World Debt Clock Hyperdoc

I have done some form of this activity with several of my students and they have learned a lot about the debt in other countries as well as in Canada! We have explored the student's own solutions for the debt problem and extended this to a compare and contrast project of two or more countries culminating with an infographic. 

This gives Grade 9+ students the opportunity to work with real world statistics and do some critical thinking and research to extend those statistics into real world solutions. This activity encourages critical and creative thinking as well as statistical analysis. 

Here is the World Debt Clock Hyperdoc. It is in a Google Slides format but you can easily download as a PDF if you prefer. 

Blessings,
Natalie

If I had been blogging when.... Kidsboro

 http://www.whitsend.org/en/albums/the-truth-chronicles.aspx

 Kidsboro

The far reaching learning for our daughter from the Kidsboro CD's that are part of Focus on the Family's Truth Chronicles for Children, has amazed me. The concept of Kidsboro was quickly embraced by our "little one" and many of her friends. They began planning Kidsboro events, inviting members, appointing them roles, and learning about business and local government in the process.

Last summer they had what they called 'Open Air'. It was an outdoor trading market that took place on our deck. The children each received an invitation with details on the market. When they came, the mayor who ran the market, gave them each play money that they could use to trade.

We had bakeries, candy shops, a stuffed animal zoo and rental service, a bow and arrow shop, several craft shops, a herb shop, a pet rock shop and on the list went.

There was much to be learned:

1.     Supply and demand was the first lesson for many shops. Some items were high in demand, and some were too high in supply and vice versa.

2.    The second lesson learned was value and price points. Some of the children had to lower their expectations of what their product was worth. Some learned that discounting was part of "moving their products".

3.    Marketing was another lesson, how they got others interested in their product. This was fascinating to me and very entertaining at times!

I thought that the market would last an hour or so, and the children would lose interest and want to go and play, but I was very wrong! They were still enjoying Kidsboro several hours later when their parents came and picked them up!

It was such a rewarding experience with very little work on my part. I just cleaned up from lunch and helped with some of the children's practical needs like tape, string, scissors etc.

Blessings!