Environment

A learning environment is one of the most essential ingredients in the successful home school.

• There must be bins of finger paint, construction paper, pop bottles, scissors, popsicle sticks and other craft/science project tools. These supplies will be used to create volcanoes, snowflakes, picture books, bridges, dinosaurs, light sabers and bird houses.



• Invest in good wall maps, globes and atlas'. You The children will wear them out with their greasy little fingers. National Geographic and Rand McNally both make wonderful and affordable maps. This one hangs in my son's room and is especially perspective changing.


• A home computer with good parental controls is a vital part of our home school. We use the internet to answer questions, find examples and facilitate learning. There are some amazing people out there who have made animations of Bernoulli's Principle, the Wright Brother's Flight, and weather patterns , just to name a few, that make learning come to life.


• The Library


• A stocked book shelf (shelves, eventually) is the core of our learning environment. I have found that if I have a variety of good books on the shelf, they will be read. My eleven year old son regularly reads 500 + page books. When he needs a new book at 10 o'clock at night, he just needs to walk into the living room. I'll cock five or six books which he might enjoy and give brief explanations as I go. From them, he'll choose his next read. We have the Childcraft books, Young Scientist Encyclopedias, Time-Life Books and other references. The rule we came up with picture books is that if we check them out from the library more than once, they need to be owned. I buy books from thrift stores, library sales and yard sales. Most often, though, because you can't rely on those other sources to have the specific book you need, when you need it, I go to the internet. http://www.abebooks.com/ has the best prices--often for less than $5. Amazon can also have good prices. (A word of warning about buying used books: buy only very good, like new or new quality or else you'll find yourself with a book that is falling apart and not worth the $2 you saved.)

Even if you don't hold school every day, within this rich environment, one can't help but learn.