Learning is constantly happening--as humans, we are constantly observing and interacting with the world and those around us, and these moments, are, in fact, when we learn. This is the basic idea of my philosophy of teaching and learning, and so it's also the premise I use as a teacher--home school or not. Instead of the more traditional route of gathering a bunch of books and activities on bugs, I'm approaching this differently with Seven and Four. I know Seven is very motivated and already knows a lot about this topic, and Four is mildly interested--maybe motivated by the fact that her big bro is so enthralled--but the reasons for motivation don't really matter as long as the desire to know more is present and active. I have two very different learners at different levels of motivation, age, and background knowledge, and this is what teachers face in the classroom, only times about 10 and usually all the same age. While the numbers in this scenario are different, how similar can the approach be? how different does it have to be? Still thinking like a teacher, I'm reflecting on this from both perspectives: homeschool and whole group teaching.
Anyways, we practiced writing the letter B on Monday and drew some bugs in our lesson journals, and brainstormed other words with the B sound--beginning, middle, and end. Just thinking about the letter in print and sound. We saw a live Black Widow spider and other insects and arachnids at the museum, and on the following day while visiting my friend in NH. Seven found a stink bug, grasshopper, tons of caterpillars in a huge nest full of eggs too, and a bright green and yellow caterpillar on its own. Wednesday we did some sorting by color and counting using small plastic bugs, and pretended to be "grasshopper hunters" at the apple orchard. Should I say pretended? We really "did the work of grasshopper hunters"...steathly moving through the grass and sneaking up on them, trying to catch them and being very careful to release them, and we counted 14 plus one katydid, before Four pooped out in the grass--it was pretty hot at the orchard. We stopped at the dollar store on the way home to pick up a couple of extra bug catchers to keep in the car for future occasions when they may be needed, and that night Seven wrote an amazing story in his Adventure Journal about our day.
Thursday and Friday we had some conversations about the grasshoppers, and did some casual drawings, but were also busy with doctor and dentist appointments, and grocery shopping. Seven told me he found a centipede early in the morning and tried to catch it, but it was too quick and got away. He also used a flashlight to check my husband's head for lice before bedtime (most likely inspired by my rantings last school year as we were pretty infested for awhile and I may have been a bit crazy about sleeping in a shower cap full of olive oil every night...aka the salad hat...but I'm digressing!). I'm just trying to remember all the bug related instances over this past week, which brings me to today.
We went to a local museum today for a nature journalling presentation by a fabulous wildlife artist and also a Curious Creatures live animal show. The show included snakes, a skunk and a rabbit, turtles, a tarantula, and an alligator. I now know how to tell a croc from an alligator! Seven leaned over to me during the show and whispered, "Mama, I love this!" He was in his glory, and Four was always first to reach out and touch these creatures, and she completed a whole nature journal booklet! Her fave was the bunny. We picked up a cool insect field guide in the gift shop, and as we looked though it tonight, I really listened and watched Seven as he went through every page.
I noticed that he (remember: a non-reader) recognized many insects--mole cricket, leaf and stick bugs, thorn beetles, katydids, and more. Some of them seem obvious--the thorn beetle looks like a big thorn--but others are much more obscure, like the mole cricket (looks like a plain old cricket to me), and the assassin bugs. When he got to the assassin bug page and named them, I asked, "How do you know these are all assassin bugs?" (there were four different ones pictured on the page). He replied by pointing out similar characteristics on each of the four bugs, so that even though they all looked different, the close observer could see these certain similar traits.
I was really amazed, and it made me think about how he is essentially "reading" these creatures--he knows the distinct features and has identified them as symbols, which basically is what readers do, only the features are the lines and shapes that make up letters and the patterns of letters that make up words, and we assign sounds and meanings to these symbols. This is what I found so interesting, and I truly don't know yet how that information will guide my teaching, but I do feel it's a significant observation, especially from a naturalist intelligences perspective.
