventure, happiness, freedom, good works.

We presented a slideshow and talk at the College of Marin in 2006. You can search an IJ article about this by looking for this title: Turning the simple life into art in Inverness (September 21, 2006)

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Two Recommended Books for Community Learning from Ruth Lopez



Thanks to Ruth Lopez for these recommendations.

Creating Learning Communities; Models, Resources, and New Ways of Thinking About Teaching and Learning edited by Ron Miller. Cuts down on time spent reinventing the wheel. Many beautiful examples of alternative models others have developed. Wide variety of models. Browse and find the one the best suits West Marin. My favorite is The Alternative Learning Center on page 111.


A Systems View of Education by Bela Banathy. Where do we want to be as a community in the future? We can't get there by looking in the rear view mirror, in other words by trying to fix the current education system. We need first to define where we want to go and then design an education system that will take us there. His conclusion is that community-based education will be the educational model of choice. Education by and for the community is truly owned by the community and people will support what they themselves create.

Primary materials

We learn from concrete. We move from the concrete to the abstract. This is obvious in younger children. This is why daily life that is inclusive and respectful of children teaches.

Even abstract thinking and writing have roots in the concrete.

Silas Blunk Final Project at Oxbow School: Art and Math

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oxbowschool/8301665662/in/set-72157632325013780/

Hands-on math

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/22/science/usc-exhibit-shows-fractals-built-from-paper.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130122&_r=0