My librarian asked for a list of books, homeschool related, that other homeschoolers would want in our little library:) Here is a part of the list I provided:
Senior High: A Home Designed Form+U+La
The Well Trained Mind (Classical Education) (Jessie Wise, Susan Wise Bauer)
Managers of Their Homes and
Managers of Their Schools (life organization and pro-textbook type organization) (Teri Maxwell)
Lies Homeschooling Moms Believe (Todd Wilson)
The Relaxed Homeschooler (Mary Hood)
100 Top Picks (Cathy Duffy)
Help for the Harried Homeschooler (How-to and Organization) (Christine Field)
Homeschooling at the Speed of Life (How-to and Organization) (Marilyn Rockett)
There were a few others (I lost my copy of the list!) so I will add those if I find them later. I tried to get a good mix of how-to, organizational, classical, relaxed, and textbooky. I may have listed a Charlotte Masony book or two, but can't remember now. I struggled with that one. I haven't read a ton of CM books, but the ones I have read, bored me to tears (all the ones others rave about). I DO like CM's method, but apparently I'm not too keen on reading about it:)
Friday, December 16, 2011
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Taking responsibility for one's own education
Yesterday was a rough day. We had done a bit of carschooling the day before, so our books were in a disarray. The kids didn't know what they were supposed to be doing. The 2yo was hyper and needed to stop jumping on my couch cushions. The brand new protractor was missing under piles of stuff and we were hunting for it everywhere. Meanwhile, the 2yo quietly stopped jumping on couch cushions to head upstairs and find trouble there. I felt like the world's worst mother and homeschooler. That missing protractor was a sign of my failure.
I worried that I was the center focus of education. I was the authority on whether their work was sufficient. I was responsible for their supplies. It was all up to me to make the day flow easily from subject to subject. It was not flowing easily, because neither one of us was keeping track of our things. At some point, I wondered how I was ever going to transfer that responsibility from me to them.
Even our lessons are spoon-fed. I give the lesson, they work on it. I tell them when it is wrong and help them make it right. It isn't difficult for them. They do not have to wrestle with finding the right answers. Doubts crept in about what I was doing here. Wouldn't they be better off in public school, where some responsibility is thrust on them?
A friend with a son in public school told me that she's had the worst week. Her son isn't bringing home his books. He didn't know how to find the information he was supposed to be reviewing. He wasn't taking notes in class. He was getting poor grades on tests.
We all worry about our children not working hard enough and taking responsibility for their own education. It isn't limited to homeschool children. Even many good students in public school struggle to make their education their own.
I worried that I was the center focus of education. I was the authority on whether their work was sufficient. I was responsible for their supplies. It was all up to me to make the day flow easily from subject to subject. It was not flowing easily, because neither one of us was keeping track of our things. At some point, I wondered how I was ever going to transfer that responsibility from me to them.
Even our lessons are spoon-fed. I give the lesson, they work on it. I tell them when it is wrong and help them make it right. It isn't difficult for them. They do not have to wrestle with finding the right answers. Doubts crept in about what I was doing here. Wouldn't they be better off in public school, where some responsibility is thrust on them?
A friend with a son in public school told me that she's had the worst week. Her son isn't bringing home his books. He didn't know how to find the information he was supposed to be reviewing. He wasn't taking notes in class. He was getting poor grades on tests.
We all worry about our children not working hard enough and taking responsibility for their own education. It isn't limited to homeschool children. Even many good students in public school struggle to make their education their own.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Cleaning out the trash from the treasure
For record keeping, I've kept all of our old workbooks in piles, and all of our loose papers stacked in boxes. After a few years, these things really add up to one big mess! I spent the weekend sorting through things, trying to pull together a portfolio for each year and each child. This has been no easy task. It has been an excellent exercise, however, in seeing what is Educational Trash and what is Educational Treasure. It has reminded me of an important aspect to curriculum planning.
When you look back on your homeschool five years down the road, what would you like to see in that stack of books and papers? What would you look for to keep? What would you toss?
I didn't have my answer right away. It took some sorting and reviewing to see what really seemed Save Worthy. Here is what I came up with:
I realize that the things I value and save are DIFFERENT from what I value when I lesson plan. Oops! Over the past few years, I have been letting the kids skip the chapter reviews and tests. These are the easiest things to save. Rather than saving a whole chapter on Addition, why not save that Chapter Review at the end as a testimony to mastering Addition?
