There are many ways to present the research and projects that a child in the Montessori elementary environment completes. The most important step is THAT they present it. That could be through a drawing, a paragraph explaining it, a poster, a video, a presentation, a skit….seriously the possibilities are endless. They could present to their family, their instructor, their classmates, or another group of people. We have been known to present projects to Grandma and Papa when they visit or even over the phone.
We had an excellent opportunity for presenting, recently, when our Catholic homeschool group held an end of semester program. Most of the kids did instruments or poems, but since we don’t do a lot of (any) memorization and none of the kids play an instrument, the boys presented their research project instead. (On a side note, I joked to one of the other dads that some people have culture and we have science….I was kidding, but don’t think he thought it was very funny.)
The format of presenting to the group, also led to a lesson on public speaking. How to plan a presentation, using notes, taking turns, answering questions, etc. Here they are practicing at home.
Without further ado, here are my boys (8 and 10) presenting their research project.
They also made a condensed video of the clips from each experiment. Daddy helped with the computer editing step which has prompted another round of project proposals as Aidan would like to learn how to do the video editing himself.
Be sure to check out the original experiment design if you missed it!
Bravo! This is a great example of presenting research work. My kids said your boys did a fantastic job. Now one is off to work on making another volcano. Thank you for sharing.
Great Post! This totally ties in to something Abbie and I have been talking about…collaboration among the kids of those of us who are still doing Montessori at this level. My kids have made a couple videos with her kids and DM's kids in mind. Abbie's kids have done likewise. ANYTIME you need an audience for you kids, please feel free to send us a video. I'll have my boys watch these later and respond to your kids!
Along the lines of your post, our cub scout dens and homeschool coop both are opportunities for my boys to present something to an audience if we wish to and make plans to do so in advance.
Video One: Comments from Me Too and Kal-El
Kal-El: It was hard to understand the talking, but It was really funny watching it explode! Thanks for showing us!
Me-Too: The explosion was VERY white.
Video Two: Comments from Me Too and Kal-El
Kal-El: I learned that rice vinegar went slower than the others.
(Note from mom, they appreciated how LONG the rice vinegar reacted though. The others started quickly but were over quickly.)
Me Too: The second and the last went the fastest.
Both boys thought the second video was GREAT and loved how clearly your son spoke!
Collaboration is a great idea, definitely an idea for thought!
Thanks for having your boys watch the videos. They had huge smiles reading the comments. They were also both surprised and thrilled to learn there are other kids out there doing what we do.
My Boys'' Teacher pointed me in your direction. I'd been trying to figure out how to get some collaboration going since most of our homeschooling Montessoru friends are a ways away. I figured some kind of video either uploaded or live would be the best way to connect. We tried to watch your boys' videos this evening, but there was too much interruption on this end. 🙂 We'll they again tomorrow, and we'll post some comments too.
Great presentations…and the kids did love the video editing.
My Boys'' Teacher pointed me in your direction. I'd been trying to figure out how to get some collaboration going since most of our homeschooling Montessoru friends are a ways away. I figured some kind of video either uploaded or live would be the best way to connect. We tried to watch your boys' videos this evening, but there was too much interruption on this end. 🙂 We'll they again tomorrow, and we'll post some comments too.
Great presentations…and the kids did love the video editing.
They did a great job!!