BJU Press Blog

Jenna

STEM Activities and Real-World Learning

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stem activities and real world learning
Have you ever considered how no single career your child could pursue leads back to just one subject? An artist draws on knowledge gained in both math and literature classes, a historian uses skills learned in science class as well as in heritage studies classes, and an astronomer needs strong foundations in both math and science to be successful. Even as a writer, I find myself drawing on skills from all subject areas to do my job well. That’s why interdisciplinary studies—studies covering several subjects—are so important in education. And STEM in particular is a big deal for parents and teachers alike. Let’s take a closer look at the world of STEM learning and what your children get from these activities.

What Is STEM?

STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. You might also hear it called STEAM, which simply adds Art (or the arts) into the mix. But STEM and STEAM aren’t all that different because design is an inherent part in every such activity. STEM activities require students to use their knowledge in each area to complete a task or to solve a problem. For example, consider this activity for building a better thermos. Designed for high school students, the exercise is similar to an insulation experiment in Science 5. To complete it, students need to know something about heat and energy, they need to use technology resources to craft their container, they need to understand principles of engineering and design to make their container practical and functional, and they need math skills to measure the components and test the container.

Why Include STEM Activities?

STEM activities are a chance for your kids to apply otherwise isolated skills to real-world situations. In other words, it’s the reason your students have been learning all those weird math formulas and science facts. It’s one thing to learn how to calculate the surface area of an object in math and to understand how different materials and sound waves interact in science. It’s quite another to apply that knowledge to designing something to amplify sound coming from a small speaker. But doing STEM activities goes beyond simply applying skills.

STEM activities also help your children to understand what they can do. As Christians, we are called to be responsible caretakers of God’s creation. How can we take hold of that responsibility? What can we do for the world? The simple act of creating something that is useful and serves a purpose can help children to understand what they are capable of doing as human beings created in God’s image. God didn’t create some people to be geniuses who solve all of the problems and the rest of us to muddle through as best we can. God has given each of us tools to accomplish His will—whether in caring for His flock or His creation. STEM activities help your children to see how—through study and a bit of hard work—they can do some pretty cool things.

Does this mean that now you have to go and find a whole bunch of STEM activities to add to your lesson plans? Not at all. Chances are, many of your science and math activities already include elements of STEM, even if they’re not labeled as STEM activities. Just take the time with each activity to let your students learn everything they need to.

Using Family History to Spark Interest

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Mapping out family history
History can be fascinating. Narratives about battles, discoveries, tensions, and alliances inspire many children to embrace learning. But I was never one of those children. Unless it was an area of history I wanted to know about—ancient Egypt, medieval Britain, or Edo period Japan—I wasn’t interested. Many children need to feel connected to the stories of history in order to embrace it. Your children may not be as picky about history as I was, but you’re probably familiar with the struggle to get them invested in it. One way to inspire interest is to make a personal connection to historical events. And what could be more personal than their own family history?

The Power of Stories

In college, I took a storytelling class. One of the things my teacher impressed on us was the power of family stories. In fact, she encouraged us to start a journal to record stories our parents had already told us plus any new stories they told. It’s often easier for children to remember the stories we tell than the dates in their history textbooks. You may not think of significant events from your lifetime as being part of history, but for your children, they are.

Many of us remember exactly where we were and what we were doing when we first heard about the 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center. You’ve probably shared those memories with your children on the anniversary of the attacks. Similarly, your parents or grandparents may remember the assassination of President Kennedy or the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Our lives are full of these stories—moments that become significant for the next generation. Taking the time to share these accounts from your family history gives your children a personal connection to historical events. And, if your parents or grandparents can share their stories themselves, it gives your children an opportunity to build stronger relationships with them and create lifelong memories.

Researching Family History

Family stories can create connections that reach back to the twentieth century, but what about earlier? Researching family lineages is a recent trend that you might find useful in encouraging historical interest. Everybody hopes to find that they’re the descendant of a king or famous person. Though records are available publicly, online databases such as Ancestry.com make researching much easier. The system automatically makes connections to public records and existing family trees. The system will require a subscription fee, but you may not have to do all the work yourself. Many find that distant cousins have started the research already.

