Our family thrives on hands-on learning! Whenever we get the chance to review materials that get us physically working to learn gets us excited. You can often find a random experiment jar on the counter or a project on a table or a child or two working to complete a fun challenge. I am a firm believer that people learn better when they do and try to incorporate that philosophy into the upbringing of my children.
When we're not actively learning though, we focus on literature. We spend a large portion of our school day reading. I've explained many times that our education is literature-based with an emphasis on hands-on learning. So combining the two means of learning like Tied 2 Teaching has done with their STEM Activities, Full Year of Challenges with Close Reading seems pretty perfect to me.
Matthew Kelly, founder of Tied 2 Teaching, has been teaching in the classroom for years. He has created over one thousand materials to be used with students PreK-8th grade, ranging from language arts to character development to geography and more. His passion for math and science education inspired this collection of seasonal STEM Activities. He and his wife also homeschool their 4 little ones.
Are you familiar with STEM? It's all about science, technology, engineering, and math. Focusing on these topics encourages problem-solving and innovation, aids in the application of knowledge, and fosters a love of learning. This STEM Activities bundle comes as individual downloads that can be divided by month to keep kids active and learning all year long. The exercises are seasonally matched and include extra fun "holidays" like a droid challenge in May to celebrate "May the 4th" for the Star Wars fans, a pencil tower challenge in September to celebrate "back to school," and a hat for cat challenge in March to celebrate both Dr. Seuss' birthday and National Reading Month.
For example, here is what you can find for Easter and Earth Day in the month of April:
I have been reading the close text aloud and discussing the material with the kids. I love times like this as it always encourages further study, like looking up ticket prices for going up into the Eiffel Tower or researching shipwrecks and their locations. The information in the download is both a great starting point for a full study and a great stand-alone product. I love that each challenge can also supplement additional studies, like last month when we were learning about spiders and included the spider challenge from here.
My kids love the open-ended challenges, as they get to show their creativity. It's so fun to watch their minds work and how each one is different. We have been discussing the questions and thinking activities aloud together, but I can see how students could benefit from writing out their answers.
I love how their personalities shine through in their designs, too. For instance, during the Design a Treasure Chest challenge, my 9-year-old said, "I'm going to make one really, really, really big. Because what I want to put in it is you!" And then, because he couldn't keep me in a box, he made one to hold a picture of me from high school that he keeps framed next to his bed.
We haven't worked through all of the challenges, but we have found a mistake. The close reading in the Construct the Eiffel Tower directs to the reading for the Design a Zip Line. However, it is easy to search for Eiffel Tower on the site and the correct reading comes up. It is the same as Design a Building Block Structure, but the close reading questions are different for the two challenges.
We are greatly enjoying these STEM Activities, Full Year of Challenges with Close Reading. I appreciate the variety of activities that are included and love the addition of the close reading texts. This resource perfectly sums up our schooling style. I can't wait to see what other fun things we'll do throughout the year.
You can connect with Tied 2 Teaching on the following social media sites:
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You can find various other STEM challenges included in the download by reading more reviews on the Homeschool Review Crew blog.
For example, here is what you can find for Easter and Earth Day in the month of April:
- Jelly Bean Tower
- Design a Carrot Carriage
- Design Something Useful
- Upcycled Birdhouse
Each challenge begins with an online close reading text (short, high-interest reading passage). The reading can be accessed through a QR code, a link in the download, directly on the site (which also contains ideas for additional activities and links on the subject), or a printed copy. There are a handful of questions to help students better grasp the materials and get them to think. Questions about definitions and synonyms are straightforward, but others asking "Why do you think . . ." and "What sentence in the text supports your answer" can vary greatly.
Next, the student is introduced to the challenge. There is criteria, material suggestions, the final product requirements, and pictures examples from Matthew's own students.
It's always good to have a plan. Before the student gets to creating, he can write out his ideas. There are a few different page format options that give space to write, draw, and solve. What do you already know about (insert challenge)? What will it look like? Explain its design. What is one way you could make it even better? Of course, there is also a space to draw a sketch.
Next is the fun part--completing the challenge! This can take as little as 30 seconds (like the Eiffel Tower challenge) or as long as you have the time, patience, and interest for. With homeschooling, we have the flexibility to work as long as we like. Some challenges took 10-15 minutes, while others lasted an hour or so. As long as there is interest, we keep working. Obviously, things that are painted or glued will take a longer time from beginning to end to complete.
After the challenge itself is completed, there are follow-up pages. The student is asked to list the steps he took to meet the challenge, explain why or why not his design was successful, describe which parts went well, and so on. There is also a page for him to recognize how each aspect of STEM was included in the challenge. Each question is meant to strengthen thinking skills.
Just as I suspected, my kids love these challenges! We complete at least one challenge a week together as a family, but use them as one-on-one time when a child is needing something extra to do, too. The challenges are geared toward grades 3-6. I have kids both older and younger than the recommended ages. My little ones need some extra help and my middle schooler is a bit advanced for some of the activities, but overall, this is a great resource that can be adapted for all ages.
I have been reading the close text aloud and discussing the material with the kids. I love times like this as it always encourages further study, like looking up ticket prices for going up into the Eiffel Tower or researching shipwrecks and their locations. The information in the download is both a great starting point for a full study and a great stand-alone product. I love that each challenge can also supplement additional studies, like last month when we were learning about spiders and included the spider challenge from here.
My kids love the open-ended challenges, as they get to show their creativity. It's so fun to watch their minds work and how each one is different. We have been discussing the questions and thinking activities aloud together, but I can see how students could benefit from writing out their answers.
I love how their personalities shine through in their designs, too. For instance, during the Design a Treasure Chest challenge, my 9-year-old said, "I'm going to make one really, really, really big. Because what I want to put in it is you!" And then, because he couldn't keep me in a box, he made one to hold a picture of me from high school that he keeps framed next to his bed.
We haven't worked through all of the challenges, but we have found a mistake. The close reading in the Construct the Eiffel Tower directs to the reading for the Design a Zip Line. However, it is easy to search for Eiffel Tower on the site and the correct reading comes up. It is the same as Design a Building Block Structure, but the close reading questions are different for the two challenges.
We are greatly enjoying these STEM Activities, Full Year of Challenges with Close Reading. I appreciate the variety of activities that are included and love the addition of the close reading texts. This resource perfectly sums up our schooling style. I can't wait to see what other fun things we'll do throughout the year.
You can connect with Tied 2 Teaching on the following social media sites:
You can find various other STEM challenges included in the download by reading more reviews on the Homeschool Review Crew blog.
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