The Afterschooler

 One type of teaching that easily gets lost in afterschooling is project-based learning. It's something that takes effort on the part of both teacher and student, and as such, it tends to feel trickier than just doing your daily Duolingo or ixl.  But one of the things I loved about homeschooling full time was being able to follow my kids' interests. While I had a lot I wanted to cover, there were moments where it made a lot of sense to step back and say, "You're clearly interested in _______, so how about we do a project around that?" Full disclosure, projects take time and effort. And because of this, my tendency is to reserve projects for areas of student interest. As a teacher, you can cultivate student interest, by thinking about the sorts of things that inspire your kid, and talking to them about what you want them to learn through a lens of what attracts them.  As an example: a child inspired by art will be likely to enjoy learning about Renaissance science ...

Jump to instructions... I think this is the year that many parents may be focused on the "three Rs," because it feels like any more than that is exhausting. And that, my friends, is fair. But! I don't use exclamation points without cause.  In this year, 2020, the misery, the shame of America, the horror of remote learning, maybe it's exactly the time to re-up your arts education. God knows, with winter approaching of 2020, it feels like there's precious little beauty to be had otherwise. And because this is me, I'm not suggesting attending an art or music class (though that might be a good idea if your kid is into it). I started my campaign of art and music quite late. When we started our history lessons, it felt like enough to just get through a little extra history a week. I was not trying to make more work. And then a few years ago, we spent our "January term" (winter break, when we choose a topic to dig into a little more deeply) on music histor...