This week was "messing about"--first stage in teaching in learning, allowing us to just "play" with the topic, review and assess schema, and lead us to our next stage: "diving in". Seven knows all insects have 3 body parts (head, thorax, abdomen), he knows arachnids are not insects and have only 2 body parts and eight legs. He knows about different bug habitats: webs, trees, dirt, under rocks, our house:). And he clearly understands and knows about some different characteristics and adaptations of several distinct species. That's pretty much the benchmark expectation for first grade curriculum in our state. Now what?
I have some yoga and movement activities up my sleeve that are insect related, and I think Four will really enjoy them, so I'm planning on those for next week, along with continued conversations, exploring outside, and reading the field guide. The yoga/movement will get us thinking about getting inside the head of insects--what do they think about and why? Maybe we'll do one of my favorite poems, The Spider and the Fly with an activity...uh-oh, am I relying on the good old traditional stuff?! We can practice writing in the form of labeling our drawings (the way scientists do).....much to ponder about this next step, but I'm looking forward with much excitement!
Just a note, in a group of 20+ primates, there's no way a teacher could assess and observe each student this closely. But that doesn't mean this knowledge and these skills aren't developing in each of them, so allowing this important time to "play" with the topic, "mess about", IS worthwhile, and can offer the teacher a wealth of perspective on those s/he can observe in a group setting. The group also offers many opportunities to observe the primates teaching and learning from each other--basic principal of multi-age education. One of the things I love most as a school teacher is eavesdropping on the conversations that conspire while primates are solving problems and creating products--you learn SO much about what they know, who they are, and what they need in this way. Now THAT is assessment that can drive instruction in a meaningful way, (vs. a spread sheet with students ranked and sorted by a bunch of abbreviated catch phrases and numbers--this is what we do in American public schools).
Forgot to mention we are reading, James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl. I love this adventurous tale of a sad boy who finds himself while adventuring with a gang of giant bugs. This was the last chapter book I read with my class in July, so there's some sentimentality attached to this, for me. There have been lots of role plays between Seven and Four of the different events in the story as we read several chapters each day--in the morning and at night. Lots of drawings of the different characters with alternate story lines too. While Four is often distracted and involved in princess play as I read, she is still engaged with the story, and Seven and I always do a re-cap before reading in order to catch her and daddy (only there for the bedtime readings) up. Lots of cliffhanger chapter endings which has them begging for "just a little more please!!!!" and opens up room for discussing predictions, which Seven struggles with--that fear of taking a chance he'll be wrong. These fears seem so silly and unnecessary to me as an adult, but when I think like a child, I know these fears are deep and real. And as an adult, I have to figure out how to very delicately lead him out of feeling afraid. I feel like we are on a good path.
This post is so long, but I also just want to talk about Seven's sudden interest in temperature. We've been keeping a daily graph of the weather in our "ploffice" (playroom/office/storage room), and on Tuesday, I put up a window thermometer in the livingroom. I introduced it as a tool to measure how hot or cold it feels outside, and we discussed the numbers and lines, the mercury, how to read it, and what the different temps feel like (100 degrees=really really hot, 20 degrees=really really cold, etc). Each day since, Seven has repeatedly checked the thermometer and reported the temp, which has varied from 60 to 80 all week. In those moments, I've asked what we notice about our clothing and how we feel, are the windows open or closed?, and that as we enter the autumn equinox, the weather will change to cooler temps than in summer. I think this might be a good time to begin formal nature journalling.
Here's what I want Seven and Four to learn from this bug experience: that we are all connected to eachother and the world around us--every living thing. That's not in the state frameworks, but it's an example of the freedom in home schooling that I am growing to love so much!
Hurt No Living Thing
Hurt no living thing:
Ladybird, nor butterfly
Nor moth with dusty wing,
Nor cricket chirping cheerily,
Nor grasshopper so light of leap.
Nor dancing gnat, or beetle flat,
Nor harmless worms that creep.
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