Cage Free Monkeys

Homeschool Tech Activity: EASY Stop Motion Videos and a Challenge Activity

I am always looking for new ways to make homeschooling fun and hip, and I try to tie in the kids interests into things we learn about whenever possible.  They love learning and I want that to continue.  That's the basic principal behind my homeschooling mantra.

My masters degree is in Instructional Technology- essentially how to incorporate technology into instruction; to use technology to engage learners, building on the STEM skills they will need.  That's what I have been doing all while in my cozy pajamas using the gifts the kids got for Christmas. And I thank Steve Jobs everyday for making that oh-so-easy.

One of my Masters classes was on making movies.  Although only 10 years ago, we used big bulky video camera, edited in iMovie-like software (for hours) and came up with a half-way decent result.  When we repeated that lesson back into the classroom it was successful but so time consuming.

Flash forward 10 years to a couple of homeschoolers, an iPod touch and the internet:  the possibilities are endless and SIMPLE!

Here's what you will need:
iPod touch/ iPhone/ iPad (needs the camera feature)
iTimeLapse Pro it'll cost you a whopping $1.99
your choice of subject matter

You can do so much with this!  My 8 year old, with minimal help took his kit of Legos: Rockefeller Center and built it using the manual picture mode (taking a picture after every step of lego building) and really, other than the music selection, the app did the rest!

Here's his video:



HOMESCHOOLERS' CHALLENGE: 
I'd like to do a carnival of sorts.  A chance for others to learn about this app and share some of our results using a similar set of subject objects.

TASK:   Using the following items, create your own stop action movie and have it shared here in 1 week!  I think it'll be very cool to see how many different versions we can come up with using similar props.  Let's start out very simple since many of you may not be familiar with any of this application.

• iTimeLapse Pro 
• Paper City Paris on madebyjoel.com (this will be our "common thread" in all of our videos-- its doesn't  matter how you use it just so long as its there somehow)
• ANYTHING ELSE (prop-wise) YOU CAN DREAM OF

Once you have made your video post it to YouTube.com and email us the link and we will post our results!  Can't wait to see what turns up!  Get all videos in by January 21!!  Email the link of your video to jenaferlm at hotmail dot com  (if you can't get it loaded up to YouTube just email us the video!) When you send us the link or video let us know what name you would like displayed with your video (no need for real names- if you want to be private and internet-safety-minded!  AND if you have a blog and want it linked add that too!)

Happy movie making!

Scientific Journey Ends With Messy Floors

So today was all about excavating. We got a great Gem and Rock Excavation Kit from the Smithsonian Institute Science Store. Happily no one was injured by the wooden the mallet or sharp wooden spikes. We found quite a few cool gems within and were happy to hammer away.



My house now however looks as though a small cement factory exploded within because of the ability to smash the excavation ‘brick’ into sheer dust that is PERFECT for tracking through the house on feet and clothing. And according to the kids EVERY morsel had to be smashed just in case a teeny-tiny gem was hiding. YEAH Science!

Museum Days

Looking through my pictures last night from spending a day at the MOST in Syracuse with a group of area homeschooling families, I noticed something easy to miss. My kids are actually engaged in the whole learning at the museum. That’s not because they are brilliant or great or anything (which by the way they are)—but that isn’t the reason they are able to take in the learning so well.
Whenever we took kids to a museum for example in public school they kids were usually beyond hyper (and we teachers were secretly glancing at our watches wishing it all to be over and hoping no one goes missing in the next 4 hours). Why? Well in their minds they weren’t on their way to a hands-on learning expedition as the teachers thought they had planned or that their parents had paid for. No, they were going to anywhere that wasn’t a school building and wasn’t going to make them sit in a desk all day. They were going to socialize (homeschool humor). The kids felt free and they wanted to run around, hang out with their friends, chat, and the all important part of ANY school fieldtrip-eat lunch (because the lunch typically brought on a field trip usually far outweighs a school lunch any day). So these kids are so excited for one of the maybe 3 field trips they go on in a year that really any learning is way down on the list of things to do. So generally ask a public school kid after returning from a field trip how it was and I’ll bet you ten dollars the first thing you hear about is lunch followed by the bus ride.