There were a lot of things I really liked about this book, a lot of things I wish she would have given more examples of, or gone into greater depth about, and a few things that I thought were just plain impossible for someone who had more than two children.I already do a lot of project-based learning in my homeschool. I like projects. I like hands on. I like having something to show for your time and effort when your through. I want everyone to be able to see and touch and do and make the things we're learning about. I think that makes learning exciting.What drew me to this book, was the self-directed part of the title. Up until this point, I have mostly been the one to decide what kinds of projects we're going to do, and on what topics. I've always tried to steer in the direction of what my kids are interested in, but I've always been the one controlling the project. I don't think that's necessarily bad. But I have been wanting to let the kids take more of the reins, and really be able to get into what their interests are, and have them come up with the ideas of how to explore the way they learn about those interest.One of the ideas she suggests to facilitate this self-directed learning, is giving each kid their own space. This is something I've had on my mind recently anyway. Because I've started to notice that none of the kids have a space of their own. If one of them is working on something, whether it be a drawing, a Lego creation, an experiment of some sort, or whatever; if he doesn't finish it in one sitting, it's pretty much as the mercy of his younger siblings. They keep bringing me things that they aren't done with yet, that want to work on later, and trying to get me to put them on the kitchen cabinets or on the computer desk, so the younger kids can't reach them. I can't handle having the piles (along with all the other sorts of piles we already have) all over the kitchen and office space. So, I'm constantly telling them to find a safe place for it that isn't downstairs. Do you know where the things end up? On my bed. Ya. So, I'm realizing that the poor children don't have a safe space of his own, and that I need to provide one.Pickert's idea of a work space though, is way more than I can provide. She says that you need to keep all kinds of art supplies and building materials close at hand, and easily accessible. You need to display everything they're working on, so it's constantly in view, so they'll be motivated, and remember their ideas. And I see her point. I get what she's saying. But it can't be done at my house. #1 I don't have enough space to devote that much space to each child separately. (Because if they're self-directed, chances are they'll be going in four completely different directions, right?) #2 I can't keep "all-kinds" of art supplies, including paint, markers, clay, scissors, glue... you name it, in a space that is easily accessible. Mostly because of the toddler. And a little bit because I still don't trust the preschooler to be unsupervised with markers, paints, or scissors.But even though I can't make Pickert's ideal work at my house, I do think I can tweak it a bit to make something similar at my house that will work for us. Because of that, I would consider this a worthwhile read, if you are willing to do some tweaking. I like the approach of this book - provide your children with the tools & opportunities to pursue their own interests and then, for the most part, get out their way! I was a bit disappointed that most of the case studies seemed to come from a time when the author was working in more of a school based environment and would have liked more concrete examples of projects worked on at home. Overall, though, not a bad introduction to unschooling/project based learning.
What do You think about Project-Based Homeschooling: Mentoring Self-Directed Learners (2012)?
Loved the philosophy and the practical how-to of project-based learning presented in this book.
—nizan
This book is about unschooling. It wasn't for me, and so I'm not going to complain about it.
—Chulips
