HSHSP Ep 176: Hands-on Learning in Homeschool High School, Interview with Susan Evans

This week on HSHSP Ep 176: Hands-on Learning in Homeschool High School, Interview with Susan Evans.   HSHSP Ep 176: Hands-on Learning in Homeschool High School, Interview with Susan Evans Do your homeschool high schoolers have days that they HATE their studies? Teens get bored with nothing but textbooks! Join Vicki and our friend, Susan Evans, who reminds us that teens don't outgrow the need for experiential learning! When they have hands-on experiences, they regain a love for learning. Susan is an expert on hands-on learning. That's the way she educates her homeschool high schoolers. Her good-natured teens still love education because Susan comes up with hands-on experiences for their transcript credits. Susan reminds us that having fun in education, makes education successful. She tells the story of teaching writing in a low-performing school. She did mystery events with her. Then her students wrote mystery stories about the event. The next testing showed her students scored significantly higher on their standardized tests, because they were now engaged and encouraged. When she started homeschooling her kids, she decided to keep those hands-on learning principles going with her own kids education. She did not give up experiential learning even when her kids reached high school levels. Susan reminds us to bring more joy to your home through hands-on learning! What are some hands-on learning experiences that Susan has used in her homeschool high school? Need some ideas for experiential learning in your homeschool high school? Susan Evans is an endless fount of hands-on blessings. Remember, don't take yourselves too seriously. Have lots of fun! You can get inspiration at her YouTube channel and website. Here are some of Susan's favorite ideas: * Science labs: * Animal classification wall. Susan and her family cover a wall poster board diagrammed with kingdoms, phylums, genus, species. Add photos. * Potato head genetics: Susan and her teens practice dominant and recessive genes with different kinds of eyes, noses and ears on their Mr. Potato Heads. * History: * Hold feasts from each location and time period: Susan finds recipes online and in library books. The family works together to cook and present the meal. They eat in period costumes. Then they follow up with period-related activities. * Re-enactments: Susan and her family attend Civil War and Revolutionary War re-enactments. National, state and local parks often have interpreters who do some re-enacting. * Plays: Susan's family particularly enjoys Shakespeare plays during the summer when her community holds free "Shakespeare in the Park" events. They also attend other period plays. * Visit events and shops: Susan's family visits antique car shows and antique shops. They learn about period cars, furniture and culture. Nothing can substitute for actually knowing what these things look like! * Field trips: Homeschool high schoolers never outgrow field trips. No matter where you live, there are some field trip opportunities. And given time and resources, vacations can turn into larger educational field trips. After all, ALL of life is education! Vicki, Sabrina and Kym have lots of field trip ideas for homeschool high schoolers in this episode of Homechool Highschool Podcast. * Parties from each decade of the 20th century: Susan's family throws Decade parties. Everyone wears costumes and shares food and activities from the decade being studied....