Projects of Personal Interest 2022-2023

To all those people out there who believe that children, if allowed to do what they like, will just sit around and do nothing, you are WRONG! Children are wonderfully curious and they know that the world is an interesting place. Just like we did when we were children! I'm very proud to share the Projects of Personal Interest topics that my students assigned themselves this year, and I'm excited to see what next year's group of 10-12 year olds chooses:

Alchemy
https://switzerite.blogspot.com/2022/10/ppi-alchemy.html

Carnivorous Plants
https://switzerite.blogspot.com/2023/04/bloodthirsty-plants.html

Chinese Mythology
https://switzerite.blogspot.com/2023/04/ppi-chinese-mythology.html

Creative Writing

Spilling Ink: A Young Writer's Handbook
by Ellen Potter and Anne Mazer

Foods of the World -- the project that started it all!
https://waldorfcurriculum.com/Class3/worldfoods.html

How to Solve a Rubik's Cube
https://switzerite.blogspot.com/2022/10/ppi-how-to-solve-rubiks-cube.html

International Phonetic Alphabet
https://switzerite.blogspot.com/2023/04/ipa-word-of-day.html

Poultry
https://switzerite.blogspot.com/2023/04/baby-chicks.html

Psychology
https://switzerite.blogspot.com/2023/04/ppi-psychology.html

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

PPI: Chinese Mythology

I love seeing what children choose as their Projects of Personal Interest topics!

This child wants to study Chinese Mythology, so I am busy pulling all of my books about China and putting them into a pile. It's a little bit like what Marie Kondo says about decluttering. Start by getting everything that you have from all the different corners of the house, and set it all together. Often you'll be amazed!!!! And I find that when I start my lesson planning by doing this, I'm less tempted to rush out and buy things. Usually I already have everything I need.

Dragons, Gods & Spirits from Chinese Mythology
(World Mythology Series)
by Tao Tao Liu Sanders


Great Book of Dragon Patterns
a wonderful source to help with illustrations!
by Lora S. Irish


In the Land of the Dragon: Imperial China, AD 960 - 1368
(What Life Was Like Series)
by Time-Life Books


You Wouldn't Want to Work on the Great Wall of China!
by Jacqueline Morley


Houses of China
by Bonnie Shemie


All About China: Stories, Songs, Crafts and Games for Kids
by Allison Branscombe


If You Have Two Loaves of Bread, Sell One and Buy a Lily and Other Proverbs of China
by Guy Zona


Chinese Brush Painting Kit: Step-by-Step Project Book
by Lucy Wang


Emma's Dragon Hunt
by Catherine Stock


The Empty Pot
folktale retold by Demi


How the Rooster Got His Crown
folktale retold by Amy Lowry Poole


The Emperor and the Kite
folktale retold by Jane Yolen

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

PPI: Psychology

May will be another PPI month for the children ages 9 and up (the children who are old enough to be independent readers) and they are very excited! The 8th grader has decided his Project of Personal Interest is to learn about Psychology. Here are some ideas that I think would be good for this topic at his age. I'm also happy to hear other suggestions, if you think of some!

Placebo Effect

Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery that Baffled All of France
by Mara Rockliff

Reverse Psychology

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham
chapter 9, "Anchor to Windward"

Temple Grandin - Autism, Animal Psychology

Thinking in Pictures, Expanded Edition: My Life with Autism
by Temple Grandin


Temple Grandin movie, age 13+
Claire Danes plays Temple Grandin

Grit

Grit: The power of passion and perseverance
Angela Lee Duckworth

Being "Cool"

What Makes Someone Cool? A New Study Offers Clues.
The New York Times - Jun 30, 2025

The Paradox of Choice

The paradox of choice
2005 TED talk by Barry Schwartz

Psycholinguistics

The Sentences Computers Can't Understand, But Humans Can
YouTube video

History of Psychological Testing

https://www.aeccglobal.in/blog/types-of-psychological-tests


Psych Experiments: From Pavlov's dogs to Rorschach's inkblots, put psychology's most fascinating studies to the test
by Michael Britt

Brain Anatomy

Brain Anatomy and How the Brain Works

How Chronic Stress Affects Your Brain
TED-Ed video

Fantastic Fungi
documentary

Implicit Bias

I took this training as part of camp this summer, and thought that 8th graders would find the explanations and exercises interesting as well!