One more thing I found very valuable: a report card. I did not keep these every year, but I wish I did. I didn't assign a grade to each subject, however. I wrote a brief description of what was covered under each subject. For example, in Kindergarten, it might've looked like this:
Math: can count to 100. skip counts by 2s, 5s, and 10s. Understands place value ones, tens, hundreds. Telling time to the hour. Basic addition and subtraction using objects.
Language Arts: can use phonics skills to decode CVC, CVC-E, and some double vowel words. Can read 30 sight words.
Social Studies: studied Community Helpers by visiting a Firestation, Police station, Doctor and talking to each one about their jobs.
I used WorldBook.com to get my scope and sequence for each grade level. I used some of WorldBook.com's ideas and terminology, but wrote what I thought was important for each child, each year.
When you look back on your homeschool five years down the road, what would you like to see in that stack of books and papers? What would you look for to keep? What would you toss?
I didn't have my answer right away. It took some sorting and reviewing to see what really seemed Save Worthy. Here is what I came up with:
- Tests and Chapter Reviews. This gave me a good overview of what was accomplished in a whole chapter
- Handwriting samples. I dug this out of spelling tests, dictation, narration, or simple question answering in the workbooks.
- Writing samples. Any papers that the children had written were saved. Some things I saved a Rough Draft and the Published (or Final) Draft. If an outside teacher were reviewing this, they'd want to see the process. I didn't save all rough drafts, but a few to show that we did go through a planning, writing, revising, and final publish phase.
- Projects or pictures of projects. Let's face it; you probably don't want to save that lopsided diorama, or that huge human body poster your child made. However, a picture of it is a nice, small thing to keep. I kept some originals, as long as the originals were small and easy to store.
I realize that the things I value and save are DIFFERENT from what I value when I lesson plan. Oops! Over the past few years, I have been letting the kids skip the chapter reviews and tests. These are the easiest things to save. Rather than saving a whole chapter on Addition, why not save that Chapter Review at the end as a testimony to mastering Addition?
One more thing I found very valuable: a report card. I did not keep these every year, but I wish I did. I didn't assign a grade to each subject, however. I wrote a brief description of what was covered under each subject. For example, in Kindergarten, it might've looked like this:
Math: can count to 100. skip counts by 2s, 5s, and 10s. Understands place value ones, tens, hundreds. Telling time to the hour. Basic addition and subtraction using objects.
Language Arts: can use phonics skills to decode CVC, CVC-E, and some double vowel words. Can read 30 sight words.
Social Studies: studied Community Helpers by visiting a Firestation, Police station, Doctor and talking to each one about their jobs.
I used WorldBook.com to get my scope and sequence for each grade level. I used some of WorldBook.com's ideas and terminology, but wrote what I thought was important for each child, each year.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Water Cycle, Carbon Cycle, Nitrogen Cycle
Some good YouTube videos on the topic:
Water Cycle
http://youtu.be/3tExrDk013A
Nitrogen Cycle
http://youtu.be/1XC7xT0mIbY
Carbon Cycle
http://youtu.be/0Vwa6qtEih8
Water Cycle
http://youtu.be/3tExrDk013A
Nitrogen Cycle
http://youtu.be/1XC7xT0mIbY
Carbon Cycle
http://youtu.be/0Vwa6qtEih8
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Partial Product Division and Decimals don't mix
A typical Partial Product Division problem would look like this:
172 / 5
Can you take 5 x 100 out? (500) No, too big.
Can you take 5 x 10 out (50) Yes. How many of these could you take out? At least 3. Ok, so 5 x 30 = 150.
172 - 150 = 22
Can we take out any more 5 x 10? (50) No.
Can we take out 5 x 5? (25) No.
Can we take out 5? Yes. How many 5s could we take out? At least 4. 5 x 4 = 20.
22 - 20 = 2. Can we take another 5 out? No. So let's add up our answer:
30 + 4 = 34; so the answer is 34 with remainder 2. Actually, when we do it, we tend to take out each 10, and then each number after that. So, we would've done 10 + 10 + 10 + 4 and remainder 2. Anyhow.
This is much trickier when you introduce The Decimal (dun dun DUN).
Same problem with a twist:
17.2 / 5
Can we take out a 5 x 10? (50) No. But we could take out 5 x 1.0, and we could do this 3 times:)
5 x 3.0 = 15.0. 17.2 - 15.0 = 2.2
Can we take out a .5? (2.5) No.
