In an effort to provide resources not only to our current families but to offer them to families outside of our school, we will be posting each Tuesday in our Teach Me Tuesday series. This series will be comprised of tips for at-home learning, elective mini-classes, and more. We hope that you join us each Tuesday.
Being at home with your students is a unique opportunity to discover your child’s passions with them. At HOPE Academy our model allows parents to have more time back with their students. Depending on their grade level students have one to two days of at-home educational instruction and the weekends to pursue. During this unique time of social distancing you may be finding yourself with this opportunity. This is the perfect time to encourage a “Genius Hour.”
Don’t worry, you don’t need a whole hour for this activity, though some of you may actually want to use a whole hour or beyond if your kiddos are getting a little stir crazy, and that is completely fine. And guess what? Parents, you can have your own Genius Hour as well!
But first, watch this video with our very own Chef Harris aka Jill-of-all-Trades-at-HOPE-Academy to hear a little more about Genius Hour.
Here’s how to get started with your Genius Hour:
Find a comfy space to have a conversation with your child(ren) and ask them some questions like:
- If you could study one thing what would it be?
- What makes you curious?
- What are you passionate about?
- What problems do you see in the world that you would like to help solve?
Consider these three rules when brainstorming ideas:
- It must have a driving question. Ex. How can I track what birds I see in my backyard every spring? How can I help solve the problem of ground level ozone pollution in my neighborhood? What can I learn about watercolor painting techniques?
- It must involve research. (If you know everything already about this, and don’t have to learn anything it isn’t fit for Genius Hour)
- The end result/creation/artifact from the project must be shared at the end of the unit.
Did you know, this is not the first time in history social distancing has affected students? Sir Isaac Newton experienced something similar in the 1600’s and because of that we now know more about gravity, optics and more! Have fun, and tell us about your Genius Hour. For more information check out geniushour.com.
Thanks for learning with us today! Leave a comment with what you might be exploring during your time. We will be posting some ideas and pictures of what our students are doing for their Genius Hour later this week.
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Be blessed!