An Interview with Malcolm

I'm a proud momma today!  Yesterday, I caught Malcolm making a mess while wondering aloud "I was trying to find out if my paper towel would absorb water," as he dunked a napkin into his cup of water.  I'll admit, it caught me by surprise when he used the word absorb.  Trying to ignore the puddle of water, I replied, "Oh, so you're conducting an experiment?"  

Later that evening, he said, "Mom, can we do a real experiment?  I want to see if this (and this and that) will absorb water, too."  So, I promised him that we would conduct a 'real experiment' soon.  

Post experiment... check out Malcolm's interview.  
Sidenote: Malcolm loves to say "hmm" a lot. It just means he's thinking real hard...  : )

Learning Style and Approach

Learning is required, and my continual goal is to make it desired!  To avoid tears (hers and mine) my middle-schooler and I assessed her learning style and identified appropriate study strategies.  

Completing the VARK learning styles questionnaire for children was a great start!  

After determining that Michaiah's dominant learning style was auditory/aural, we identified appropriate study tips from the VARK helpsheets: 

• Auditory learners benefit from speaking, hearing, and putting sounds or music to their learning activities.  
• Michaiah will voice-record her study notes and play them back to herself versus simply writing them down.  
• Similarly, her dad and I will more often prompt her to verbally explain what she is studying.  
• It is important to take into account, while she intently listens to the teacher, she might take spotty notes in class.  So it's advised that aural learners fill in their study notes with details either from a textbook, handout, recorder, or other source.

The standard VARK questionnaire is a useful learning assessment for older students and adults as well.  Try it for yourself!  

Or, maybe you'd be interested in Edutopia's Learning Style Test for Children, another informative learning style assessment.  

Any other advice for aural learners?  I'm all ears! (pun intended)

   

STEM Outings

     Today, Marlon took our little guys to the Oklahoma Aquarium.  And on that note, I thought I'd share several 'out and about' photos related to STEM.  These guys have high mileage : )
  

Oklahoma Aquarium

Science Museum Oklahoma

Rock n Roll Exhibit at the Science Museum Oklahoma

Tulsa Life Flight at Camp Bandage

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Home Depot Kids Workshop

Excavating Fossils in Zoorassic Park at Tulsa Zoo