Can we take out a .1? (.5) yes. We can take out about 4 .1s, or 5 x .4 = 2.0.
2.2 - 2.0 = 0.2 So our remainder is 0.2
Let's add (the fun part - dun dun DUN)
3.0 + 0.4 = 3.4 with a remainder of 0.2
But now try it by taking out each part individually (make sure you line up all those decimals correctly!):
1.0 + 1.0 + 1.0 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1
OR, try it with a much larger number:
172.54 / 59
Yiiiiiiikes!!!!
But the good news is, it is a really good mental exercise in Place Value.
172 / 5
Can you take 5 x 100 out? (500) No, too big.
Can you take 5 x 10 out (50) Yes. How many of these could you take out? At least 3. Ok, so 5 x 30 = 150.
172 - 150 = 22
Can we take out any more 5 x 10? (50) No.
Can we take out 5 x 5? (25) No.
Can we take out 5? Yes. How many 5s could we take out? At least 4. 5 x 4 = 20.
22 - 20 = 2. Can we take another 5 out? No. So let's add up our answer:
30 + 4 = 34; so the answer is 34 with remainder 2. Actually, when we do it, we tend to take out each 10, and then each number after that. So, we would've done 10 + 10 + 10 + 4 and remainder 2. Anyhow.
This is much trickier when you introduce The Decimal (dun dun DUN).
Same problem with a twist:
17.2 / 5
Can we take out a 5 x 10? (50) No. But we could take out 5 x 1.0, and we could do this 3 times:)
5 x 3.0 = 15.0. 17.2 - 15.0 = 2.2
Can we take out a .5? (2.5) No.
Can we take out a .1? (.5) yes. We can take out about 4 .1s, or 5 x .4 = 2.0.
2.2 - 2.0 = 0.2 So our remainder is 0.2
Let's add (the fun part - dun dun DUN)
3.0 + 0.4 = 3.4 with a remainder of 0.2
But now try it by taking out each part individually (make sure you line up all those decimals correctly!):
1.0 + 1.0 + 1.0 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1
OR, try it with a much larger number:
172.54 / 59
Yiiiiiiikes!!!!
But the good news is, it is a really good mental exercise in Place Value.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Partial Product Division
I don't have much time to blog these days. I thought I would share a quick link to an alternative to Long Division. It is called Partial Product ( or Partial Quotient) Division:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/27636818/Partial-Product-Division
http://www.scribd.com/doc/27636818/Partial-Product-Division
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Memorization and trying like mad to avoid it
When I was in school, I was a slightly above average A-B student. School was relatively easy, and I only learned just enough to get the slightly above average grade. When something had to be memorized, I had a tendency to just sort of float through without actually memorizing something. I think my reaction was always something like, "What? I'm supposed to memorize this? Are you crazy? I'm not doing that!" Funny thing, though, is that I apply that same thought process in teaching my children. Recently, we hit an area of difficulty in the Horizons Math books. Why? Because they're supposed to be doing Roman Numerals. I actually dropped Horizons Math for a few weeks to avoid it. I thought about switching programs. I thought about just crossing off all things Roman Numerals in the books. I just wanted to avoid it! Granted, I'm not entirely sure why Horizons Math has such a strong focus in Roman Numerals. I only use Roman Numerals I, V, and X when reading a Roman Numeral clock. It isn't often that I'm reading Roman Numeral clocks (or non digital clocks for that matter). Or, occasionally I'll read a book with the larger Roman Numeral chapters. I'll watch a movie and wonder "hey, what year was that movie made?" and the answer will be displayed in Roman Numerals on my TV screen. But other than that, I just don't use Roman Numerals. Why bother?
But then I realized this was contrary to my mission as a homeschool mom, overall. Why teach my children to let things slide and to avoid hard work? So I made some flashcards and gave them the goal to have those Roman Numerals memorized by the end of the week.
They memorized them in one day. After that, we reviewed the cards. When we picked up Horizons Math again, the 8yo started in on the Roman Numerals. I said, "hey, wait - now I need to show you how numbers are subtracted on the left and added on the right!" But she already knew this. She had been struggling before and taking a long time to look up each Roman Numeral before writing her answer down. Now, she knew them cold. She was able to calculate numbers under 100 quickly and easily, because she had the symbols memorized.
There are many things that do not need to be memorized. (Remember the cram-test-and forget method of learning in schools?) However, I think there are some guidelines for what should be memorized:
But then I realized this was contrary to my mission as a homeschool mom, overall. Why teach my children to let things slide and to avoid hard work? So I made some flashcards and gave them the goal to have those Roman Numerals memorized by the end of the week.
