Interest Based Learning In A Public School Setting: Why And How I Do It.

In the realm of public school early childhood education many teachers are told what to teach or told to use a scripted curriculum. I am not against all curriculums. We use The 95% Phonics Group curriculum and have seen huge improvements in the kids reading skills since we’ve started it. But some curriculums I wonder if they consulted any early childhood educators at all when they wrote it. I have to do what is best for my students and give them the best education possible. Those curriculums won’t do that, in fact, they will make many students see learning as a chore. I want them to realize that learning is a joyful experience and never want to stop!

One way I do this is through interest-based learning. This approach recognizes that children are naturally curious and eager to explore the world around them. It takes advantage of how kids brains are wired to connect the things they know with new things! Instead of rigidly adhering to standardized curricula, interest-based learning takes the student’s interests and passions and fosters a love for learning that can last a lifetime.

Interest-based learning starts by observing and engaging with the children to identify their specific interests and curiosities. Whether it's a fascination with dinosaurs, a love for painting, or a deep curiosity about outer space, I use these interests as a foundation for teaching various subjects. For instance, a child passionate about dinosaurs might learn about paleontology, biology, math and reading through activities centered around dinosaurs. Because they love dinosaurs, writing about them will be a joyful experience rather than a chore, causing them to write more! This approach not only makes learning more engaging but also helps children see the real-world applications of what they're studying, making it more meaningful and authentic.

Here is an example of interest based learning from our class this year. We go outside almost first thing in the morning. We are the only ones out there so the kids tend to notice things they wouldn’t with four other classes running around! Immediately they noticed spider webs on the play equipment and wanted to show me.

I pointed out the shape of the web and wondered out loud how long it took the spider to make the web and it must have worked really hard on it. I wondered out loud why they needed the web. The kids gave answers and from then on, every morning recess they had to show me every single spider web, tell me what they notice and wonder about them. They commented on the shapes. Identifying and creating shapes is one of our math standards. Some were triangles and some were like circles yet different! They noticed patterns on the webs. We found some of the spiders and the kids started wondering and asking questions about them. So for our first class investigation, we started exploring spiders and webs. We recorded what we already knew and what we wondered together as a group. We read books and watched videos about spiders. 

We caught webs on black construction paper and I set an area for them to explore and look closer.

They have been learning that we are surrounded by math! That everywhere we look, we can find math. So when we created spiders based on our observations, right away they were wanting to share the math they saw in the spiders! They not only noticed they had eight legs but noticed there were four on each side so four and four make eight. One spider we looked at during math had four sets of two to make eight! One was missing a leg on one side so we saw that a group of three and a group of four make seven. They noticed the grouping of the spiders eyes. Some were four and four, but some were two and four making six. One pointed out one spider that had groups of two, two and four to make eight! It goes on and on! This is the pathway of seeing what it means to add two groups together to make a larger group! They learning addition naturally by looking closer and noticing. 

They also noticed the patterns and math on many spiders abdomens.  They get so excited when they make those discoveries and can’t wait to share what they notice with everyone!

Some wanted to make some different math groupings, focusing on the math within science! It is amazing how math, art and science are connected in the world! They can show their learning in so many ways that are more engaging than a workbook from a curriculum company. This shows them real work application of these skills and how to learn through their environment no matter where they are!

Vocabulary we are supposed to teach them through one of our curriculums has also been used. They are supposed to learn what plants and animals need to survive and the vocabulary that goes with it. We have talked about what spiders need to survive and used that vocabulary in our lessons. We also found this grasshopper and brought it in to look closer. They wanted to keep it so we talked about what that grasshopper needed to survive and realized we didn’t have fresh food or a habitat with enough space for it to survive. 

We weaved our own webs and realized it was not as easy as we thought giving their finger muscles a much needed workout! 

We created a graph showing who liked spiders and who didn’t. When analyzing the graph, we discussed the concepts of more and less (also a math standard). We counted using one to one correspondence how many were in each group and also gave our reasons! Most felt that spiders were cool and creepy at the same time!

We incorporated literacy by focusing on vocabulary building and comprehension. We learned the difference between informational books and fictional books as we read both about spiders! They drew observational drawings of spiders and learned how to label by sounding out the words and writing the sounds that we heard. We also created a big spider and some who are ready will work in a small group with me to use their knowledge of sounding out words to label the parts of the spider.

As you can see, one of the key benefits of interest-based learning is that it enables children to take an active role in their education. Instead of passively absorbing information, they become enthusiastic participants in their learning journey. While standardized educational standards are essential benchmarks, interest-based learning demonstrates that these standards can be achieved in flexible and creative ways. By harnessing a child's innate curiosity, educators can instill a lifelong love for learning, empowering young minds to reach their full potential while still meeting established educational standards and showing them life long learning is exciting and joyful!