Do you know why school buses are yellow? Do you know why flamingos are pink? Do you know who invented blue jeans?

Do you think those questions might be fun to explore?

Wonderopolis is a way to find the answers to some of those questions and other wonders you might have.   The Wonder of the Day from Wonderopolis each day starts with a simple, but engaging, question to peak interest.  I try to learn something (big or small) each day, so I think this site will help me accomplish that goal.

Here is some information from the About Wonderopolis page:

Create. Laugh. Imagine. Explore. Learn. Smile. Grow.

Visit Wonderopolis.™ It’s a place where parents seek and nurture a brighter world for their children through the power of discovery, creativity, learning and imagination. Wonderopolis™ is brought to life by the National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL).

You see your children not only for who they are but for all they can become, yet you may need a little help directing that passion and igniting that wonder. We can help you get there — together. You don’t have to travel far. Wonderopolis is a special place found in a curious question, an everyday adventure and right in your own home. Just let wonderment be your guide.

Our Wonders of the Day will help you find learning moments in everyday life, ones that fit in with dinner preparations or carpool responsibilities or a stolen moment between breakfast and the bus.

The first day I looked at Wonderopolis there was great information about the Wright Brothers and the First Flight. Being a former 4th grade teacher in NC, that was one of my favorite things in North Carolina Social Studies.  A couple days later, I saw some neat information on the moon from Wonderopolis. My 4 year old had been telling me lots of things about the moon recently, so I looked to see if there was anything she might like on the site that day. I found information facts, a video, an experiment to try at home, and some vocabulary words. While that information was probably for an older student, it still had fun facts and words my daughter and I could explore together.

I found that if you miss the Wonder of the day one day or if you want to look back at a Wonder from the past, that is possible by clicking on the Wonders tab at the top to visit the archive. There is even a place where you can nominate a Wonder (another tab at the top of the page). Wonderopolis also has a presence on Twitter (@wonderopolis) where they share great little tidbits of information and informative resources.

Even though the focus of this site seems to be parents, I think teachers could use this site in many ways in the classroom. A few ideas that quickly come to my mind include using it for possible journal topics, a site of the day, a story starter, or even a research prompt.  There are guiding questions to encourage further exploration. There are “Wonder Words” that could be used to encourage and support the expansion of a child’s vocabulary.

Think about the ways you could search for book on Big Universe to go along with the Wonder of the Day.  I could use information from these sites to introduce a topic, to present fiction/nonfiction stories, to make learning fun, or even just to expose children to new information and books.

For example, I looked at Wonder of the Day #188:  Are Frogs and Toads the Same? and then went to Big Universe and searched for books about frogs.

A few of the books I found:

Critters Up Close! – Frogs

My Fly

Frogs on a Log

Recently I was invited to attend the National Council for Family Literacy‘s yearly conference to share ways Wonderopolis, NCFL’s latest contribution to family literacy, could be and is being used with children and in classrooms (also mentioned in another Big Universe Blog post).

As both a parent and an educator, I am excited about the way Wonderopolis encourages lifelong learning on a daily basis.

Children have to see, hear and write words in order to learn. Without language they lose the ability to learn and continue to learn. It’s sad to see children who are unable to answer questions because they don’t have the language to respond. “What is that?” we as teachers ask each other. The children simply don’t have the language to respond. Some children respond but they do so with limited words. What’s missing? How are we changing as a society and what should we do to help our children reach their potential?

Talking is the first way to help a child reach their potential. The more language a child hears the more they’ll eventually be able to read. Once a child has heard a word it’s far more likely they’ll be able to read it once they come upon it in writing. Read to children. Young children should be read to everyday. If books aren’t always available choose newspapers, websites, street signs, cereal boxes, anything. Language!

Have language readily available. Books, magazines, newspapers, paper, pencils, crayons, computers… Television isn’t bad. There, I said it. My own children, now very happy, good teenagers, learned so much from Barney! But, they also heard the spoken word, used the computer, played outside, drew pictures, talked to each other, and experienced life in many different forms. Television wasn’t their life.

Parents are working. In most cases both parents are working and sometimes one or both parents are working two jobs. Sometimes there is a second language involved. Sometimes a parent can’t read or write. Economic difficulties play a large part in language deficits. When both parents work hard just to pay the bills there’s nothing left of their energies or their funds to explore the world with their children.

Back ground knowledge of many children today is extremely limited. I stop frequently during my reading to clarify vocabulary that I never would have clarified ten years ago. Garage, buffalo, slugger, shipyard, dock, camel… the list goes on. Children don’t need to have been everywhere to be able to recognize vocabulary. It helps, but it’s not realistic in our society.

The Internet, Smartboard, picture books, television, videos, virtual field trips, all of these can help bring the world to our children. It’s the way we, as teachers, parents, and concerned adults in the twenty-first century are going to have to bring the world to our children if we want them to reach their potential.  Language is the most vital component of learning. Our kids need to see it, hear it, even play with it. Language!