They memorized them in one day. After that, we reviewed the cards. When we picked up Horizons Math again, the 8yo started in on the Roman Numerals. I said, "hey, wait - now I need to show you how numbers are subtracted on the left and added on the right!" But she already knew this. She had been struggling before and taking a long time to look up each Roman Numeral before writing her answer down. Now, she knew them cold. She was able to calculate numbers under 100 quickly and easily, because she had the symbols memorized.
There are many things that do not need to be memorized. (Remember the cram-test-and forget method of learning in schools?) However, I think there are some guidelines for what should be memorized:
- will it foster a greater conceptual understanding?
- will it make the work easier?
- will it be valuable to know and something to be used in everyday life?
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Capitalization / Punctuation Chart resource
Found this nice Capitalization/Punctuation chart at Readskill.com:
http://www.readskill.com/resources/StudentAids/CapPunRules/pdf/CapitalizationPunctuation.pdf
I like to make mini offices of the information we need to have at hand, and this will make a nice addition to our Grammar mini office.
http://www.readskill.com/resources/StudentAids/CapPunRules/pdf/CapitalizationPunctuation.pdf
I like to make mini offices of the information we need to have at hand, and this will make a nice addition to our Grammar mini office.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Academic Rigor - Redefined!
Here is a link to an article by Tony Wagner (author of the Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don't Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need—and What We Can Do About It). If you are wondering if you would like the book, read this article and see what you think. The book is very similar to this, but with a lot more information and examples. The article is called Rigor Redefined. It also lists and explains the 7 Survival Skills.
(If I didn't link correctly above, here's the full link)
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct08/vol66/num02/Rigor-Redefined.aspx
(If I didn't link correctly above, here's the full link)
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct08/vol66/num02/Rigor-Redefined.aspx
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Global Gap - "Brain dump"
Writing - today's writing, as taught in schools, is formulaic and the topics are dull. GAP introduced the idea of an interesting, well researched essay that presents new ideas and critical thinking.
Teach to the test - most schools today teach to the test, and even then, many schools are performing poorly.
Teacher support - teachers do not receive support and feedback from other teachers. There is no mentoring in the teaching field. Teachers are given a room with students and then ignored by the system. In schools with teacher mentoring, team teaching efforts, and feedback to help the teachers become better at their craft, the teachers excel, the students excel, and everyone is happier.
Drill / rote memorization - in the past, drill and memorization was necessary, as those same resources weren't readily available. However, nowadays, we are saturated with information. Students should know how to access this information and decide critically what is true and what is important. Some information still needs to be memorized (math facts, some history dates, geography), but the educational system no longer needs to be fixated on rote memorization as its sole method of instruction.
Ask good questions - the good teachers ask good questions. They help direct and instruct their students by asking them questions and getting them to think. Likewise, they encourage student questions and exploration. This teaches the problem solving skills that students will need in college and in the workplace.
Even jobs that can be attained without college requires the same basic 7 Survival Skills. The plumber that fixes a leak, the mechanic that fixes a car, or the factory worker on the assembly line...jobs nowadays requires problem solving (oftentimes, creative problem solving), critical thinking, analysis, etc.
The good schools taught the 7 Survival Skills. Teachers asked interesting questions (not the obvious questions, but the ones that required deeper thinking, and which challenged the students). Teachers received support from each other, and valuable feedback. The schools did not teach to the test. Many of the exemplary schools encouraged and supported student discovery and project-based learning. Students are graded by their projects; they are expected to do their best, must present their projects orally and show good written communication skills.
Teach to the test - most schools today teach to the test, and even then, many schools are performing poorly.
Teacher support - teachers do not receive support and feedback from other teachers. There is no mentoring in the teaching field. Teachers are given a room with students and then ignored by the system. In schools with teacher mentoring, team teaching efforts, and feedback to help the teachers become better at their craft, the teachers excel, the students excel, and everyone is happier.
Drill / rote memorization - in the past, drill and memorization was necessary, as those same resources weren't readily available. However, nowadays, we are saturated with information. Students should know how to access this information and decide critically what is true and what is important. Some information still needs to be memorized (math facts, some history dates, geography), but the educational system no longer needs to be fixated on rote memorization as its sole method of instruction.
