Unschool Explorations: Dogs

In this cutting-edge educational 4-week "Unschool Exploration, Dogs" online group learning experience, learners have the opportunity to take whatever direction they want in their love and passion for learning about dogs. This is students opportunity to socialize and collaborate around all things canine.

What is unschooling or child self-directed learning? It's where adults move out of the way and allow learners to choose their educational path and find their natural-born ability to direct their own learning. This class is specifically for young people who already want to learn more about dogs. Families that are not yet familiar with the unschool approach or are skeptical about it, this is your opportunity to watch your child shine in an area they're passionate about by allowing your child to choose the what and how of learning focused on dogs. 

What will students do in class if they're not coming to listen to me teach?

1). I will facilitate discussions and learning activities that children are interested in having around dogs. We'll find out what each learner is most passionate and interested in learning about dogs.
2). We'll be talking about all the different ways they can learn about dogs online and offline.
3). We'll have open discussions about whatever the children want to talk about dogs. This gives students an opportunity to interact and socialize with other kids about canines. 
4). They can choose the canine topics for open discussion including the history of dogs, evolution of dogs, favorite dog breeds, dog behavior and anything else not listed here that students would like to discuss about dogs. 
5). Have a pet dog show and tell. This is where students can show off family pets with open class Q & A about their pets.

What are some ways students might choose to learn about dogs outside of the live class experience?

1). Real life experience with their own dogs - doing a video introducing the class to their own dogs. Show us tricks their dogs do.
2). Create a story or poem about their favorite breed of dog.
3). Create a game about dogs.
4). Create an art project about dogs. 
5). Write a song about dogs.

The children will help shape how the class evolves, but, here's a rough outline of the four weeks:

Week #1 - Short explanation about what "unschool explorations" is about. Teacher Intro. Learner intros and telling what they each love about and want to learn about dogs. I coach each child and suggest resources they can find around their favorite dog topic. Students are invited to do a project, activity or experience learning about dogs. I show them web resources that can help guide them.
Week #2 - Pet show and tell. Learners who want to show and tell about their family pet dogs can do so. Children have open discussions about what they have researched about their favorite dog topics and share it with us.
Week #3. - Learners can begin doing short presentations around any research, project(s), and or experience(s) they've done about dogs.
Week #4 - Final learner dog presentations. 

There are no grades or tests in this class, but parents can certainly record the hours the student put into the live class and any additional work they put into learning about dogs outside of the live class time for state reporting. 

In short, whatever creative mode your child wants to learn and express their learning about dogs with the class is open territory.

If you have any questions about this Unschool Exploration Dogs class, please ask!

Sincerely,

Gloria Brooks
NatureGlo's eScience Unschool Founder & Lead Mentor