Common Ground School

It was supposed to be day one of our summer homeschool schedule, but I forgot about Memorial Day. I recently stopped taking ADHD medication because I’m going through perimenopause and can no longer handle the added anxiety and overstimulation to my central nervous system. Since today is a holiday, we’re going to treat it as an extended weekend while also remembering those who fought in wars, something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. Speaking of enemies, have you read the children’s book The Enemy by Davide Cali? The story begins with two soldiers trapped on opposite sides of a war. Each has been taught that the other side is evil. They are told the enemy is cruel, monstrous, and less than human. But as the story unfolds, we begin to see something unsettling: both soldiers are scared, lonely, exhausted, and manipulated by the same fears. Some people believe evil is literal and comes from the devil. Others see the devil as a metaphor for our shadow qualities: greed, contempt, hatr...

  Some of the most meaningful learning experiences happen when children are deeply engaged in building, experimenting, planning, and solving problems together. Recently, my son has been exploring two city-building and strategy games created by the same development studio: Kingdoms and Castles and Nova Roma. While both games focus on building and managing civilizations, each approaches history, systems, and society in slightly different ways. Kingdoms and Castles allows students to design and manage a medieval kingdom while balancing farming, trade, defense, population growth, happiness, and resource management. Nova Roma explores many of these same ideas through the lens of ancient Roman civilization, encouraging students to think about infrastructure, governance, engineering, economics, and urban planning. At first glance, these games may simply appear to be entertainment. In practice, they become incredibly rich systems-thinking environments where students naturally begin explori...

One of the most interesting programming tools we have been exploring lately is Replicube, an open-ended programming puzzle game centered around logic, code, mathematics, creativity, and three-dimensional design. In Replicube, students write code to recreate voxel-based 3D objects by giving precise instructions to a virtual construction system. What begins as simple shapes quickly develops into increasingly complex exercises in programming, spatial reasoning, experimentation, and computational thinking. Unlike many traditional educational programs, Replicube encourages students to learn through exploration, trial and error, and creative problem solving rather than memorization or passive instruction. Students are constantly asking questions such as: • How can this shape be recreated more efficiently? • Which patterns repeat? • How can code be simplified or optimized? • What happens if variables are adjusted? • Can one system solve multiple problems? As students experiment, they naturall...

One of the most fascinating things about watching children engage with factory and automation games is seeing how naturally they begin developing systems thinking, engineering logic, problem solving, and computational reasoning through play. Recently, my son began experimenting with Shapez 2, a factory-building and logistics game focused on automation, scaling systems, and production design. What initially appears to be a simple game about shapes quickly becomes an incredibly deep exercise in planning, optimization, abstraction, and large-scale systems design. In this project, students designed increasingly complex conveyor systems capable of sorting, combining, duplicating, and processing shapes through layered automation networks. At first, the systems were simple: • move shapes from one location to another • split conveyor lines • rotate objects • stack shapes together But very quickly the projects evolved into something much larger. Students began creating scalable production syste...

  Kerbal Space Program & Learning Through Experimentation One of the most engaging learning tools we use with older students is Kerbal Space Program, a space flight and engineering simulation game that combines creativity, physics, experimentation, problem solving, and systems thinking in a surprisingly meaningful way. At first glance, it may simply look like a rocket-building game. In reality, students quickly discover that successful space exploration requires planning, mathematics, engineering, collaboration, patience, and a willingness to learn through failure. Students design rockets, test flight systems, attempt orbital launches, and solve problems together through experimentation and observation. In this project, students work to collaboratively to build and launch an orbital space station around Kerbin. Every decision mattered: • How much fuel is needed? • Is the rocket balanced properly? • How much thrust is required? • Can the structure survive launch? • What happens ...

One of the most meaningful art experiences often begins with simple materials gathered directly from the environment. Rather than providing children with ready-made brushes, we invited them to create their own using objects collected outdoors. Sticks, grasses, flowers, bark, pine needles, seed heads, and leaves became tools for experimentation, observation, and creative expression. As the children explored the natural materials around them, they began asking questions: Which materials hold paint best? Which make soft marks? Which create texture? What happens when the brush falls apart? How can we change the design to create a different effect? The process quickly became more than an art activity. It became an investigation into texture, movement, design, problem solving, and the relationship between the natural world and creative expression. Some brushes painted delicate lines. Some stamped unusual patterns. Some scattered paint unpredictably across the paper. Some disintegrated almost...