Going back generation by generation can ignite your children’s curiosity about history. What would your children want to know if they learned their fifth great grandfather was a Confederate prisoner of war during the Civil War? Would they see the colonies differently if they knew that their tenth great grandfather was among the first to settle in Germantown, Pennsylvania? You may not be related to someone famous, but even an unknown Confederate soldier can inspire learning.

You might also get a chance to look at scans of historical documents—such as census forms and marriage indexes. These records are primary sources, which are vital for the successful study of history. They’re not the Constitution, but they still show your children what their ancestors did, where they lived, and much more. Everything that you uncover is another glimpse into history and how our country has changed.

It’s impossible to learn about where we came from without also learning how history affected our ancestors. So if you’re struggling to inspire your children’s interest in history, remind them that the events they’re learning about in their history textbooks changed the lives of their ancestors.

Teaching Poetry in Your Homeschool

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teaching poetry
Have you ever read Ezra Pound’s “In a Station of the Metro”? This twenty-word poem seems simple on the surface. In spite of that, I never really got it until one of my teachers took the time to flesh out its significance. We talked about the sounds and rhythm of the poem itself, the culture Pound lived in, his beliefs as a poet and writer, and the event that inspired the poem. All this information together inspired in me a deep appreciation for Pound’s art and for this poem in particular.

In the course of your child’s education, you’re probably going to read many poems. Let’s take a look at some approaches for teaching poetry to help your children better understand and appreciate it.

Looking for Sounds

Poets choose words not only for their meaning but also for their sound. Words with hard consonant sounds—b, d, k, and t—can sound harsh and forceful. In contrast, words with softer consonant sounds—l, m, n, and s—are melodic and have a gentle flow. In Pound’s poem, the sounds seem to mimic the noises a steam train makes as it comes into a station. The sounds grow harder as the train brakes and slows.

Analyzing Meter or Rhythm

All poems have rhythm. Some poems have metered rhythm—a regular pattern of stressed and nonstressed syllables. You might remember iambic pentameter from your own studies. For example, Shakespeare’s “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day” uses iambic pentameter. Other poems don’t have regular meter, but they still have rhythmic sense, especially when they are well crafted. The words Pound uses in his poem not only sound train-like but also have a rhythm that supports the feeling of a train coming to a stop.

It’s surprisingly easy to spend time analyzing the sounds of a poem. In fact, there is a whole bank of terms to draw from to talk about sounds more effectively, and BJU Press literature books explore many of those terms.

Considering historical context

Looking at something according to its context should already be familiar to your children from hearing sermons and doing Bible studies. When exploring a Scripture passage, we should take a close look at the immediate context of the verse as well as what we know about the cultural beliefs, the life of the author of that book, and the original meanings of the words themselves. The same strategies for Bible study apply to poetry. If the reader knows how subway stations looked in the early 1900s, his appreciation for Pound’s poem increases.

Learning about the poet

At times, the simplest detail about where the poet lived and what he believed can help your children understand what the poet meant. In Pound’s case, knowing that he studied haiku helps us see why he chose to condense his poem to three short lines. And if we read that he once said in a letter, “I got out of a metro train . . . and saw suddenly a beautiful face, and then another and another,” we understand better how to view the poem.

Discovering the meanings of the words

Sometimes, your children will need to learn what the words meant way-back-when. The author Christina Rossetti lived from 1830 to 1894 in England. Many of the words she would have used regularly simply aren’t commonly used today. For example, when is the matin hour? And what does evensong mean? The Oxford English Dictionary is a great resource for learning the history of English words. By looking up these words, we can see that they both have to do with hours dedicated to prayer in the church—one in the early morning and the other in the evening. In other words, the rosebud that the speaker watches blooms and falls the same day. In Pound’s poem, it might be helpful to look up apparition. Its meaning combined with its sound and rhythm make it the perfect choice.

Poetry can inspire even a young child to look at things a little differently and to appreciate the power of language. You could probably spend hours delving into the depths of poetry. But you and your children don’t have to spend a long time on every poem. Finding even a few things in a poem that give it more meaning or beauty will make him a better reader—and maybe even a writer!

