In a galaxy, far, far, away...a Franken Berry cereal box travels to distant lands in outer space. And “it’s just me, you, and Uranus. Wait a minute...who thought it was a good idea to name a planet Uranus?” 

It’s quiz time: What’s the funniest kids’ show ever? Put your hands down! Everyone knows it’s...

Mr. DeMaio!!

And it’s totally appropriate (and enriching!) for your crazy, gassy, burping elementary kids. With “Crusty Face” as your neighbor, a cat named “Orange Juice,” and a puppet named Andy who wants to be “Poo...h” for Halloween, learning couldn’t be any funnier. Dance to Bruno Mars while skip-counting with Mr. DeMaio. Explore the Milky Way Galaxy in a Franken Berry cereal box. Hunt for snake anti-venom with “Indiana” DeMaio, and travel with “Soggy Otter” to Egypt to visit the Sphinx. “Ew, looks like he got all beat up!” Mr. DeMaio’s humor is funny for all ages...random, silly, ridiculous, funny. He knows what he's teaching, he knows his audience, and he knows how to educate well. He’s the perfect addition to your space unit study!

His celebrity ranks among the Star Wars cast at our house; my kids LOVE Mr. DeMaio. They even choose him over Wild Kratts! I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard them sing Mr. DeMaio’s Jupiter song, “My Name is Herbert. I have a bird shirt.” When he posts a new video, my kids beg me to watch it until I happily say, pop the popcorn and turn off the lights, TIME FOR MR. DEMAIO! So you can imagine our family’s excitement when innovative 5th grade science and social studies teacher, Mr. DeMaio sat down with us to let us in on his teaching approach and tactics. And, he was personable and fun to interview - he even answered all my kids’ questions. Like, did you know that it takes about three weeks for him to research the educational content, write the script, produce, and edit his videos? He’s a one-man-show! His humor is the same as his elementary students, so no funny formula is needed - except the inside jokes he slips in. And yes, chicken parmesan is one of his favorite foods.

First, you should know that Mr. DeMaio has spent a decade teaching science and social studies to 3rd and 5th graders. Through his experience and expertise, he has developed his own new program in his school and has helped pioneer a more personalized way of educating children. He goes way beyond the traditional curriculum and classroom setting using a method called “Blended Learning.” 

Blended Learning

So, what is Blended Learning? It’s basically what some of us do already in our homeschooling. Mix direct instruction, on-line learning, and individual direction with freedom to pursue interests - all in a rotating station or lab-type setting...Hey, I guess you CAN have your Franken Berry cereal and eat it too! Now - let’s talk about why we care about this innovation invading the traditional school planet:

a) Are you trying to replicate the traditional classroom at home? Is it working for your family? If not, maybe try looking into the Blended Learning approach to ease up some of your time and energy, and to help you increase your child’s involvement in directing their own education. YouTube channels like Mr. DeMaio and various on-line enrichment programs like Outschool, offers that additional enrichment that can truly provide relief for you as the teacher and add a fun personalized experience to your child’s day.

b) Need more support? There may be charter or innovative local public schools that are hybrids of classroom direct instruction paired with a few days at home per week. We have a few of these options locally who utilize the Blended Learning-ish model. Numerous families in our Coop Group are part of a charter like this.

c) Love personalizing your children’s education? This new wave is great news! This is bringing what we love about homeschooling to the masses! Let’s be an encouragement to these programs that further the mission to educate children in accordance with their unique innate personalities and callings.

So why use Mr. DeMaio’s videos for Blended Learning enrichment? Um...have you been listening at all? I mean, if you can mix 1) “rolling down the window” gas jokes with 2) learning about the sun and planets with 3) giving you some free time - you’ve got the ultimate triumvirate. And have you met the dwarf planet Pluto yet? He is super offended by his demotion from an actual planet. 

DeMaio explained that when he first started working in his school, he was the young tech guy trying to do innovative things. “I was passionate about trying new stuff.” Mr. DeMaio tried Blended Learning in his classroom using his videos. “I saw how effective it was and how interested my kids were. [Blended Learning] saved me a lot of time in terms of my classroom since my students could study outside the classroom at their own pace in things they are interested in. Direct instruction does not have to wholly take place with someone standing in front of you - whether that’s in homeschool or whether that’s in a classroom. It can happen through video, it can happen anywhere! It really depends on the kid.” 

And here’s the best part - I love that he said, “It really depends on the kid.” Yes! That’s a big reason why many of us homeschool right? It depends on our kids! What a great nugget to remember when planning our kids’ homeschool curriculum. 

Along that vein, DeMaio shared the following four tips for educating our kids.

