by Author Name Withheld 26

Created on: January 13, 2009

Think back to when you were in school.

If your education was anything like mine, it consisted mostly of textbooks and tests, with facts quickly memorized and just as quickly forgotten.

But a few things do stand out in my mind, like writing my own sixth-grade science textbook by taking notes and drawing pictures. Mrs. Cornelius, my wise teacher, was using "notebooking" long before it became popular.

I remember science labs in high school, working with beakers and burners. And the day we dissected an earthworm, and then a frog.

The act of doing something myself, rather than being a passive observer, is what made those memories last. And that's what will make your child's education more valuable.

Incorporating hands-on activities into your homeschool can take many forms. I'll discuss a few ideas here, but the possibilities are limited only by your imagination.

Are you studying animals? If there's a zoo nearby, nothing can beat going to see that animal in person. Check to see if the zoo has classes for homeschoolers. At the zoo in my area, the class discusses a topic, does a related craft, sees an animal up-close in the classroom (sometimes the children can even touch it), and goes on a zoo hike to get a look at the other animals they've been talking about. It's amazing what the children can remember when they experience it rather than just see it in a book.

Science lends itself very well to hands-on learning. For instance, when you study plants, an easy way to make it stick is to have your children grow their own. It's not hard at all to cultivate a bean plant in a jar, then transfer it to the ground and wait for the pods to grow. The kids will love watching their plant every day to see how it is progressing. Instructions are readily found on the Internet.

Experiments can make other science topics come alive. Homeschool curriculum companies realize that your home isn't equipped with a lab, so most experiments will use items that you already have in your house. Affordable kits are also readily available to go along with studies of electricity, or chemistry, or magnets, or radios, to name a few. Home Science Tools (www.hometrainingtools.com is just one of the many Web sites where you can find hands-on fun for your science lessons.

For math lessons, some popular curriculums include manipulatives that make abstract concepts more concrete. For some students, seeing is understanding. But you don't need an expensive curriculum to use manipulatives. Any small thing that can be

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