Merfolkology: The Science, Math, Literacy and Art of Mermaids, Mermen & Merfolk | Play-Based & Interest-Led Learning
Using art, story-telling and play, we will go beyond the Disney Princesses, and meet the diverse Merfolk and marine life of the ocean (including an almost-real life Mermaid!). Learners will develop marine science & biology, math, engineering (STEM), literacy, social and language skills over the half-semester | #academic | Neurodiverse, Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, Gifted Inclusive.
Alice Campbell
Average rating:
5.0
Number of reviews:(188)
What's included
5 live meetings
3 hrs 20 mins in-class hoursHomework
There is no assigned homework in this class. In some cases, depending on the pace that each child prefers working at, they may not finish their project in the allocated class time. In this case they can continue working on their projects after class. Following each session, I will also provide a handout with suggestions for (optional) activities, play and art to extend children's off-screen learning and interests between sessions. Prior to each session, children will need assistance to prepare and set-up. This will typically take 5 - 10 minutes for most sessions.Assessment
I do not use tests or other standardised approaches to assessing children's progress. In this age group, testing it is not developmentally appropriate and in some cases may be psychologically and academically harmful. However, as a teacher, I do believe it is important for me to be accountable to both children and parents. I aim to deliver classes that are not just "busy work" or entertainment, but which actively contribute to each child's learning in meaningful and sustainable ways. To do this, I use continuous observation of children's activity and conversation. When I make these observations, I am specifically considering the child's development in relation to the learning outcomes of the class (see above). I then routinely provide feedback to children. This may consist of: ~ positive affirmation (e.g. "I really liked the way you communicated your idea with that painting"); ~ positive reflection (e.g. "I wonder how you came up with that idea?"); and/ or ~ positive stretching (e.g. "I wonder if you could show that idea in other ways?). This is a wholistic approach to assessment. The child's response to my feedback helps me understand of "how far" they have traveled in their learning, and then "what comes next" in their learning. I welcome questions and inquiries from parents about their child's learning progress.Class Experience
US Grade Pre-Kindergarten - 2
𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗸𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗹, 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 '𝗜𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗪𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱'! From May 2023, group classes from 'In The Real Wonderland' will only be offered on Outschool on a limited/ occasional basis. One-on-one, individually tailored play-based learning sessions will continue to be available on Outschool for the remainder of 2023. ______________________________ Ｃｌａｓｓ Ｄｅｓｃｒｉｐｔｉｏｎ In this class, we will take a "deep dive" into the ocean and explore beaches and shorelines through the eyes of the mythological mermaids, mermen and other merfolk. Along the way we will meet some other diverse ocean creatures such as seahorses and narwhals, and discover the underwater world of sea caves, whale worlds, kelp forests and perhaps even find some buried treasures! Our activities each week begin with merfolk stories, to inspire hands-on activities: including open-ended art, play, engineering and experiments. Our stories include representations of merfolk with diverse skin colours, gender identities, family types, neurotypes, and body shapes. Throughout this class experience, children will have opportunities to develop, practice and explore new vocabulary, mathematical concepts, and scientific thinking and problem-solving. At the end of our five weeks together, children will have created their own merfolk mythology and objects to keep their imaginations (and their learning!) alive. This class uses a teaching approach known as "scientific playworlds", which helps young children develop high-level STEM skills through imaginative play, art and story-telling. Research shows that, compared to circle time classes, this interest-led and play-based approach increases memory retention of science, maths and language concepts, and promotes children's longer-term interest in STEM (Chung, 2016; Fleer, 2017; Williams, 2010). ______________________________ Ｍｅｒｆｏｌｋｏｌｏｇｙ： Ｗｅｅｋｌｙ Ｃｏｎｔｅｎｔ This class is structured to provide children with high levels of learning autonomy. In other words, this course does not use “pre-selected” topics or themes. Instead, each week we introduce a ‘big idea’. Our story-telling provides an opportunity for young children to both develop some vocabulary to engage with that idea, and to begin exploring what that idea means to them – and to others. Subsequently, our open-ended activities invite children to explore and develop a deeper understanding of of that idea. Rather than ‘giving’ children abstract ‘facts’ to memorise or telling children 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 to think, we use art, play and child-led experimentation to support their skills in 𝘩𝘰𝘸 to think and learn for themselves. This approach helps children develop their language, literacy, mathematics and science/ STEM skills as resources or ‘tools’ for engaging with their ideas in the real world. 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝟭: 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗸 ➡ Big idea: The Power of Imagination. ➡ Exploration/ Activity: Salt water painting. ➡ Some of the focus skills we will use this week: Using imagination to think scientifically; language and literacy (narrative language); Mathematics (shape composition, pattern-making/ sequencing/ algebraic thinking, counting, subitisation). 