Love of Learning

Have you ever gotten lost in research? You sit down to read an encyclopedia article about a subject you're researching, only to find an hour later that you're still reading and you're completely off track! Doug and I can both tell stories about getting lost in an encyclopedia. In fact, when Doug was in elementary school he read through an encyclopedia set waiting while waiting for fellow students to finish their work. Taking in fascinating information is a lovely thing!

Well, one thing that Hibbard Elementary has not been able to acquire as of yet is an encyclopedia set. We've contemplated purchasing an older edition because they're more affordable, but even those are expensive - and the world is changing so quickly! We've been praying over that, and as we were figuring our budget for next year's school supplies and curriculum, we began researching options for encyclopedias.
That's when we came across World Book Online. An annual subscription was very affordable, and it fit into our budget even after all other school needs were figured in. Not quite the same as holding an encyclopedia volume in hand, but very practical...and portable! Not to mention the fact that the online resources are constantly updated with new information as it comes out. And, with our subscription we were granted access to World Book Kids!

As I was setting up our account, I began to tell Olivia what it was all about. She was thrilled! So, I set up a thumbnail on our SpeedDial homepage, showed her how to access it, and let her go (with an overseeing eye, just to make sure everything is safe for young readers, of course). Over the past thirty minutes she's learned that ballet originated in Italy, although it is believed that the first performance was actually held in Paris, France. She's explored the dance traditions of several cultures. She's also read about the making and packaging of crayons. I'm going to have to be careful - my bookaholic might become a computeraholic if she really sees how much she can learn on this site!

All of this reminds me once again that prayer is the answer to it all - God leads us to just what we need to provide our needs while being good stewards of what He's placed in our care. I love being His child!

Comments

Ruthanne said…
Sounds like a great site! I need to bookmark it.
Stephanie Kay said…
What a great idea! Thank you for sharing.

Also, how did you put the google cal feed into the blog?!!

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