“Back To School.” Those three “dreaded” words have since come to pass for kids across the country. Actually, they were cruelly in use at retailers as early as last June, just after children were released for summer vacation. I referred to that in a recent column regarding a former US stamp featuring a box of crayons, an essential grade school staple....
Of course, the breadth of school types is abundant. Public, private, Catholic, Montessori, early-prep, alternative and, increasingly in the last few decades, home schools.
While all schools want to boast having the best teachers, home schooling pretty much takes the prize for a parent/educator being teacher, tutor, manager, art director, P/E teacher as well as disciplinarian for their own child. Interwoven in that is the curriculum. Some of that is set. Other portions are highly customizable to suit the best needs of each student.
For any type of schooling, learning should hope to be fun or, at least, interesting. One unexpected resource for geography, history, math and more is the US Mint. While, of course, being the lead creator of coinage, the Mint has developed a massive variety of educational offerings through its online website. All are available at no charge.
The numerous lesson plans from the Mint are broken down by grade, from Kindergarten through 12th. Naturally, the difficulty increases exponentially.
For example, kids in lower grades can compare letter and sound relationships of consonants to complete sentences in a repeating pattern. Those sentences are based on coin terms found on the U.S. Mint Coin Classroom website. Or, they can create a timeline using subjects on the reverse side of quarters. For math, students solve story problems involving decimals with coins as a base.
In higher grades, students learn the evolution of the Federal Reserve and how it functions. Also, they answer coin related math questions using the guess, check and revise problem solving process.
In addition, on the Mint’s website are interactive video games involving coins and currency. While naturally fun and challenging, each game is designed to have an educational twist that kids may not realize they are gaining. A few of the games include Fort Knox Frenzy; Math Jam; Space Supply; Map Mania; or Plinky’s Presidential Challenge. Here again, each is age targeted.
Coins and currency can also play a role in incentivizing learning. Whether home schooled or not, some parents have coaxed their kids with rewards – usually the monetary sort. While I’m not a proponent of pay-for-grades, there is a clever alternative.
This idea stems from a neighborhood friend I once had. He was interested in learning magic as his father did when he was a child. His dad still had a number of the tricks he performed. My friend was eager to get them and learn how to do them. His father agreed with one stipulation – the boy needed to learn, practice and be able to perform one trick very well before his father would give him another. The incentive was to master and perform the previous one. It worked well.
A modern alternative could involve what’s found on coins. For very young students, the “50 State Quarters Series,” “America The Beautiful” or the “America Women” quarters program each feature people, places or events in US history. When shown one of the coins, if a youngster can learn about the subject depicted on it and do a short presentation, they are then given the quarter. After a while, the collection could be impressive.
For older students, commemorative half dollars or silver dollars offer a similar opportunity. If an older student is willing to research the person or event featured on the commemorative half dollar or the significant events from the year a silver dollar was issued – be it in the late-1800s or early-1900s – and present or write a lucid report about it, they get the coin. The learning could be endless.
And, with silver at $30 an ounce and the value of most numismatic coins much higher than that, an impressive collection could be the result. That is, if they scholastically earn it. This concept could also be possible with numismatic copper or nickel coins dating to the early 1800s.
As illustrated under the “LEARN” tab at www.USMint.gov, the possibilities for creative and entertaining learning with a genuine incentive are almost endless. It offers a fun, interesting and even potentially profitable way to enhance education. Whether in school or home school, that’s every bit as valuable as a new box of crayons.
For more collecting information and advice, log on to: http://prexford.com/.