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝟮: 𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮 𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻! ➡ Big idea: We can be ourselves ➡ Exploration/ Activity: Creating merfolk costumes (crowns, beads, dress-ups) ➡ Some of the focus skills we will use this week: Language and literacy (social-emotional language, inclusive language); Mathematics (shape composition and decomposition, measurement, patterns and sequencing, counting); other STEM (properties and qualities of things in nature). 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝟯: 𝗢𝗰𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 ➡ Big idea: Caring for the ocean ➡ Exploration/ Activity: Make a merfolk telescope with recycled materials. ➡ Some of the focus skills we will use this week: Language and literacy (social problem-solving, prediction and anticipation); Mathematics (shape composition, measurement, patterns and algebraic thinking, spatial orientation); other STEM (science of light and colour, ecology and ecological relationships). 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝟰: 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝗻 (𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁!) 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹-𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗱 (𝗘𝘂𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗲 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗸) ➡ Big idea: What are you curious about? Where can curiosity lead? ➡ Exploration/ Activity: Science experiments using salt water and temperature. ➡ Some of the focus skills we will use this week: Language and literacy (self-biography, narrative language, scientific and problem-solving language); Mathematics (spatial awareness, shape composition, patterns and algebraic thinking, measurement); other STEM (prediction and hypothesising, chemical and physical properties of water and oil, observation skills). 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝟱: 𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗸 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱𝘀 ➡ Big idea: Ocean homes ➡ Exploration/ Activity: Making a small world collage sculpture. ➡ Some of the focus skills we will use this week: Language and literacy (narrative language, story-as-information, social-emotional language); Mathematics (spatial awareness, shape composition and decomposition, measurement, comparing and composing number); other STEM (engineering, design thinking, ecology). ______________________________ Ｉｎｃｌｕｓｉｖｅ Ｐｌａｙ ＆ Ｌｅａｒｎｉｎｇ Ｅｘｐｅｒｉｅｎｃｅｓ...Ｆｏｒ Ａｌｌ Ｌｅａｒｎｅｒｓ All children have preferred ways of engaging with learning content. Typically, children learn best when they can engage with content in a way that reflects their own unique preferences and learning styles. I endeavor to ensure that this class is inclusive of all learners (including E, 2E and other neurodivergent learners). I do this by structuring classes, activities and conversations so each child can choose to engage in the whole class, using whatever way is most appropriate, meaningful and memorable for them. In this class, where we will be undertaking our own dragon projects, I structure each experience so that children may elect to engage through any one or more of the following ways: ~ sensory experience ~ exploring and discovering the properties of materials ~ manipulative and fine motor activity ~ sorting/ aligning/ categorising/ patterning activity ~ exploring cause and effect ~ problem-solving ~ construction ~ imitation and role play ~ fantasy/ imaginative play and creativity ~ art and artistic play Because I maintain very small group sizes, I am able to ensure that each child is able to participate in whatever way is most meaningful for them. This means that each child is able to enjoy the benefits of a group class, while at the same time being supported with an individualised and personalised learning experience. __________________________________________ Ｔｅａｃｈｉｎｇ Ａｐｐｒｏａｃｈ This information will help you decide if my approach is a "good fit" for your child. This class is capped at a maximum of five learners, to ensure each child has the best possible child-led, personalised learning experience. I believe that learning comes not from memorising abstract facts, but though children being able to create and make sense of new ideas. To guide this learning, we need to have immersive, two-way conversations with children. Small class sizes allow me to work personally in this way, with each child. Child-led learning means that your child decides how they participate and what they focus on in our class. In this class, I do not tell children what to think about, or what to focus on. Instead, my goal is to understand your child's unique internal motivation. I do this by using stories, art, creativity and conversation to spark engagement. I then support each child to respond to these ideas and to follow their interests in a way that the class content and material comes to life for them. This helps make their learning become meaningful and sustained. You may see some differences in my classes, from the traditional US-based pre-K/ K/ early elementary and seated classroom approach. My aim is to extend your child's learning beyond our allocated screen time, through teaching and classroom practices such as: 🦋 Child-led learning (not teacher-led instruction) 🦋 Shared understanding (not imposing meaning) 🦋 Individualised and humanising relationships (not standardised expectations) 🦋 Hands-on, authentic play (not lectures) 🦋 Deep experimentation with creative, scientific, mathematical and relational process (not factory produced products or worksheets) 🦋 Collaboration and meaning (not rote memorising) 🦋 Imaginative resourcefulness (not mundane replication) 🦋 Growing children's passions (not their performance) 🦋 Reading and responding to children’s cues, behaviours and signals (not managing, pathologising or fixing them) 🦋 Being an adult who is in calm control (not an adult who is battling for control and compliance) My teaching approach tends to suit families who are seeking a humanising and wholistic learning experience for their young child.
