by Natalie Bishop
In the middle of a school year, as you try to determine how many of your beginning school year goals are being met, the last thing on your mind may be October 3, 2001 at the Capital Building in Harrisburg PA. I am going to give you a few ideas on how to tie up some of your children’s loose project ends and come up with a presentable project to show to your state legislator.
First, check out the guidelines and space limitations for each general area: Science Display or Experiment, History Display or Art Project. Projects not fitting the size and project limitations will not be accepted this year. A general size for History and Science projects is maximum width 3 feet and maximum depth 2 feet. If a folding display board (purchased at an office supply or craft store) is used as a backdrop and general guide, you will have an acceptable size project.
Second, as you wonder what should be put on the board and the table, look at your children’s general interests and study areas for the year. Perhaps you have spent some time studying animal and plant classification and got off on a tangent about the horse. What a great idea for a History display! Your child could use the report she/he has written about horse breeds and using photos, copies of pictures or his/her horse models show specialized uses of the horse. On second thought, an enlarged a picture of a horse skeleton and the picture she/he drew labeling all the parts of the horse could be called a Science display.
Maybe your child likes plants and has learned how to identify trees. Perhaps he/she learned to determine a tree’s age by counting the rings. Not only might you use pictures and library books with a report, but you might also bring in a slab from a tree trunk on which your son/daughter counted and marked the years.
A 4-H project is often the beginning of a new interest for children. Did your child plant a flower garden, try to attract butterflies, build a bird feeder, study electricity or wood working? Perhaps your child did a 4-H project on rocketry and became deeply interested in the space program. Bring his/her 4-H rocket, project book and set up a display board with information about space exploration on it. Such a display could become either a Science exhibit or a History exhibit, depending on the direction your child wishes to take.
Has your child become very excited by a particular book or author, a manufacturing process? A History board might be developed because of an interesting biography. Time lines can be used, along with pictures from magazines, snapshots from field trips or outdoor projects. Any area which has excited your child’s interest may be turned into a project suitable for display.
Some of the History and Science projects exhibited in 1999 were: The Digestive System, Pueblo Dwellings, The History of Embroidery, The Lewis and Clark Exploration, How to Make a Hairy Pet, and Comparing Different Dish Detergents. Art projects included paintings, drawings, mixed-media work and open art. Self-portraits, famous people, landscapes, animals and still lives were some of the subjects exhibited in 1999.
Often a homeschool student will become very involved and interested in studying a particular subject and yet it is hard to finish a project. Determining to develop a display of a studied area for Homeschool Excellence Day provides some boundaries and parameters which can wrap a project up nicely. Rather than letting the interest fade out, provide some closure and satisfaction, by setting a goal and developing it to show our state legislators some of the great things homeschoolers are doing. See you October 3, 2001! Now where did Cassie put that insect collection?