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“The book spells out the different steps in implementing student-directed projects, and every chapter has an inspiring list of specific ideas/formats. My only complaint is I want more — I can’t wait to read what Pickert publishes next.”
“[A] must read for all parents and educators who are interested in raising/encouraging children to take charge of their education and make learning a lifestyle and not just a chore. This book is filled with practical advice…”
“There is so much practical, useful information in this book. … Pickert gives us the tools to be great mentors to our kids.”
“In addition to teaching how to do project-based homeschooling it’s like a manual on how to live.”
“Do yourself a favor and read this book with a highlighter and pencil in hand.”
“Although the title says ‘Project-Based Homeschooling,’ it is really something that any parent could incorporate into their lives, homeschooling or regular schooling.”
“Brilliantly written book, easy to read, easy to follow, well organised, stuffed full of easy to follow and idea-provoking tips for enjoying learning and supporting children of all ages. ... As a librarian and advocate of life long learning, I can’t tell you what a joy this book is to read — affirming, inspiring and practical.”
“Her writing style is really accessible, witty and flows beautifully; she paints a picture of a world you can’t help but want to be a part of. This isn’t a vague philosophy, this is a how-to book that empowers parents to empower their children.”
“For those new to homeschooling and even those such as myself, who have been homeschooling for years, this book will be the one you have on hand at all times. Easy to read, intelligent, heartfelt, inspiring and honest!”
“I can't recommend it highly enough.”
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“[H]er new book … synthesizes so much wisdom about homeschooling from a project-based perspective.”
“[O]verflowing with ideas for any parent who’d like to encourage more self-directed learning in their kids.”
“Do yourself a favor and read this book with a highlighter and pencil in hand.”
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“Anyone who considers themselves the ultimate guardian of their children’s education … will find ideas to think about and act upon.”
“[A] rare book that both inspired me to make changes in the way I homeschool and gave me the practical means to make them.”
“[T]his isn't just a homeschooling book. It is a guide to parenting.”
“[I]t’s a revolutionary vision of how kids can learn — and an idea book for making that learning happen.”
“What Pickert has done with her book is explain in an easy-to-read and practical manner what parents can do at home to ensure that children will take charge of their own education and gain essential skills. If that sounds far-fetched, I suggest you read the book.”
“There are only a handful of books that I can honestly say have changed my life. This … is one of those books.”
16 comments
I guess some of my questions about the parent journal are:
how often do you write in it?
is it considered a keepsake or is it just functional?
does the child look at your journal?
and also, silly things like what size do you think works best, does it need to be portable or do you keep it with the project, do you use any online type recording devices like Evernote, ect.?
Thanks.
those are excellent questions, julie, and exactly what i’m looking for — thank you!
I want to know about photos. Do you take pictures of everything new thing they do during project time or just pictures of deep project work?
What is your system for putting pictures in the book? I know you mentioned in the forums that you use your iphone, then right away email it to yourself. Do you attach notes to the picture? When do you take it off your email and put it in your notebook? What is your habit of looking at your notes? How often?
How do you keep your child from drawing 1 fairy per page in her notebook? How do you teach them to fill the page or do you? How do you guide them to use their own notebooks?
One journal per topic or one journal for everything?
If I think of others I will let you know. :-)
good questions! :) keep ’em coming!
would love to see more pics of what journals look like. Also more pics of childrens journals would be helpful. Young childrens journals?
Another question - I realise the journal is a working document - do the children create finished works ie a film or book or display etc? Or is the journal the finished work ie the culmination of the project?
hi rebekah :)
this e-book is going to concentrate on parent journals; maybe we can do another on children’s journals.
What took me the longest time to get my head around was how to get the system to work for my way of thinking. So I think a lot of options of the "how" would be good. I still don't feel how I do the journal on a daily basis is great but it's happening.
hi jacinda :)
i am including photos and descriptions of several different kinds of journals/journaling techniques — i probably haven’t covered them all, but we’ll at least give a nice variety of options.
“I still don't feel how I do the journal on a daily basis is great but it's happening.” — i’m giving some strategies for daily journaling. it seems to give a lot of people issues. :)
thank you for your suggestions!
I am trying to switch over our homeschool to more of a project-based day. How do you help older children start a project? Both my kids are not interested in starting projects. Do you keep a separate journal for each child? Do you keep your own project journal for your on going projects, kind of like set the example for them of what they might do? Can others who come over help them with their projects, like friends? I think I have lots of questions, but I'm terrible about staying on topic.
AL
alissa, you need to join the forum! — http://project-based-homeschooling.com/forum
you can ask your questions and get detailed answers there. (and there’s already quite a bit of information for you to read through.)
you should also really buy my book. :) it covers how to start a project, how to start feeding your children’s interests (without having to expressly announce to them “we’re starting a project!”), involving friends, and etc. if not, you need to start reading the whole blog! try the posts in the right-hand column to start. :)
your questions re: journaling are good. read those posts i linked to above, and i’ll be sure to address whether you need separate journals or not in the e-book. (my short answer: no, if they are working on the same project or connected projects, yes if they are working on completely different projects.)