Learning Goals
The intended learning outcomes for this class are aligned with the Australian and UK early years curricula. They are also consistent with the preschool/ early years curricula for NZ, China, Korea, and most European countries. This class utilises the Michigan Essential Literacy Practices Framework, and the Mathematics Learning Trajectories developmental and sequential approach to mathematics learning.
______________________________
Ｉｎｔｅｎｄｅｄ Ｌｅａｒｎｉｎｇ Ｏｕｔｃｏｍｅｓ
1. I can explore, infer, predict, and hypothesise in order to develop an increased understanding of the environment and my relationship to it.
2. I can combine fine-motor, cognitive skills and thinking strategies to achieve increasingly complex patterns of activity to create, communicate, solve-problems and adapt to new situations.
3. I can manipulate objects and resources in order to investigate, take apart, assemble, invent, assemble, construct, and experiment with cause and effect.
4. I can make predictions and generalisations about different environments, and communicate these using language, gestures, numbers, and symbols.
5. I can use language, gestures or visual symbols to communicate and convey meaning about social and personal experiences; mathematical ideas and scientific concepts.
______________________________
Ｃｒｉｔｉｃａｌ Ｔｈｉｎｋｉｎｇ Ｑｕｅｓｔｉｏｎ(ｓ)
1. What does it mean to belong? Is belonging important?
2. Are oceans important to humans? Are humans important to oceans?
3. How does the ocean make you feel?
Ｓｃｉｅｎｃｅ Ｃｏｎｔｅｎｔ ａｎｄ Ｃｏｎｃｅｐｔｓ
~ Living things are adapted to a particular ecology.
~ Living things grow.
~ Engineering involves designing something to solve a problem.
~ The structure of something influences its function.
~ An ecology is made up of many different plants and animals that all interact together.
~ Oil and water are different substances, and oil repels water.
~ Water moves across a surface.
~ We see colour when light is reflected off a surface.
______________________________
Ｍａｔｈｅｍａｔｉｃｓ Ｃｏｎｔｅｎｔ ａｎｄ Ｃｏｎｃｅｐｔｓ
~ Counting.
~ Subitising.
~ Comparing number.
~ Composing numbers.
~ Patterns, structure and algebraic thinking.
~ 2D shapes.
~ Composing 2D shapes.
~ Disembedding shapes.
~ 3D shapes.
~ Composing 3D shapes.
~ Spatial visualisation and imagery.
~ Spatial orientation.
~ Measurement (length).
~ Measurement (area).
~ Measurement (angle and turn).
______________________________
Ｖｏｃａｂｕｌａｒｙ ａｎｄ Ｓｐｅｅｃｈ
This class will provide a setting for children to develop and practice their vocabulary and speech relating to the content, concepts, and activities we are exploring. The words we will be using will include nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections.
Vocabulary (or knowledge of words) includes understanding their structure (morphology), use (grammar) and meanings (semantics). It also includes understanding how one word links to other words (word/semantic relationships). Oral and aural vocabulary skills (or, for non-speaking children, visual and gestural vocabulary skills) are absolutely crucial to later development of literacy decoding and reading comprehension and fluency.
Because this is such an important skill gained in early childhood, I use a strong evidence-based and developmentally appropriate approach to vocabulary and speech development. This includes:
𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁 𝗩𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗯𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻
Explicit vocabulary discussion means that, in this class we not only use words, but we may also sometimes talk about them. We might discuss, for example:
~ what does this word mean?
~ what words would communicate what we want?
~ what other words can we use for this?
While these discussions are explicit, they are not a discrete part of our classes or delivered as a "lesson". Instead, we weave these into our organic discussions while we play, create and tell stories. I do not choose or have a "list" of specific words that children "must" learn. My approach is to respond to children's interests by offering explicit vocabulary discussion that is purposeful, and which helps each child engage with their goals, interests and motivations. This means that children are developing their vocabulary (and self-awareness of it) in a meaningful, relevant and active way.
𝗘𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
While it may seem "efficient" to get children to memorise, or rote learn, words - this approach has been shown to have no real value in speech/ language development generally, including vocabulary development. Rather, evidence confirms that the critical requirement for strong vocabulary and speech development is sufficient opportunity for children to engage in meaningful, two-way conversations that are interesting to them.
