http://www.audaciousideas.org/?p=371 Audacious Ideas is a blog created to stimulate ideas and discussion about solutions to difficult problems in Baltimore. Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:11:34 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 http://www.audaciousideas.org/?p=371&cpage=1#comment-5875 Greg Cantori 100,000 Bicycle miles Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:07:18 +0000 http://www.audaciousideas.org/?p=371#comment-5875 You've hit right on Homeschooling advantages. What I learned as a homeschooling teacher ( or is it faciltiator, actor, presenter?)was how much more fun it was to run outside and grab a leaf, some pond water or as you pointed out, ice crystals and make some observations with tons of student led questions. During Obama's speech he mentioned the battle of Bull Run as a setback our country had to recover from - my daugter who had just learned about that battle jumped up and gave me a high five and said "See, we all have to learn from history!" You’ve hit right on Homeschooling advantages. What I learned as a homeschooling teacher ( or is it faciltiator, actor, presenter?)was how much more fun it was to run outside and grab a leaf, some pond water or as you pointed out, ice crystals and make some observations with tons of student led questions. During Obama’s speech he mentioned the battle of Bull Run as a setback our country had to recover from – my daugter who had just learned about that battle jumped up and gave me a high five and said “See, we all have to learn from history!”

]]> http://www.audaciousideas.org/?p=371&cpage=1#comment-5858 Phoebe Stein Davis Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:02:37 +0000 http://www.audaciousideas.org/?p=371#comment-5858 I applaud and share your goal of doing more to help prepare our future leaders for success. Hear Hear! I also agree that informal education outside the classroom can enrich a student's learning immeasurably. I do, however, want to urge your readers not to forget the value of an informal humanities education-- one in history, literature, philosophy, art history, and jurisprudence. Kids need to learn by experimenting outside the science lab, but they also need to learn the language and critical thinking skills to interpret what they are learning about the scientific world around them. Right now my organization, the Maryland Humanities Council, is running Maryland History Day, a program that gets kids excited about history by asking them to do research projects that complement their classroom work. Students work for months on a documentary film, performance, exhibition, website, or paper on a historical topic of their choosing, then they compete in April at Maryland History Day. A panel of judges—local professors, journalists, historians—asks them questions about their work and they win prizes based on how well they can orally defend their projects. More than 16,500 Maryland middle and high school students participate in county and state contests. A number also go on the National History Day competition held at the University of Maryland College Park. Through this program students delve into history through reading and writing, do original research, and identify reliable primary sources. But, perhaps most importantly, they learn about the world around them—-as it was, as it is, and the ways in which they can shape what it might be. I applaud and share your goal of doing more to help prepare our future leaders for success. Hear Hear! I also agree that informal education outside the classroom can enrich a student’s learning immeasurably. I do, however, want to urge your readers not to forget the value of an informal humanities education– one in history, literature, philosophy, art history, and jurisprudence. Kids need to learn by experimenting outside the science lab, but they also need to learn the language and critical thinking skills to interpret what they are learning about the scientific world around them. Right now my organization, the Maryland Humanities Council, is running Maryland History Day, a program that gets kids excited about history by asking them to do research projects that complement their classroom work. Students work for months on a documentary film, performance, exhibition, website, or paper on a historical topic of their choosing, then they compete in April at Maryland History Day. A panel of judges—local professors, journalists, historians—asks them questions about their work and they win prizes based on how well they can orally defend their projects. More than 16,500 Maryland middle and high school students participate in county and state contests. A number also go on the National History Day competition held at the University of Maryland College Park. Through this program students delve into history through reading and writing, do original research, and identify reliable primary sources. But, perhaps most importantly, they learn about the world around them—-as it was, as it is, and the ways in which they can shape what it might be.

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