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!

The First Weeks of Kindergarten: The Mystery Box

The first weeks of Kindergarten are spent figuring out what we need to do in order for us to create a learning community that works and plays together in harmony! We are learning the purpose of school, what our goals and passions are and how we are going to achieve our goals! Part of this is learning what it looks, sounds and feels like to be safe, respectful and responsible in our meeting area, in the hallway, in the cafeteria, at our tables and in our exploration areas! 

We use a lot of different tools in all of the areas of our room! I use what we call “The Mystery Box” to introduce these tools! On our first day of school, I showed them the Mystery Box and told them that tools we will need to learn will pop into this box when it feels we are ready to be respectful, responsible and safe when using the tool! The anticipation when I’m opening the box is so fun! I read a book called “The Line” then wondered what could be inside the Mystery Box! It was something we could make lines with! A pencil! I introduced how to hold a pencil and how to take care of our pencils, then they all practiced by using pencils to draw a picture of themself on the first day of school and try their best to write their name.

Each tool had a piece of literature read first to introduce what might be in the Mystery Box! After learning how to take care of our crayons, they colored the picture of themself.



A little hummingbird make all kinds of lines as he flies and a boy captures those lines through art! Markers were in the Mystery Box and we made our lines showing how well we can use and take care of them! 



We read Henri’s Scissors and learned how to hod scissors correctly pointing out in front of us when cutting! We learned how to hold them when we are walking and how to pass them to a friend safely! We cut strips of paper into squares for a name project.  Next came glue sticks and sponges to glue the paper to our names and create a roller coaster park!

We learned that we have to be extra careful with Sharpie markers since they are permanent, but they agreed that Kindergartners are capable of using these! They made self portraits to practice.



We use water colors for both art and science! They were so excited when this came out of the mystery box!



This group loves science! They want to explore, look closer and wonder about everything! We learned the difference between creative art and realistic art. In our science area we use our art materials to create realistic art to document what we see and notice. I wish I took more pictures of their documentation of the shells and rocks I set out for them!



Pipettes showed up in the mystery box and they got to use them to explore color mixing and creating different shades of the same colors. This was a great lesson to develop self control! They had to stop before each little circle got too full! This was very hard at first but when they saw they had to have that self control to show responsibility in order to use these materials, they did great! They also had to be responsible for cleaning up any spills and always had it ready for the next explorers to use!





Their favorite thing to do was to create a shade of a color to match the color cards on the table! They created darker and lighter shades of all the colors!





Otherwise, we have been making friends and developing a learning community that takes care of each other while they learn and play together!

This group seems to be developing an inquiry mindset very quickly! They want to investigate everything they see and find and have started asking if we can explore some things as a class and in our science area! This usually happens later in the year so I’m really looking forward to seeing what we will be learning together this year! 

Creating an Environment That Teaches

Before the kids come, I need to turn a bare space into an environment that will encourage exploration, wonder, creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and a desire to learn no matter where they choose to go! I need to create an environment where they will want to use the reading, writing, and math skills we learn in whole group lessons in natural and authentic ways. Where the kids use those 21st Century skills and academic skills without knowing they are actually practicing the skills they have been learning! It is no small task but one of my favorite challenges! 

I divide the room into different areas. That does not mean all materials have to stay in those areas though! Everything is very fluid as so much of literacy, math, science, art, engineering and building are all connected!

Here is our Art Area! Sir Ken Robinson once said, “Creativity is as important as literacy.” He also said, “We don’t grow into creativity, we grow out of it. Or rather, we are educated out of it.” Creative thinking is a very important skill that NEEDS to be fostered in our schools at all ages! This area of our room is always a favorite! We also mix science and art together a lot here! They will learn to use and take care of tempura paints, water colors, paint sticks, clay, oil pastels and sharpies in many different ways here! All of these not only foster creativity, but clay and painting on a vertical surface are very good ways to develop much needed fine motor skills to hold a pencil and write!

This is our science area! Here the kids learn to slow down, look closer, wonder, notice and document what they see, think and wonder through writing and observational drawings, paintings and sculpture! We learn that our art materials can be used for both creative art and realistic art! Here they use them to create what they see and show their learning.



Our Building and our Engineering Areas are where they use a lot of creative AND critical thinking skills! They have to problem solve when things don’t work out, deal with disappointment when things don’t work out, and collaborate together to come up with ideas for their structures and problem solve! I love listening to the conversations here as they use all of these skills! A lot of math shows up in this area along with a lot of story creating (literacy) and physics. They often use spelling and writing skills as they create plans, signs and stories for this area! Some also like to document the structures they made and label the parts or write about it!

The Dramatic Play Area starts out as a home. It usually soon becomes a restaurant or a school. So much writing happens in this area as they create menus and take orders! They make signs and magazines! Sometimes they choose to turn this area into a Vet Clinic or Beauty Parlor, Bakery or Pizza Place! It has been a Fancy Restaurant and a toy factory! Each gives more opportunities to foster creative thinking and also use their writing skills authentically and purposefully! 



This is our Math Area. The kids learn that we see math everywhere we look and we use it all of the time! But we do have a special area where we keep materials to help foster their learning of math concepts taught in whole group. We start out with simple items that they can use to freely explore counting, measurement, numbers, shapes and patterns.

This is our Literacy Area. Here they can freely explore the materials and use them to make connections to what we are learning about literacy in whole group!






This is our Light Table! It is an area that, depending on the materials I put out, they can practice literacy, math or science concepts. Or sometimes they can use it to foster creativity!

This is my small group area! Here I pull kids out for Reading and Math skill practice, but I also use it for small groups to work on inquiry projects! I hang up a lot of their creative work on the wooden fence against the wall. 



This is our Whole Group Learning Area. Here we learn about Literacy, Math, Science and Social Studies, but that is not all! We share things we are proud of, we enjoy good stories and we also problem solve solve together! Like the rest of the room, we collaborate, and use creative and critical thinking skills here!

Our Writing Area is where many creative stories are created! 



We may all get messy sometimes because that is Kindergarten! But it just means that we were really getting into our learning!



Here you can see the kids exploring and learning in their new environment!









































As they see how the room works, the areas can change to foster different concepts we are focusing on! I teach based on their interests so I can’t wait to see what happens in this room this year as they learn and grow an inquiry mindset!