To provide this for your child, I maintain very small class sizes and a child-led approach to learning. This ensures that each child has many opportunities to "chat" and "talk" with me and other learners throughout this class about the things that have captured their interest or that they are discovering. I focus on finding opportunities within these conversations to not only introduce new vocabulary, but to also extend and stretch each child's confidence in using and understanding vocabulary in speech.
Other Details
Parental Guidance
Important note about nudity:
In this class I show a variety of images (sourced from the public domain, or with copyright holder permission). Historically/ traditionally images of merfolk have depicted the human (upper torso) as naked. I have carefully selected the all images in this class to be child-friendly and appropriate, respectful, and to exclude images of female breasts. However, parents should be aware of the following:
-> female breasts in some images shown are not "clothed" but discreetly covered - for example with strategically placed hair or seaweed.
-> some of our weekly stories include children who - because of the location at the ocean - are wearing swimwear. This includes a drawing of a male character wearing lower-body swimwear only (no covering on his torso).
-> in week 5, we explore the work of the great artist, Henri Matisse. This includes an image of a hybrid man-bird creature who is fully unclothed. The groin region of the male image is skin-coloured and visible, but it is not graphic and contains no representation or any "hint" of the male reproductive organs.
Parents are very welcome to contact me and request copies of the mentioned images to view, prior to deciding whether to enrol in the class.
Supply List
MATERIALS - WEEK 1 ~ 3 - 5 sheets of *thick* paper (at least A4 size). Watercolour paper is ideal, but you can also use cardstock/ white cardboard. You can also use pre-made (dollar-store) canvases. ~ Liquid watercolour paints: You can easily make these at home using food colour and water. Instructions will be provided. ~ Some paint brushes, and clean water for rinsing ~ A small bowl of 2-3 tablespoons of salt (you can use cheap table salt, Epsom salts or both!) ~ Optional: collage materials such as glitter, sequins or other sparkly things to glue on after class. MATERIALS - WEEKS 2-5 A list will be provided at the end of each class, outlining the materials required for the following week. This will ensure you can keep track of what we need for each specific week. In summary, the ESSENTIAL materials needed for weeks 2 - 5 will include: ~ Several sheets of white carboard or cardstock ~ Elmer's/ school/ pvc/ white glue OR a cold-glue gun ~ Sticky tape or masking tape ~ Any lovely items you collect on a nature or beach walk - shells, sand, leaves, flowers, acorns, pine cones, interesting pebbles, bits of bark, feathers, sea glass, other beach or nature treasures. ~ An empty pringles container or postal tube ~Some tissue paper (2-3 different colours) ~ Tin foil ~ Any craft sparkles you prefer (e.g. sequins, eco-friendly glitter, glitter glue, translucent gems or shells from the Dollar Store, etc.) ~ Some clear plastic cups, glasses or clear (plastic or glass) jars ~ A good supply of cheap table salt (e.g. a 500g or 1kg bag) ~ Ice cubes ~ Some solid cooking shortening (available from the supermarket) - e.g. ghee, copha, lard, crisco ~ Different coloured playdough or salt dough (a recipe will be provided) ~ Some 'dough tools' for making different textures and patterns - e.g. spoons, tenderisers ~ Fun merfolk dress-ups: scarves, fabrics, colourful clothes OPTIONAL (fun to have, but not necessary): ~ some beading materials (twine, scissors, beads) - cheap kits are often available from department stores, Dollar Stores, etc.
1 file available upon enrollment
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Sources
This class and its title is inspired by the books "The Secret Lives of Mermaids" (Anuk Tola), and "The Secret History of Mermaids and Creatures of the Deep" (Ari Berk). These books will not be used directly in this class.
Teaching approaches in this class are drawn from:
~ Waldorf and Montessori teaching philosophies
~ Play-based learning, with a focus on Play Profiles (Sara-Lea Chazan).
~ Imaginative Pedagogy (Kieran Egan)
~ Eight-Ways Pedagogy (Tyson Yunkaporta)
Joined May, 2020
5.0
188reviews
Teacher expertise and credentials
I am both a trained nurse and Masters qualified Early Childhood teacher, with specialist qualifications in Play Therapy. I have over 30 years experience in working with young children, specialising in designing programs to improve children's developmental, educational/ learning and mental health/ well-being outcomes in both "typical" and complex circumstances. I have received numerous government and industry awards for my work in both teaching and therapeutic practice. Reviews
Live Group Class
$105
for 5 classes1x per week, 5 weeks
40 min
Completed by 2 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 4-8
4-6 learners per class
