Experiential Learning

My last post really got me pondering again the benefits of experiential hands-on learning.  When this happens, I sort of 'geek-out' and start looking at the research again...

I have so many fond memories from my own childhood homeschool experience.  I was pulled out of 1st grade after a disasterous first semester.  After a tentative first couple of years we settled into a lifestyle of learning and never looked back.  Something that I liked most about it was the ability to enjoy a more hands-on, experiential way of learning.  When you eat, breath and really experience what you are learning about, it sticks in a way that just reading, listening or rote memorization just can't do.

The famous research by Edgar Dale shows the rates of retention with various types of learning.  Here's how it breaks down.

Learning that incorporates a multi-faceted approach will really build on the strengths that each has to offer. 

So in case you were wondering, I'm really not making this stuff up.

Much of my learning, growing up included elements from the bottom half of the pyramid above.  We not only read and talked about something, we experienced it. 

This is effective not only with little kids, but also older one's as well.  I used a lot of the hands-on learning that I had experienced in my childhood when I was at college.  It worked not only for me, but also with the students that I tutored when I taught the Human Anatomy and Physiology lab at ASU.

Thankfully, more schools out there are embracing this project-driven, hands-on, critical thinking type of approach as I saw in this article I reviewed last year.  I still just love how homeschooling provides a unique environment to personalize these hands-on interactions to fit the needs and interest for our children as individuals!

Ok, I'm off to try and get some sleep.  I feel like a kid on Christmas eve... We find out what we are having tomorrow and I'm just so excited!!!  haha, I'm one of those that likes the surprise in the middle of the pregnancy! :)  We'll be surprising our boys and the rest of the family tomorrow night and hopefully giving you all an update in the next day or two whether or not we will continue to specialize in boys or diversify!   Talk to you all soon!