I'm wondering a bit about logistics; how you keep track of things during the day. I know you've mentioned post-it notes, but where do you put them? How do you avoid losing them? Do you keep pens and things around the house so you can grab them while you're cooking supper etc? Do you transcribe everything or just tape it in?
i mostly use post-its if i don't want to be burdened (or slowed down) by figuring out how i want to organize information in my journal. or if i'm in some part of the house without my journal. i buy those little ones and yes, they’re pretty much everywhere. :) i have pens everywhere, too! kitchen, living room, studio, bedroom...
i stick the post-its in and then later i *usually* (depends on how much time i have) transcribe them. for me personally, transcribing = reflection. while i’m moving the notes onto the page, i’m thinking about them (reflecting) and what i’m going to do about them, if anything.
thanks, jennifer! i may think of ways to expand on this explanation. :)
If the journal is for project work, and not all of the day is spent on project work, then do you also journal for the non-project work parts? And how do you know if *this* thing that isn't a 'project' is going to become one or not, and worthy of journaling? I guess I'm seeing the 'one project per book' goal as too idealistic.
look at it this way. the journal is a tool for supporting children’s work. it helps you keep track of things that are happening so you don’t forget them, so you can see patterns you might not notice on the spot, so you can make connections you might miss otherwise. you also jot down your own ideas, because you’re doing your best to hold them in reserve and not direct your child’s work.
you can use your journal for anything you want to record, any idea you think might be useful to you later, anything you want to save or remember.
when it comes to projects, when you’re starting out, you’re bumbling around a little, like someone feeling around for a lightswitch in the dark. you’re not exactly sure what you’re looking for, maybe, or if what you’re recording is really going to be helpful later on. maybe you’re journaling because you’re observing and looking for a good interest to support. you’re not at the beginning of a project so much as you’re at the stage before the beginning. but your journal can be helpful to you then, too. the edges between project and not-project and between project A and project B are a little fuzzy.
once you’ve learned this way for awhile, you become more adept at recognizing when an interest has a lot of potential — both in terms of how much can be learned *and* how likely it is to hold your child’s interest for a long time. between projects, you focus on doing one-off activities and exploring and having adventures and refilling the well. by this time, you’ve figured out what your journal can help you with — so you reach for it with confidence, deliberately. you might take fewer notes because you have a better sense of what you’re going to need or what’s resonating with more importance.
as you move along that learning curve, you might use your journal in myriad ways. “one project per journal” is just a rough guideline. you definitely want to keep everything to do with one project together. but it might blur into the early stage when you weren’t exactly sure what was happening, and it might fuzzle along at the end as you realize it’s morphing into a new focus that may become the next project.
as for journaling non-project work, that’s entirely up to you. again, it’s a tool, and as you master that tool, you may begin to see its usefulness in other areas. you may want to bring that same level of attention and focus to something non-project-related. i think all the mentoring skills transfer. :)
thanks for the great questions, shannon. i’m definitely using this discussion to inform how i organize the material for the e-book.
Hi Lori;
While reading page 41 of your book, under the heading The Power of Your Attention - ..."you begin to gather the data that helps you figure out how she learns and how you can help her learn", I wrote to myself "How do I interpret the information I gather?".
I think I know what you mean about how to do this (..."by paying attention to her environment, you'll begin to see how each choice is made..." etc) but would it be possible to give us an example about this process in your ebook? I just want to read about your process, how you go through what you write, how you work out what sticks out the most from what you pay attention to, write in your journal and reflect on.
Thank you!
Magdalena
magdalena, thank you so much for your comment. that’s a great question — hopefully i can expand on it in the e-book and give some good tips. i definitely have room to expand on this topic — thus the e-book! :)
just off the top of my head, i’ll give an example.
often, when you are recording notes in your journal, you’re simply putting down what happened, without comment or deep reflection. later, you read over your notes and look for patterns, connections, questions that weren’t answered, plans. some things are obvious: your child states an idea that he has and you simply remember it so you can remind him of it later. other things are less obvious.
let’s say you read back and notice that several times you’ve noted the children are squabbling over the blocks — elbowing each other and arguing over who gets to use what or who has more. you might set this as something you want to experiment with. maybe you move the blocks to a different area that offers more room for the children to spead out, so they aren’t crowded. maybe you go out and buy more blocks, so they have enough to use together and build larger constructions. then you would want to see how that experiment fared: did it make a difference? what changed? were they able to do more? did the conflicts dissipate?
just making one change based on something you’ve noticed can feel very powerful. you realize that paying attention leads to noticing more and small changes can affect how your child works.
thank you for your suggestion — i will do my best to enlarge on this and give more examples! :)
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