About this item
A great resource for parents and homeschoolers in search of kid-friendly DIY projects, educators seeking to enhance classroom lessons, and caregivers or camp counselors looking for activities with a deeper educational lesson behind them, Curious Minds is filled to the brim with learning activities that will excite the eager, gifted child just as much as the special needs learner. Through 40 fun projects designed to promote kids' critical thinking about the interest in the world they live in, Curious Minds fosters active "learning by doing" in four core academic areas - math, science, social studies, and language arts. Each activity includes a short mini-lesson and list of "related lingo" to provide educational background information; a simple materials list; easy-to-follow, illustrated instructions; and guidance for extending the activity.
About the Author
Ty Kolstedt teaches secondary-level social studies in the Denver area. He has worked with kids as a wilderness instructor, program coordinator, and teacher for over 12 years. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the University of Colorado at Boulder as well as a Master of Arts degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of Colorado at Denver.
Ty began working with kids as a camp counselor during summers in college. He worked at a summer camp ranch outside of Boulder, Colorado specializing is helping kids development an appreciation for the outdoors and learning about themselves in the process. This led Ty to travel the country after finishing college working at (and running) various outdoor education and wilderness programs in California, Tennessee and Alabama. Ty taught (and coordinated) team-building ropes courses, outdoor survival and biology/ecology classes in the field. It was during that time that Ty saw how powerful hands-on learning was and inspired him to go back to school to become a teacher. For the past nine years Ty has taught secondary-level history and geography in the Denver area. He has also volunteered teaching English as a Second Language at the Colorado Women's Refugee Program to refugee women from Burma, Burundi and Bhutan.