Ask good questions - the good teachers ask good questions. They help direct and instruct their students by asking them questions and getting them to think. Likewise, they encourage student questions and exploration. This teaches the problem solving skills that students will need in college and in the workplace.
Even jobs that can be attained without college requires the same basic 7 Survival Skills. The plumber that fixes a leak, the mechanic that fixes a car, or the factory worker on the assembly line...jobs nowadays requires problem solving (oftentimes, creative problem solving), critical thinking, analysis, etc.
The good schools taught the 7 Survival Skills. Teachers asked interesting questions (not the obvious questions, but the ones that required deeper thinking, and which challenged the students). Teachers received support from each other, and valuable feedback. The schools did not teach to the test. Many of the exemplary schools encouraged and supported student discovery and project-based learning. Students are graded by their projects; they are expected to do their best, must present their projects orally and show good written communication skills.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Preschool Lesson Plans - Sing! Play! Create!
I love using the Williamson Little Hands books for the Preschool age. These books are especially brilliant for teaching a group of kids. I'll be teaching the 3-5 year olds at my homeschool co-op this year, and I've chosen the book Sing! Play! Create! for a 14-week class. I thought I'd share my lesson plans, in case someone else may want to adopt these for their own child / preschool group. If you want to buy your own Sing! Play! Create!
book, click the pic above or the linked text. Note: if you wish to use the lesson plans below, you'll need your own copy of the book. You can buy the book anywhere, but the above link uses my Amazon Associates ID, which...you know...helps me out as a homeschool mom :)
Week 1:
Theme: At the Pond
Pond songs
binoculars craft
We Spy game
Pond craft
Read 1-2 books, snack
Theme: At the Pond
Pond songs
binoculars craft
We Spy game
Pond craft
Read 1-2 books, snack
Week 2:
Theme: At the Pond, Frog & Turtle
Frog rhyme, turtle rhyme
Lilypad game
turtle puppet craft
turtle game
Read 1-2 books, snack
Theme: At the Pond, Frog & Turtle
Frog rhyme, turtle rhyme
Lilypad game
turtle puppet craft
turtle game
Read 1-2 books, snack
Week 3:
Theme: At the Pond, Fish
Fish songs
Fisherman tag game
Fish craft
Read 1-2 books, snack
Theme: At the Pond, Fish
Fish songs
Fisherman tag game
Fish craft
Read 1-2 books, snack
Week 4:
Theme: In My Garden
Plant a garden
Garden song, flower song
Flower craft
Flower game
Read 1-2 books, snack
Theme: In My Garden
Plant a garden
Garden song, flower song
Flower craft
Flower game
Read 1-2 books, snack
Week 5:
Theme: In My Garden, Bumblebee & Ladybug
Bee song, ladybug song
ladybug craft
ladybug game
Read 1-2 books, snack
Theme: In My Garden, Bumblebee & Ladybug
Bee song, ladybug song
ladybug craft
ladybug game
Read 1-2 books, snack
Week 6:
Theme: In My Garden, Caterpillar & Butterfly
Caterpillar song, butterfly chant
Butterfly, Butterfly turn around game
caterpillar craft
butterfly craft
Read 1-2 books, snack
Theme: In My Garden, Caterpillar & Butterfly
Caterpillar song, butterfly chant
Butterfly, Butterfly turn around game
caterpillar craft
butterfly craft
Read 1-2 books, snack
Week 7:
Theme: In My Garden, Snail (if time, Birds)
Snail song
Snail craft
Snail relay race
(If time, bird song, bird craft)
Read 1-2 books, snack
Theme: In My Garden, Snail (if time, Birds)
Snail song
Snail craft
Snail relay race
(If time, bird song, bird craft)
Read 1-2 books, snack
Week 8:
Theme: In My Garden, Snake
Sing: Slither, Slide, Hiss song
Snakes sock puppet craft
Snake relay race
Read 1-2 books, snack
Theme: In My Garden, Snake
Sing: Slither, Slide, Hiss song
Snakes sock puppet craft
Snake relay race
Read 1-2 books, snack
Week 9:
Theme: At the Zoo, Elephant & Lion
Elephant song, lion song
Lion Hokey Pokey
Elephant mask craft
Lion lacing card craft
Elephant relay race
Read 1-2 books, snack
Theme: At the Zoo, Elephant & Lion
Elephant song, lion song
Lion Hokey Pokey
Elephant mask craft
Lion lacing card craft
Elephant relay race
Read 1-2 books, snack
Week 10
Theme: At the Zoo, Monkey
5 Little Monkeys
Monkey craft
Banana relay race
(If time, add Hippo rhyme & craft)
Read 1-2 books, snack
Theme: At the Zoo, Monkey
5 Little Monkeys
Monkey craft
Banana relay race
(If time, add Hippo rhyme & craft)
Read 1-2 books, snack
Week 11
Theme: At the Zoo, Peacock
