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Obsessed with dinosaurs!

632 views 10 replies 10 participants last post by  3momkmb 
#1 ·
Ok, so I'm kind of new to this whole concept of unschool so I'm not sure how to handle this (or if I even need to).

Ds has always been fascinated with dinos. Last year for K I had all this wonderful (I thought) curriculum that he balked at and we spent the whole year doing an extended unit on dinos. Now when I say unit, I mean he picked books from the library and movies from Netflix and I planned activities like dino digs and making fossils and such, then after awhile I wrote up all the stuff we did and called it a unit
It was pretty much just stuff he wanted to do and I called it school so I could put it in his portfolio. So anyway....I decided *I* had spent enough time on dinosaurs
and encouraged a few shoot offs. We did some learning about sharks and oceans and volcanoes (all of which came in some forms from his dinosaur books or movies). So far so good right? I am following his interests and he is learning all kinds of new and interesting things. Thing is, he always goes right back to the dinosaurs!

WE just got back from the library and he took out three books on dinosaurs and a dinosaur movie and he requested a Dinosaur Planet movie when we return Harry Potter to Netflix. I am really glad we are homeshooling so he can get so into this interest of his, but I am starting to wonder if we need to steer him away from it just a bit? I mean, I am trying to honor his autonomy and all, but isn't 14m a bit long to spend on one subject? I'm kind of worried he won't ever want to learn about anything else, or at least not enough of something else.
Anyone KWIM? Am I worrying about nothing? Any ideas for another dino related jumping off point?

On a related note......the other day he was driving me rather batty with his dino facts, dino play acting, play by play of *Alpha's Egg* (Dinosaur Planet episode) and I said to him in a joking way *Ben, if you learn anymore about dinosaurs I'll have to stop hsing you and send you to palaeontology school!* :LOL . Well, he turned and looked at me with an awed expression, his eyes shining and said *They actually HAVE palaeontology school?* I hated to break it to the guy that he's got awhile to go until they'll let him in
 
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#2 ·
I am starting to wonder if we need to steer him away from it just a bit? I mean, I am trying to honor his autonomy and all, but isn't 14m a bit long to spend on one subject? I'm kind of worried he won't ever want to learn about anything else, or at least not enough of something else.

How likely do you really think it is that he'll only be interested in dinosaurs for the rest of his life?


It's very possible that he'll always find them fascinating, and he may even choose a career in palaeontology some day, but he'll definitely pick up other interests along the way. There's nothing wrong with strewing other interesting things in the meantime, but I would also continue to support his interest in dinosaurs.
 
#3 ·
Honestly, a lot of children I've met over the years go through a dinosaur phase. For some, it lasts years. For others, just a few months.

I agree. Continue to support his interests. Don't think about what he'll do with the knowledge in the future. Just let him enjoy himself.
 
#4 ·
Definatly keep up with his interests. Isn't part of the reason we all homeschool/unschool is to be able to do all this fun stuff?

My oldest dd is now 7 and she has been obsessed with dinosaurs since she was 2! We have always indulged her obsessions and I can see it has payed off now at her age--she knows a *lot* about reptiles and such and is a very science and zoology oriented child. Here at the University of Oklahoma we have a palentology department which she is interested in as well and even got to talk to a group of palentologists who came up from Dallas (they were so awesome with her and took her questions and interest seriously), when she is 16 she plans on going on digs with the natural history museam, etc. I think it is awesome personally
Who knows, she might always be interested in this or it may go away, it's up to her.

A lot of kids I know go through the dino phase, dinos are pretty popular because they are so fascinating (even to me!).
 
#5 ·
I think it's incredibly awesome that he has this extreme interest in such a fascinating topic. Trust me, he could be into so many worse things...superheroes (my DS at times), Rugrats, weapons, etc. I say nurture him in his interest. Personally I don't think there's anything wrong with doing dinosaurs all the time for the next couple of years.

You can count the dinosaurs, sort the dinosaurs according to all different characteristics, divide the dinosaurs by whether they are carnivores, omnivores or herbivores. Wow, that's math!

You can find a simple guide on dinosaurs, something that he can learn to read to find out more about dinosaurs.

He can write books, essays and stories about dinosaurs.

He can run around outside in the manner of various dinosaurs. (PE!)

I think you guys are doing great and you should be congratulated for allowing him to follow his interests. You have some great and creative ideas for letting him learn about what he wants to learn about. Good for you.
 
#6 ·
Rather than discourage, I would encourage him as much as possible!

Our ds, age almost-7 years old, has been passionately interested in dinosaurs since he was 18 months old! That is when he first saw "Jurassic Park" and "Walking With Dinosaurs" on video. His interest has never wavered away from dinosaurs, but he has, instead, chosen as his future specialty, marine dinosaurs ((technically, he reminds me, there are no marine dinosaurs, just incredibly large marine reptiles that lived at the same time. Duh...)).

He plans on attending the University of Chicago and someday, working with Dr. Paul Sereno. He often explains to dh and I that he may miss a few holidays with us as he may be in Niger or Argentina or wherever, on a dig!

