| The first project on my daughter's list is raising | | | | notes. She will keep a running record of her |
| rabbits. She has been waiting some years for this | | | | observations and how each rabbit fares. |
| chance to leverage into reality her desire to have | | | | Because she is also doing a project on learning to |
| some rabbits. | | | | sketch and a project on writing short stories, she |
| "It's school, Dad!" | | | | will study Beatrix Potter's rendition of rabbits into |
| So how can I make raising rabbits into an | | | | some of the most beloved artwork of all time. |
| educational project that is fun, successful, and a | | | | This bit of research applies to all three of these |
| learning experience? | | | | projects. |
| First, she must learn a fair bit about caring for | | | | She will read Watership Down by Richard Adams. |
| rabbits, and we must fully prepare the rabbit's | | | | And, we will get a book on the natural study of |
| home, before we buy them. | | | | rabbits in the wild. |
| So, I type "raising rabbits" into Google. All kinds of | | | | So, besides the joy of caring for and interacting |
| good stuff appears. She will study these and take | | | | with the rabbits themselves, my daughter is |
| notes in her "Rabbit Project" journal. I will get a | | | | reading and writing about rabbits. She is learning |
| book or two for her. I type "raising rabbits" into | | | | practical research for present needs. She is |
| Amazon and see several good ones. | | | | designing and figuring amounts and costs. She is |
| I will show her where we will build the rabbit | | | | learning about rabbits in history and in their natural |
| hutches and how I intend the general layout to be. | | | | habitat. She is studying the anatomy and diseases |
| She will then design the rabbit hutch. I will help her | | | | of rabbits, and making them better when they |
| and make necessary adjustments, but she must | | | | are sick. She is studying rabbits in art. She is |
| research it out herself. She will figure all the | | | | operating the tools and equipment needed to care |
| materials she needs and their cost. | | | | for the rabbits, and she has the continual discipline |
| My daughter will then build the rabbit's home. I will | | | | of caring for those rabbits every single day. No |
| assist her as needed, but it is her project. She will | | | | shirking allowed. |
| study and take notes on rabbit feeding and rabbit | | | | At the end of a year, she will pull everything |
| problems and all the things that can go wrong | | | | together into a photo album of her rabbit project |
| with rabbits. | | | | and publish it on the Internet. She will also have |
| Finally, when everything is ready, we will buy 2-3 | | | | her own hard copy, which, I suspect, she will keep |
| rabbits. Because of my own interests, I will point | | | | for many years. |
| her in the direction of choosing a rare and unusual | | | | [This does sound almost like a college course, but |
| breed of rabbit. She will communicate with the | | | | I will scale all of this down to the level of a |
| owners in order to know what to expect. She | | | | twelve- year-old.] |
| may even join that rabbit breed association. | | | | All told, she will journal somewhere around 100 |
| We will buy all the equipment and tools she needs | | | | hours of total time into this project. It is one that |
| to care for the rabbits, and she will learn how to | | | | will continue through all twelve months of the |
| use them. | | | | year. |
| When the rabbits come, she is committed. They | | | | And if the rabbits produce little ones and they |
| are her responsibility, and application to the task | | | | grow up strong and healthy, she may even be |
| lies on her shoulders. Once they are in that cage, | | | | able to sell them to some other home school |
| she cannot "discover" that she really doesn't want | | | | child, starting a rabbit raising project. And see a |
| to take care of them. | | | | return on the money invested. |
| While she is doing all of this, she will be recording | | | | This is project-led learning. |
| her time on task in a journal. She will be taking | | | | |