Finding ways to make learning enjoyable for both teacher and student can be challenging, especially in home-learning situations. However, we have found that for early elementary up to junior high age children (students) there are a few sure ways to have fun while accomplishing the academics. In fact they beg for more!

One type of special project we do is a study of countries using a simple form (click on this Oral Report Form link to download a form to print and use).  Using this short form, it is easy to choose a country, but a little harder to choose how to represent the country to others (do I use a past, present, or future voice?)  Eventually, the biggest challenge may be in determining what information to include and exclude in an oral report that lasts only 10-15 minutes.  Start with a shorter reporting time, and then add a few minutes each time until they can easily give 30-minute presentations.

The preparation for these reports is the part that is really "academics in disguise".  Learning how to take large amounts of facts, fiction, and opinion and digest it by sifting through it, organizing it, and thinking about each part until you get the whole back in a way that has meaning and can be shared with others. It is problem solving at its finest.

Creativity and imagination are also encouraged: "Can we dress like they did?" and "I would like to make dinner/dessert, as if I am hosting you in my country." Our children using this oral reporting method developed very well-thought out scripts of what they wanted to share with their audience. They learned how to make a basic outline. Putting thoughts onto paper and then speaking them aloud took a lot of work. They took time (without being nagged) to practice their speeches. I was also astounded the first time we did this project with the amount of time they spent preparing visual aids and even a few auditory aids (They taped music from videos borrowed from the library to dance to).

Our children were 5, 7, and almost 9 when they did their first reports. Our 3 year old wanted a piece of the action and spontaneously got up at the end of one of their practices and announced, "Mommy, you forgot my report...I am doing America because it is all of these places." (The melting pot).  He proceeded to jump up, and finding a small American flag, started singing, "Yankee Doodle"--obviously very enthusiastic and doing a super job of imitating his older siblings!

For older students doing unit studies in history, these short reports could be used as a break in between new units or time periods.  Understanding the culture and history of an artist, musician, scientist, inventor or official that they are studying is a helpful way to "time-line" or network them all together into that "whole" again.  The challenge of history is taking the fragmented facts and details and incorporating them into a bigger picture.  Unit studies help do this.  Studying a country's art, music, inventors, and governments gives much greater understanding to the historical facts.

If you want to really challenge older children, have them make up names and passports from the countries they are studying.  . They can contact Tourism Bureaus and Embassies, write pen-pals or missionaries in those countries, and even interview a foreign student from that country who is attending a local college or university. We had an exchange student from China once stay over a weekend with us at Thanksgiving. Our children loved her and although the relationship did not continue long afterward, we have prayed for her and continue to hug that memory in our hearts. Whatever you do with the requirements for the oral reports–make it fun and give plenty of artistic license.

One son likes to make models and made a great model of a Scottish castle (Edinburgh) when studying Scotland. Here are a few other examples of their work from recent oral reports: see if you know which one belongs to which country. The countries studied were: Scotland, France, and Italy. Scroll down to view these treasures below.

This is a very vivid map of ______, showing the expertise of a little tracing paper and creative use of colors.

Here is a poem written for _______ by our almost nine year old:

Ballet began with music in _rance,
"Bonjour" is the way to say "Hello"
Red, white, and Blue are the country’s national colors,
Gothic buildings started in _rance,
stained windows, pointed arches...
Notre Dame is one of them.
Cheese, ham and egg
is called Quiche!
_rance is a good country
So don’t forget to Prance!

Finally, here are two of the flags that once flew over Bonnie ________

**Remember if you want the oral report form just click on this Oral Report Form link.

[ Site Plan ] [Home]