  Grass heads are a simple and fun gardening activity that helps children learn about seeds, water, sunlight, and plant growth through hands-on experience. Watching the “hair” slowly grow over time is always exciting and often leads to lots of laughter and creativity. This activity also encourages responsibility, as children help care for their grass heads each day by watering them and placing them in sunlight. Supplies • grass seed or cat grass seed • cheesecloth • potting soil • small containers or cups • buttons for eyes and noses • sewing pins • water Directions Cut a square or rectangle of cheesecloth large enough to hold the soil and seeds. Place a small handful of grass seed in the center of the cheesecloth. This will become the top of the grass head where the “hair” grows. Add potting soil on top of the seeds until the cheesecloth forms a round ball shape. Gather the ends of the cheesecloth together and tie or secure the bottom tightly. Use buttons and sewin...

 Rainsticks are a beautiful way to explore sound, rhythm, creativity, and recycled materials with children. This hands-on activity combines art, engineering, music, and sensory play into one simple project. For our rainstick, we used cardboard tubes, nails, dried beans, and decorative paper to create a calming instrument that sounds surprisingly similar to falling rain. Supplies: • a long cardboard tube • small nails or toothpicks • dried beans, rice, lentils, or small pebbles • tape or cardboard circles for the ends • hammer • decorative paper, paint, or fabric • glue or tape Directions: Carefully hammer small nails through the cardboard tube in a spiral pattern. The nails should poke into the inside of the tube without going completely through both sides. Pour a small handful of dried beans, rice, lentils, or pebbles into the tube. Seal both ends securely using cardboard circles and tape. Decorate the outside of the rainstick using paint, paper, fabric, yarn, o...

 How to Make a Simple Rocket Launcher Using Basic Materials You Probably Already Have at Home Supplies: • toilet paper rolls (two per rocket launcher) • large rubber bands (two per rocket launcher) • cotton balls • skewer sticks (one per rocket launcher) • tape (a heavy-duty tape such as duct tape or packaging tape works best) • scissors Steps: Cut two slits on each side of the toilet paper roll. Place a large rubber band through each slit, as shown in the photo. Tape over the slits to secure the rubber bands so they do not fall out. I forgot to take a photo of this next step, sorry about that! Cut another toilet paper roll in half, then roll it tightly, almost like rolling a cigar. Tape it securely so it does not uncoil. I included a screenshot of this step from the YouTube video posted below. This was such a fun hands-on activity using simple materials we already had at home. Projects like this encourage creativity, problem-solving, fine motor skills, and imagin...

Little Bee Little bee of twig and thread, buzzing softly overhead, made from treasures we can find out in nature, warm and kind. Branches, fabric, string, and seed, simple things are all we need. With our hands and imagination too, we can make a bee that flies for you. Supplies: • a stick • yellow yarn or string • black string • sweet gum tree balls • a rectangular piece of white fabric • scissors Directions: Wrap the sweet gum tree ball with yellow yarn twice, going front to back and then back to front, beginning and ending at the stem. Tie off the yarn securely, then cut away the stem. Take a rectangular piece of white fabric and fold it in half. Cut out a soft semi-circle shape to create the wings. Place the wings on top of the sweet gum ball, then tie a piece of black string around the center to hold the wings in place. Leave enough extra string to attach the bee to the stick. Tie the remaining string to the stick. Voila! Your child now has a little bumble bee t...

To celebrate Mother’s Day, we spent the afternoon making pressed flower salt dough pendants, a simple and beautiful nature craft using ingredients that are likely already in your kitchen and garden. This activity combines creativity, sensory play, and time outdoors collecting flowers and leaves. It also makes a thoughtful handmade gift for someone special. Ingredients: Two cups of all-purpose flour One cup of salt One cup of cold water A satay stick or other pointy tool Fresh flowers or leaves String or twine Directions: In a large bowl, mix together the flour and salt. Add the water and stir until combined, then knead the dough for about 10 minutes until smooth. Children can also help mix and knead the dough using construction toys or other creative tools :) On a large piece of foil or baking paper, flatten the dough using a jar or rolling pin. Use the jar to cut out circular pendants. Carefully press flowers or leaves into the dough, then use a satay stick or another pointed utensil ...