Peacock stick puppet craft
Feather relay game
Peacock song
(if time, add in Bear rhyme & craft)
Read 1-2 books, snack
Theme: At the Zoo, Peacock
Peacock stick puppet craft
Feather relay game
Peacock song
(if time, add in Bear rhyme & craft)
Read 1-2 books, snack
Week 12
Theme: On the Farm, Horse
Farmyard rhymes
Big Red Barn craft
Horse craft
Horse barrel race
(if time, Barnyard Fun activity with blanket)
Read 1-2 books, snack
Theme: On the Farm, Horse
Farmyard rhymes
Big Red Barn craft
Horse craft
Horse barrel race
(if time, Barnyard Fun activity with blanket)
Read 1-2 books, snack
Week 13
Theme: On the Farm, Cow & Sheep
10 Little Cows rhyme
Mary Had a Little Lamb
“Mary Says” game (like Simon Says)
Cow craft, sheep craft
(If time, Cat & Mouse game – like Duck, Duck, Goose)
Read 1-2 books, snack
Week 14Theme: On the Farm, Cow & Sheep
10 Little Cows rhyme
Mary Had a Little Lamb
“Mary Says” game (like Simon Says)
Cow craft, sheep craft
(If time, Cat & Mouse game – like Duck, Duck, Goose)
Read 1-2 books, snack
Theme: On the Farm, Pig & Chicken
Farm Chores Obstacle Course
Pig craft
Hen craft
Mother Hen rhyme
(If time, Whose Hiding My Egg game)
Read 1-2 books, snack
Monday, June 6, 2011
Discovery based math
I just picked up a used Miquon Math program for my 2 year old. Of course, we won't be studying math any time soon, but I saw an opportunity and nabbed it. I'm new to the idea of "discovery math", but am intrigued with the idea.
We stumbled upon Discovery based math today with my 10 year old. It wasn't going to be a lesson driven by student discovery, but that's what it became. My 10 year old will be taking the 5th Gr IOWA test soon, and like many homeschool moms, I'm using this time to CRAM, lol. It's not the best method, but it is what it is. There are many math topics we simply didn't get to this year, and I'm sure many of these things will be the on the test. I'm hoping to give my 10 year old a heads up on these topics, so she isn't completely lost in the wilderness. So today, I brought up long division with two-digit going into a three-digit number. Eek!
We pulled out the whiteboard and I put a number on the board. She immediately said "don't tell me! I want to try doing it myself!" Her first attempt looked more like a multiplication number, and I simply asked "do you want some direction?" Her answer? No! So I held my tongue.
When she asked if she was going in the right direction, I explained that she was turning it into a multiplication problem. I re-phrased it. The problem was 352 / 44, but I said, "think of it as 44 x what = 352?" I probably gave a little too much input after that, saying "let's just guess what it would be, but to get a good guess, let's round 44 down to 40..." At this point she stopped me, "Let me try, I've got it". She went through a new series of processes, but this time thought of 40 as 4, and then tried to multiply by 10s. This was sort of the right direction, so after she arrived at 88 x 4, I pointed out the error. So, back to the drawing board, and she was at it again...She went through a series of 40 x a number to get close, and then readjusted by multiplying again with 44. Of course, this whole series of math experiments took far longer to finally arrive at the correct answer of 8, LOL. We did one more problem after that, and again, I gave her the marker and let her run with it. This time, it was still trial and error, but she was much closer to finding the correct answer. The second problem had a remainder. I gently assisted when it was welcomed, and watched when she wanted to work it out for herself.
OK, so this style of math instruction takes a lot longer, brings in a lot more mistakes, and wrong turns. The teacher could easily show the procedure in 5mins time, which is much quicker and more efficient for both teacher and student. BUT...what is our ultimate goal? We want to provide the tools for our students to solve problems. Teaching the standard long division algorithm without exploration is a way to accomplish that. However, we also want to develop other skills:
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Thinking Outside of the Box
Agility and Flexibility
An ability to pull from a variety of different skills to solve NEW problems
As technology advances at a faster and faster rate, our students will need to adapt to these changes in their work environment. They will see things that they have never seen before. We hope to graduate students that can say "I don't know the answer, but let's find out!" or "it's never been done before, but I bet I can do it!"
