A huge thank you to Bex Buzzie for hosting us on her podcast last week! Our episode comes out this February, so stay tuned.
One of the best parts of our work here at Phenomena is meeting new people, and we were absolutely delighted to meet Bex Buzzie, host of The Homeschool Advantage Podcast last week. Bex is a physics teacher and coach who has interviewed over 200 creators about their resources for homeschool families, so she really knows her stuff! And that made it extra special that she was just as excited as we were to share Phenomena with her listeners.
We had such a blast chatting with Bex and talking about our mission to make STEM accessible for ALL kids, whether they are learning in school or at home. We’re also thrilled to be featured on her new YouTube channel, since Phenomena is really something you have to experience to get the full effect (pun intended!).
We’ve included some excerpts from our interview below, and you can hear the full interview when it comes out this February. In the meantime, check out our new subscription, Phenomena for Families, the starts on 12/16.
What is the focus of your work for the homeschool community?
Phenomena is a new destination for experiential learning that lets kids learn STEM concepts through play. Each Phenomena experience consists of 1–12 frames and focuses on a specific topic like projectile motion. We believe (and research backs us up) that this visual, interactive medium is the most effective way to teach dynamic STEM concepts and relationships because it engages students in constructing their own mental models just like real STEM professionals.
We’re particularly excited to share Phenomena with the homeschool community because the experiences support students in developing as independent learners. We’re also looking forward to launching our Creator Tool next year, which lets students create their own experiences. This will give homeschooled students a completely new medium to express their understanding, and we think they’ll be pretty excited to try it out!
What inspired you to create your content?
We developed Phenomena to help every child feel that STEM concepts are within their reach and fun to learn. Phenomena can help kids get excited about STEM whether they’re learning independently or with a class, at home or in a traditional school environment. Our experiences help kids explore new ideas and concepts in math and science, whether or not these subjects are part of any particular curriculum. With Phenomena, kids see that math and science aren’t separate subjects, they’re languages that help us describe the world.
What is a misconception people may have about homeschooling?
I think there is a tendency to assume that without a standards-aligned curriculum presented in a classroom, students who are homeschooled aren’t learning as much or as effectively as their peers attending traditional schools. But in fact homeschooled students are often more engaged in their learning because their curriculum is multidisciplinary in a way that better reflects the lens our students need to address real challenges in the world. Homeschooled students develop the skills needed to integrate and apply what they learn to create real solutions.
What type of learner can benefit from Phenomena?
We developed Phenomena for ages 10–14, but we quickly saw that these experiences excite learners of any age. We’ve seen kids from 8–18+ learn independently with Phenomena, and we’ve developed plenty of experiences featuring topics like integrals that are found in high school or even college courses. With Phenomena, kids (and adults!) can explore patterns and relationships to build understanding at multiple levels, with or without layering on the math or variables used to express these concepts.
What is one thing you want to impart to parents?
It’s so important that kids experience success with math and science, and parents can play a big role in modeling positivity around STEM for their kids. As parents, we might sometimes catch ourselves saying “I just don’t have the math gene” or “Science was never my subject,” but what our children are hearing is that STEM is hard and maybe not for them. We want to empower parents to provide their children with positive introductions to math and science topics. And we want to empower children with the language to talk about concepts they already understand from their own lived experience.
If you’d like to learn more about Phenomena or share us with your network, email us at people@phenomenalearning.com.
