Resource Center
BC Ed Plan: Inquiry
Based Learning - Pippa Davies
One of the long time biggest draws to homeschooling is the desire of parents to empower their children to learn about things that excite them.
The new BC Ed Plan finally acknowledges this as a value for all students.
They call it “inquiry based learning”.
Inquiry based learning allows children/students to follow their interests and pursue passions rather than always dictating to students what they must learn. It allows students the freedom to stray from prescribed outcomes to explore and learn about things that interest them.
For example: If a student is out for a walk and spots a family of great-horned owls and is motivated to learn more about them, there is not only the freedom to do that, students and teachers are strongly encouraged to do that.
The second piece of inquiry based learning is asking students questions and then having them discover and research the answers.
So how does inquiry fit into this plan?
- Watch for things that pique your child(ren’s) interest.
- What gets them excited? What are they asking for books to learn about. This could be anything from dinosaurs, to drawing horses, to pulling apart ant hills.
- Ask your children probing questions.
- Why do you think that the dinosaurs grew so big?
- Why do owls clack their beaks and spread their wings when they feel threatened?
- What goes on inside an ant hill? How do ants survive the winter?
- Understand that you have the freedom to pursue learning opportunities and not feel restricted or tied to “the learning outcomes”. Isn’t that glorious news!?!
HCOS Resources
Mystery
Science is developing a complete K-5 science curriculum. The past two years,
we've been piloting Mystery Science lessons for 2nd-5th grade (ages 6-11). For
the upcoming school year (2016-2017), we’ll be releasing version 1 of our
2nd-5th grade curriculum. In addition, we’ll begin piloting lessons for
kindergarten and 1st grade. For a complete list of topics see mysteryscience.com.
DimensionU offers students a
real-time, multiplayer video game focusing on the content that you’re already
teaching or need to review! Our interactive platform allows students to compete
by answering Math or Literacy questions in a fast-paced environment. Each
game is designed with unique features to bring out distinct academic and
strategic skills in students, with detailed reports available for
teachers. Click the link below to download our games, or visit us
at www.dimensionu.com to
explore our web versions!
Concept Mapping With Make-A-Map
Thursday, January 21st at 5:30 pm ET
Ideal For: All Users
This webinar showcases the IdeaphoraⓇ-powered Make-a-Map, which lets students create concept maps using keywords, movie clips, and other elements to connect their thoughts and illustrate comprehension. We’ll explore the theory and mechanics behind this tool and consider the best ways to design assignments and assessments around it.
Pre-register & Join • Password: moby
Google Docs- Kathy Kanda (Google teacher)
Kathy will share how to
use Google docs, including the basics of Google Drive, sharing files and
folders, forms, and if time permits some extensions on Google Chrome.
Where: Blackboard Virtual Classroom
Who may
attend:
Staff, parents, students.
When: Tuesday January
19th 2016 1.30-2.30 pm PAC
Sign into the classroom
here at this link on the day:
A Moment of Reflection
| Optimism and hope are radically different attitudes. Optimism is the expectation that things-the weather, human relationships, the economy, the political situation, and so on-will get better. Hope is the trust that God will fulfill God's promises to us in a way that leads us to true freedom. The optimist speaks about concrete changes in the future. The person of hope lives in the moment with the knowledge and trust that all of life is in good hands. All the great spiritual leaders in history were people of hope. Abraham, Moses, Ruth, Mary, Jesus, Rumi, Gandhi, and Dorothy Day all lived with a promise in their hearts that guided them toward the future without the need to know exactly what it would look like. Let's live with hope. |
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