Yes, giving them the marker and saying "have at it" is messy math at its best. It takes time and a whole lot of patience. It requires the teacher to bite their tongue and sit on their hands. The student gets a lot less math accomplished in the same amount of time that they could complete an entire worksheet. But perhaps the end result - Innovative and Creative Problem Solving - is really what we're trying to teach in the first place.
We stumbled upon Discovery based math today with my 10 year old. It wasn't going to be a lesson driven by student discovery, but that's what it became. My 10 year old will be taking the 5th Gr IOWA test soon, and like many homeschool moms, I'm using this time to CRAM, lol. It's not the best method, but it is what it is. There are many math topics we simply didn't get to this year, and I'm sure many of these things will be the on the test. I'm hoping to give my 10 year old a heads up on these topics, so she isn't completely lost in the wilderness. So today, I brought up long division with two-digit going into a three-digit number. Eek!
We pulled out the whiteboard and I put a number on the board. She immediately said "don't tell me! I want to try doing it myself!" Her first attempt looked more like a multiplication number, and I simply asked "do you want some direction?" Her answer? No! So I held my tongue.
When she asked if she was going in the right direction, I explained that she was turning it into a multiplication problem. I re-phrased it. The problem was 352 / 44, but I said, "think of it as 44 x what = 352?" I probably gave a little too much input after that, saying "let's just guess what it would be, but to get a good guess, let's round 44 down to 40..." At this point she stopped me, "Let me try, I've got it". She went through a new series of processes, but this time thought of 40 as 4, and then tried to multiply by 10s. This was sort of the right direction, so after she arrived at 88 x 4, I pointed out the error. So, back to the drawing board, and she was at it again...She went through a series of 40 x a number to get close, and then readjusted by multiplying again with 44. Of course, this whole series of math experiments took far longer to finally arrive at the correct answer of 8, LOL. We did one more problem after that, and again, I gave her the marker and let her run with it. This time, it was still trial and error, but she was much closer to finding the correct answer. The second problem had a remainder. I gently assisted when it was welcomed, and watched when she wanted to work it out for herself.
OK, so this style of math instruction takes a lot longer, brings in a lot more mistakes, and wrong turns. The teacher could easily show the procedure in 5mins time, which is much quicker and more efficient for both teacher and student. BUT...what is our ultimate goal? We want to provide the tools for our students to solve problems. Teaching the standard long division algorithm without exploration is a way to accomplish that. However, we also want to develop other skills:
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Thinking Outside of the Box
Agility and Flexibility
An ability to pull from a variety of different skills to solve NEW problems
As technology advances at a faster and faster rate, our students will need to adapt to these changes in their work environment. They will see things that they have never seen before. We hope to graduate students that can say "I don't know the answer, but let's find out!" or "it's never been done before, but I bet I can do it!"
Yes, giving them the marker and saying "have at it" is messy math at its best. It takes time and a whole lot of patience. It requires the teacher to bite their tongue and sit on their hands. The student gets a lot less math accomplished in the same amount of time that they could complete an entire worksheet. But perhaps the end result - Innovative and Creative Problem Solving - is really what we're trying to teach in the first place.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Academic Rigor
How would you define "academic rigor"? It is something I always thought I wanted for my children: academic rigor. One of my favorite homeschool resources (WTM forums) has discussions often about Academic Rigor. It is usually seen as a good thing. I looked up the word "rigor" on Dictionary.com, and here are some of the definitions of rigor:
1. strictness, severity, or harshness, as in dealing with people.
1. strictness, severity, or harshness, as in dealing with people.
2. the full or extreme severity of laws, rules, etc.
3. severity of living conditions; hardship; austerity: the rigor of wartime existence.
Rigor even describes plants living in an unsuitable environment for growth: inactivity, stagnation, inertia.
Rigor can mean stiffness and an inability to move.
Yikes!
I'm re-thinking this Academic Rigor idea...
Monday, May 16, 2011
Ages and Stages
I've noticed a certain trend in learning during ages and stages of development. Either it's genetic and that's why I see the trend, or it is a common event for a large number of children:)
Age 4-6 Learning happens naturally as a part of life. They seem to soak things in and ask a lot of questions. For some kids, K-1st gr material will be very easy, as if they already know these things and don't really need to be formally taught. Innocent and optimistic, the world is full of wonder to be explored.