Mr. DeMaio’s Top 4 Tips

1. For science and social studies, cater to your students’ interests. If your students are interested in something, lean in heavily to what they want to learn. Let your students guide the study. If your kids are passionate about learning about outer space, then study it now. Let them start their exploration now.

2. When teaching math, competition is a good thing. Students can compete with others or individually against themselves. (Que “Eye of the Tiger” Rocky soundtrack music.) Just make sure to give multiple outlets for success. Mr. DeMaio created a card game called “Cards of Doom” with a championship belt and all - and many kids loved it. But for those who did not love that game, he made sure there was another outlet for those kids to be successful in that activity.

3. As Joss Whedon, producer of Buffy the Vampire Slayer has said, “Make it dark, make it grim, make it tough, but then for the love of God, tell a joke.” (But the real question is, are you team “Angel” or team “Spike”?) Mr. DeMaio says, “It’s okay to be funny. It’s okay to be goofy. Because that means you are getting through to them. Do whatever you can to get through to them.” 

4. “Don’t try to fit kids into a box. Let them be, and embrace who they are.” Do not let your curriculum or plans force your kids to lose their uniqueness that makes them who they are. Treasure it and cultivate it. 

Subject Matter Models and Content

When considering math education, Mr. DeMaio recommends the Math Workshop. This model encourages students to guide themselves. He also highlights Dr. Eric Milou, who promotes learning and truly understanding math conceptually instead of simply memorizing math facts. Mr. DeMaio’s math music videos are a great introduction to times tables. Actually, let’s take a commercial break with his video about the 9’s times table.

9’s Times Table Song (Excerpt)

(to the tune of Spice Girls’ “Tell Me What You Want”)

Start..Counting by your nines if you wanna multiply

I’m counting by my nines and I wanna multiply

Start counting by your nines if you wanna multiply

I’m counting by my nines and I gotta multiply

I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna

I really really really wanna count by my nines

If you try 9 times 2, you gonna get 18

Get 27 when it’s 9 times 3

Get 36 when, it’s 9 times 4

9 times 5 or 6, 45 then 54

For outer space, Uranus hosts a top 20 music countdown, Mars is a little self-conscious about how red she is (voiced by Mr. DeMaio’s wife!), and even Doc and Marty McFly make an appearance on the way to Neptune (or are they going Back to the Future?). On top of all that, the facts and information about planets are solid (not gassy). Kids learn what they enjoy, and my kids are now super smart about space because of Mr. DeMaio. My daughter’s favorite video is the “Indiana” DeMaio Snake Video - and it’s fascinating!

Blend with Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT)

I discovered the TpT site a couple years ago, but, let’s be honest, I never really wanted to buy much since I knew I could make it on my own and personalize it for my kids. But, I did go on and buy Mr. DeMaio’s outer space sheets for each planet video my kids continuously love watching. And the TpT sheets are out of this world! It was a small price to pay for a major time-saver, and it was personalized to each of DeMaio’s videos! My kids loved their little packets - and I loved my free time! Mr. DeMaio utilizes his TpT assessments when the students really want a challenge. 

Blend with Learning by Experiences and Field Trips

Some students may need more of an experience, so with the videos, utilize an enriching field trip to expand their view. If you can’t go anywhere, then there are a number of virtual field trips (like museum tours) that you can participate in. And stay tuned! Mr. DeMaio is working on a couple books that will go with his videos for the future! 

Theme Day

If you know me at all, you know I love a good theme day. How about one planned by Mr. DeMaio? 

Breakfast

A bowl of Franken Berry cereal, that’s a given

Video 

Eco-Systems

Experience

Go for a nice nature walk in the park and figure out which ecosystem you are walking in and how you know it’s that type of ecosystem

In the Car

On the way to your nature walk, listen to his math songs and practice times tables. On the ride  home, listen to The 50 States Song and look for different states’ license plates. Add Mr. DeMaio to your carschooling routine!

Lunch

Chicken Pot Pie with Hi-C Ecto Cooler

Video

Shark Facts

Activity

Draw your favorite shark and send it to DeMaio’s fan mail address: 

Mr. DeMaio, PO Box 58, Keyport, NJ, 07735

Dinner

Chicken Parmesan paired with Crystal Pepsi

After Dinner

Watch some space videos before bed

Goodnight!

Turn on your Hello Kitty Nightlight and dream of puppets and robots and weird aliens that say “What is pants?”

We obviously can’t say enough about this interstellar, out of this world, star teacher. He’s definitely a Giant Star in our home. I wish we could hop right in his Franken Berry cereal box spaceship with my kids and travel the Milky Way to the gassy places far, far, away with him, Andy, and the alien who asks, “What are pants?” We’ve put his YouTube channel in our top five nuggets for setting up your home education, and now it’s time for you to stop what you are doing right now, and go watch him - even without your kids! I promise you will not be disappointed.