You CAN incorporate this interest in dinosaurs into a working curriculum. Explain that yes, you will study dinosaurs, but there is more to them than just reading books only about the creatures themselves! There is geography (where they lived then versus where they have been found - grassland -vs- mountains), geology (how did they end up in rock?), anatomy (how does a body develop that can hold such large proportions and what happens to the body when an animal dies?), math (how do scientists use the length of stride, found in fossil tracks, to determine the animals height and weight?), language (why are they named what they are named + common versus scientific names), analytical thinking (how long IS 40,000,000 years?), anthropology (how did ancient people through to modern times explain fossils?), botany (what plants were around in the various time periods versus what are found today and where?), even current events (what current world events can hamper new discoveries? - ie: civil war in Niger), astronomy (what about the comet theory on the extinction of the dinosaurs?), meteorology (how does climate affect all living creatures and what might if have been like back then and how did different animals adapt?), engineering (can you build a model that is perfectly balanced in proportion to a dinosaur?), art (draw various types of dinosaurs and pre-historic animals) and zoology (what mammals co-existed with dinos and when, and why did they survive and become the dominant species? What about the animals of the Ice Age? What is the bird-dinosaur link?), just to name a few ideas!!

Encourage him to write to famous paleontologists (Robert Bakker, Jack Horner, Paul Sereno) and he might have the pleasant surprise of replies (this is also a great way to get them to practice their handwriting skills)!

I would recommend BUYING a few videos/DVDs by David Attenborough: Life On Earth, Secret Life Of Plants, Life Of Mammals and Life Of Birds. All of these discuss ancient life and how it relates to modern flora and fauna. They are excellent and well worth the money. National Geographic also has a couple of good ones: Dinosaur Hunters, SuperCroc and Dinosaur Giants Found. Walking With Dinosaurs, of course, and Chased By Dinosaurs are fantastic, too.

Don't fret!!! Be grateful that your son shows an interest in SOMETHING that IS interesting. Afterall, it could be non-stop Power Rangers or Transformers!!!
 
#8 ·
I agree with grahamsmom. Dinosaurs give you such a wonderful entre to so many topics.

My DS7 went through a phase for about a year. Before that it was geography and maps and then after it was space, then hockey, now it is flight. I think it is natural and indeed a positive thing to let them follow their passions and to facilitate it wherever possible. He still maintains an interest in all these things and is well read and well informed about the current news of all of them.

A few of our favourite things was DK's dinosaur hunter computer game and a board game called Survival or Extinction - The Dinosaur Game.

We did things like made dinosaur museums with his plastic dinosaurs, drew life sized dinosaurs on the street out front, followed an online dinosaur dig, made posters and a timeline of dinosaurs and plotted notes on a world map, made dinosaur bean bags and puppets. He learned a lot of latin surprisingly (or not I guess - I was surprised it stayed with him as long as it has), history, science, math, geography, it strengthened his reading and phonics skills - it was a great tool all the way around and the good thing is that this all came from him. He was motivated to learn all kinds of things in a effort to understand more about dinosaurs.

I know for me it got exhausting sometimes to keep up with the minutae that he learned and wanted to talk about but I was constantly amazed at what he picked up and retained throughthis passion.

Encourage it - really and let it take him to all kinds of interesting places.
Karen
 
#9 ·
Oh, encourage this! my own 2 kids have had their own obsessions through the years, and it's awesome! My first always ahd a passion for robots and outer space, my 2nd is still after 3 years, is still obsessed with the ocean,and all it's animals. They both know an awful lot about their passions, and slowly, you'll see this interest spread to to other things, that in their mind, are naturally related...
 
#10 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by 3momkmb
I mean, I am trying to honor his autonomy and all, but isn't 14m a bit long to spend on one subject?

OH MY GOSH, I'M
: over this. Dinosaurs were my ds's first obsession. You may not want to hear this, but he's 14 1/2 now and STILL into dinos. He follows every new "find," and every new theory that comes out. I'm amazed at how well-versed he is in paleontology. And yes, he does have other interests--some have been spin-offs of paleo, others have not. Some interests have been full-fledged obsessions, others just passing interests.

Quote:
Well, he turned and looked at me with an awed expression, his eyes shining and said *They actually HAVE palaeontology school?* I hated to break it to the guy that he's got awhile to go until they'll let him in
I just had to quote that so I could say, "AwWWWWWWW."

I say, let him run with it for as long as he enjoys it.
 
#11 ·
I feel much better now
I really looked at all he was doing and realized he is learning much more then the names of dinosaurs. Geography, anatomy, concepts of evolution, measurement, analytical thinking (he's really into the whole Coelophysis things and swears he WILL be the one to figure out what happened to the dinosaurs :LOL ) and even Latin. You want to hear something cute, just listen to a 6yo with speech issues try to say *Archaeozoologist*
I guess I was just caught in that PS mind set of *covering* everything we *need* to, KWIM?

We do have The Dinosaur Game along with Dino-opoly, a Leap pad dinosaur book, a Dinosaur Atlas and a globe with dino on it. He *plays* dino all the time and well enough that I can usually tell which species he is trying to be. I tried the art thing and he just wasn't interested
I've started incorporating books on the *how* of digging things up (just read Archaeologists Dig for Clues) and he really enjoyed the *I love Dinosaurs* video by National Geographic.

grahamsmom98, how would we write to Paul Serano? He is Ds's hero!

Unfortunately I don't think DS will ever be able to go on a real dig
He has some medical issues that make him unable to tolerate extreme heat. He'll likely have to settle for the academic side of things (not that I am going to tell him that now).
 
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