Homeschool Checklist to Know You’re Ready

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homeschool checklist
So you’ve been thinking about this homeschooling thing for a while now. In fact, you’ve probably been doing a lot more than thinking. You’ve prayed, done the reading, had family conversations, and set some goals. You’ve even looked at curriculum. But are you ready? How do you know if you are? This homeschool checklist will help you decide whether you’re ready to take the plunge.

Have you checked your state’s regulations for homeschooling? 

The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) explains which regulations apply to your state. Some states merely require parents to give notice that they intend to homeschool their children. Others may require homeschoolers to perform annual standardized testing to make sure that children are learning normally. You’ll want to know these requirements ahead of time.

Have you laid out your reasons for homeschooling?

Remember, it’s easier to commit to something when you know why you’re doing it. Consider writing out your reasons and displaying them—if nothing else, that will help you explain to a concerned friend or relative why you’re doing this.

Where will you turn for homeschool support?

Your homeschool support system can help you stay on your feet even on the hardest of days. Whether it’s just a chat with a friend or an expert to address your darkest fears, you’re going to need someone to turn to.

How much time will you devote daily to homeschooling?

Many homeschool families have their children do work between four and five hours a day. That’s both lesson time and homework. But what about you? How many hours do you have to devote to homeschooling your children? If you don’t have much time to devote to it, you may need to choose a curriculum that includes video lesson options or that can be self-taught. Or you can devise a schedule that lets you spread out your work. You could homeschool year-round or choose a six-day homeschool schedule, so you can spend less time each day on homeschooling.

What are your children interested in?

Many new homeschoolers are really excited about getting to tailor their children’s education to their interests. Now’s the time to really figure out what those interests are so you can be ready to do that.

What best describes the curriculum that you believe will work for your family?

Are you homeschooling on a tight budget? Do you have the budget but not the time to teach? Assuming you believe a strong biblical worldview is vital, should you use a curriculum built on that perspective or will a secular publisher do just as well? Do you prefer to do the teaching yourself, or would you rather use video lessons? These are all questions that will help you narrow down your curriculum choices.

How will you keep yourself organized?

It’s a challenge to manage all the stuff. If you have three kids, all in elementary grades, then they each have up to eight subjects. Each subject has two textbooks—usually a textbook and an activity book. That’s forty-eight textbooks—not counting any teacher editions, notebooks, binders, and whatever else they need. And it’s not only a question of space. What about organizing your time? The plan you have now doesn’t have to be permanent, but you need a workable schedule to at least get you started.

Have you laid out some short-term goals for your first few weeks of homeschooling?

Goals are pretty important, especially at the beginning. If you set a few easily reachable goals to start with, you can get off on the right foot and put yourself in a goal-oriented mindset for the future. Your goals don’t even have to be really serious. You could set a goal to finish one lesson a day, or to walk around the house like a duck once a day. That’s silly, but it’s good exercise too.

Use this printable checklist to work through some of the questions above.

Hopefully, you’re feeling confident and ready to get started on your homeschooling journey. Your first few years are going to be wild and crazy (plus moments that you wouldn’t trade for the world). But if at the end of it all, your children have a strong relationship with God and are using the abilities He’s given them for His glory, won’t it be worth it all?

Cooking with the Online Teachers

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cooking tips and recipes
I don’t know about you, but I love to cook. I love learning how different foods work together and experimenting on the fly. In fact, many of my dinners go from simple three-ingredient meals that should take maybe an hour to massive productions that take two hours or more to complete. With hungry children and hungry spouses, that’s probably not an option for you. But even I have a few meals that I turn to when I need an easy meal that tastes good and doesn’t require a lot of thinking. Everybody should have a go-to meal or cooking tip to rely on for those extra-hectic days. So, I reached out to our online teachers to find out some of their favorite easy cooking tips and recipes.

Tip from Mr. Matesevac

Mr. Matesevac recommends cooking meats “low and slow.” Chicken, beef, and pork are all much tenderer and juicier if cooked at a lower temperature for longer periods of time. That’s why a slow cooker is an excellent tool for cooking meat. If you’re planning on having chicken for dinner, why not throw it in the crockpot in the morning with some seasonings and let it go all day? You get great results without much effort.