Our Hidden Biases
YouTube video

Implicit Bias Training
Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, Ohio State University

module 1: Understanding Implicit Bias
module 2: Real-World Implications
module 3: Understanding Your Own Biases
module 4: Mitigating Unwanted Biases

IAT - https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/
Harvard University

Brain Injuries - Stroke

Little Melba and Her Big Trombone
by Katheryn Russell-Brown

Brain Injuries - Exercise-associated Hyponatremia

A high school football player dies after reportedly consuming two gallons each of water and Gatorade
The Washington Post - Aug 13, 2014

Marathon runners who drink too much water are at risk of a deadly condition
The Washington Post - Oct 24, 2011

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

Week Seven Notes

Monday, October 17

SSR - chapter books for older children, early readers for younger



Free Play - marble maze, wooden animals, play kitchen foods, dollhouse furniture, fairy peg dolls, caravan, Grapat mandala kits, wooden monkey bowling, fort building with giant cardboard box

Colonial America Activities - playing with a handmade wooden top (which I made in my woodworking class), writing with a slate and slate pencil, writing with a quill pen and homemade black walnut ink (which my colleage Ms. Denise made and donated to our school), fastening our fancy letters with sealing wax and a brass seal




Snack - read Molly's Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen



Lunch / Read Aloud - chap 1 & 2 of The Witch Who Saved Halloween by Marian Place



Projects of Personal Interest - Alchemy, Creative Writing, How to Solve a Rubik's Cube (each of these has its own post with notes)

Tuesday, October 18

SSR

Morning Work Time - Plastic Utensils continue with PPI, Pterodactyls add Ben Franklin and Carl von Linné to Famous Inventors MLB



building the Periodic Table of the Elements on the living room floor using this amazing deck of cards; it was a perfect tie in to a uranium glass marble that a student brought in as well as the Alchemy block!

Colonial America Activities - play marbles (PDF), play checkers (PDF)

Board Game Tuesday - Santa Cookie Elf Candy Snowman and Ready, Set, Draw! (both from my collection of games in ALL CAPS)



Inventors - Samuel Morse and Louis Braille

Wednesday, October 19

Morning Work Time - Plastic Utensils continue with PPI, Pterodactyls add Samuel Morse and Louis Braille to Famous Inventors MLB



Read Aloud - chap 3 & 4 of The Witch Who Saved Halloween at snack and chap 5 & 6 at lunch

begin Haunted Houses of Speech

review Math Gnomes (+, -, x, ÷)

Foods of the World Special Guest - Derek Ervin from Glacier's End came in to teach us how to make Shagbark Hickory Syrup

"Glacier's End growing a new take on old favorites" article

Colonial America Activities - spin carded wool fibers into yarn with a drop spindle (we prefer the bottom whorl), polish sterling silver

Inventors - read Ada's Ideas: The Story of Ada Lovelace, the World's First Computer Programmer by Fiona Robinson



Science Club - detailed notes are on my Meteorology page (bottom)

Thursday, October 20

Morning Work Time - Plastic Utensils continue with PPI, Pterodactyls add Ada Lovelace to Famous Inventors MLB



Inventors - read Marvelous Mattie: How Margaret E. Knight Became an Inventor by Emily Arnold McCully



Snack Story / Art History Discussion - Barbara Hepworth (see the notes from week of Oct 17)



Read Aloud - chap 7 & 8 of The Witch Who Saved Halloween

continue to work on Haunted Houses of Speech

Ghostie Numbers - read The Devoted Friend by Oscar Wilde



We used the story to talk about the idea of equal and unequal (the handles of the wheelbarrow representing the equals sign). The wheelbarrow that poor Hans was promised does not at all equal all of the things he was being asked to do in return! Then I used this as a transition into Ghostie Numbers for the younger children.

The photos to go with this week are here.

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!