Mrs. Overly’s Slow-Cooker Roast

This four-ingredient recipe may take longer, but it takes very little thought. Mrs. Overly buys a roast or two whenever they are on sale for a good price.

Ingredients

Roast, 3–4 lb (round roast, sirloin tip roast, or chuck roast)

Package dry onion soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can water

This is the easiest, and it makes its own gravy. Depending on your family size, you will have leftovers for the next day.

Directions

  1. Place roast in slow cooker.
  2. Sprinkle dry onion soup over top.
  3. Spread cream of mushroom soup over roast.
  4. Fill the cream of mushroom soup can with water and pour over roast.
  5. Slow cook 5–6 hours on high or 8 hours on low.

If you have plenty of leftover meat and gravy, here’s a simple vegetable beef soup you can make for the next day in the same crock pot:

  1. Shred the remaining beef.
  2. Add a couple of chopped potatoes, 1 can diced tomatoes, chopped onion, and chopped celery.
  3. Mix in 2 cups beef broth.
  4. Add seasonings—oregano, basil, bay leaf, or any of your favorite seasonings.
  5. Slow cook on low until the vegetables are soft.
  6. Add 1 can corn.
  7. Add 1 can green beans.
  8. Heat through and serve.

Mrs. Gillenwater’s Venison Gravy

Mrs. Gillenwater loves biscuits and gravy—and she especially loves making gravy at home with venison.

Ingredients

½ to 1 lb venison

½ cup flour

3 cups milk

3 cups water

your favorite biscuit recipe

Directions

  1. Brown venison.
  2. Coat meat with flour.
  3. Alternate adding milk and water until it is as thick as you want it. Use less milk and water if you want thicker gravy.
  4. Make your favorite recipe for biscuits.
  5. Enjoy!

Tip from Mrs. Jarrell

Mrs. Jarrell just might be a cooking genius. She recommends cooking several pounds of hamburger crumbles and pulled chicken 3–4 times a year. Then she freezes it in portion sizes for use later. Imagine how much time and mess that saves when you’re ready to cook!

Mrs. Jarrell’s Crockpot Squash Casserole

Ingredients

1½ cup chopped onion (optional)

3½ cups cut-up yellow squash (frozen)

4 oz (½ brick) cream cheese

½ bag stuffing mix or a sleeve of crackers

1–2 cups hamburger crumbles

Directions

  1. Add onions, squash, and cream cheese to crockpot. Make sure that the squash is frozen, as fresh squash will have a different consistency.
  2. Cook in crockpot on high for 4 hours.
  3. If hamburger crumbles are frozen, let them thaw in the refrigerator.
  4. A few minutes before serving, stir in hamburger.
  5. Slowly add stuffing mix or crackers. It takes a few moments to absorb the liquid, so add a little at a time to avoid making the casserole too dry.

Mrs. Rulapaugh’s Spanish Paella

Ingredients

Mrs. Rulapaugh, who is our new K5 Math teacher, grew up in Spain, so making Spanish paella reminds her of her former home. Cooking international foods may seem intimidating, but this one-pan meal is a cinch to prepare!

2 cups rice

4–6 chicken pieces

1½ tsp salt or to taste

olive oil

turmeric

½ lemon or 2 tbsp lemon juice

1 green pepper, chopped

1 small can pimientos (optional—for garnish)

seafood (optional)

1 medium onion, chopped

5 cups water

Directions

  1. Cover frying pan or paellera with a thin layer of olive oil.
  2. Fry chicken, onion, green pepper, and seafood.
  3. Once chicken is done, add rice and water.
  4. Sprinkle with salt and add lemon juice and juice from pimientos, if desired.
  5. Cook rice at a boil. Add water as needed until rice is fully cooked.
  6. Garnish with pimientos, if desired.
  7. Let paella sit a few minutes, and then enjoy!

I hope these tips and recipes inspire you as they’ve inspired me! Let us know how yours turns out if you try it, or share one of your own favorite easy recipes in the comments below.