Age 6-8 Suddenly, they seem aware of what the outside world thinks of them. They seem hyper-sensitive to criticism and joking. The workload gets harder and more academic, but the child doesn't quite have the study skills yet to adjust. This new sensitivity coupled with the increasing challenge of academics creates a real rough patch in the 2nd/3rd-4th grade years.
Age 9 or 10 The "Real" Child emerges. They come out of that volatile stage. The parent begins to see a vision of where the child might be headed, his/her strong characteristics, interests, and natural talents. The child enters the "logic" stage, and has a deeper understanding of how things work. He begins to question, and thinks of the world more critically, challenging ideas.
That's all I have so far - I haven't seen anything past age 10 yet! I'd love to hear your experience with your own children.
Age 4-6 Learning happens naturally as a part of life. They seem to soak things in and ask a lot of questions. For some kids, K-1st gr material will be very easy, as if they already know these things and don't really need to be formally taught. Innocent and optimistic, the world is full of wonder to be explored.
Age 6-8 Suddenly, they seem aware of what the outside world thinks of them. They seem hyper-sensitive to criticism and joking. The workload gets harder and more academic, but the child doesn't quite have the study skills yet to adjust. This new sensitivity coupled with the increasing challenge of academics creates a real rough patch in the 2nd/3rd-4th grade years.
Age 9 or 10 The "Real" Child emerges. They come out of that volatile stage. The parent begins to see a vision of where the child might be headed, his/her strong characteristics, interests, and natural talents. The child enters the "logic" stage, and has a deeper understanding of how things work. He begins to question, and thinks of the world more critically, challenging ideas.
That's all I have so far - I haven't seen anything past age 10 yet! I'd love to hear your experience with your own children.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Simple Equations - Horizons' Style
Basic Equations with Variables, in Horizons Math (starting 2nd or 3rd Grade)
Horizons Math teaches Equations, and I think they start this in 2nd grade. Many math curriculum teach equations with variables, but not quite like Horizons! I'll give an example:
Most Math curriculum will teach something like this:
x + 6 = 11;
The next step, according to other Math programs is to turn the addition problem into a subtraction problem:
11 - 6 = x;
Then 6 is subtracted from 11 to get 5
5 = x
Horizons Math shows the algebraic step missing in other programs. Here is Horizons' method:
x + 6 = 11;
Next step is to subtract 6 on both sides of the equation. This cancels the 6 on the left side, and gets the 6 onto the other side. It also gets the variable alone, which is what we want;
x + 6 = 11
-6 -6
--------------
Here, the 6s cancel on the left, and you can subtract 6 from 11 on the right.
x = 5
I would suspect that many kids have the same reaction as my child: why do it that way? It doesn't make sense! I can do it the first way intuitively, and I get the answer just fine. Why subtract from both sides? Today I showed it with blocks, and I think it made more sense. See the video above to see how I explained it with the blocks. The example problem is
n + 5 = 9
Hopefully, this is enough to get the pattern. After I explained it this way, my daughter was able to apply the whole "subtract on both sides" idea to her math problems. Thankfully, she automatically made the connection that she'd use the opposite sign when confronted with this kind of problem:
y - 2 = 8
It seemed intuitive to her to add 2 to both sides. Thank goodness, because I was having a hard time figuring out how I'd show that with blocks! Looking online, the explanations get into some pretty big concepts: negative numbers and making 0. It's not that my daughter couldn't get those concepts, I just hate to pile on too many new concepts all at once:)
Want more? Here's a Khan Academy video that shows the same thing (without the blocks):
http://www.khanacademy.org/video/solving-one-step-equations?playlist=Developmental%20Math
Friday, May 6, 2011
Curriculum Finds
The slideshow shows all of the good deals I found at the local library. A homeschool parent must have donated the books for the library sale, and for some reason, the library accepted them (they don't usually accept textbooks). I'll list the books here:
Fallacy Detective
Story of the World Books 1 & 2
Oak Meadow 5th Gr History/English & Teacher's Guide
Apologia Exploring Creation with Biology, Exploring Creation with Chemistry (2nd ed), General Science (Chem & Gen Sci both have the answer keys booklet)
Calvert Famous Americans
Calvert Gods of Greece
Spelling Power
Vocab Classical Root Words book B
Elements in the Periodic Table
BJU Geometry Teacher's Guide 1 & 2
World Geography
Life on Earth Teacher Box & Study Guide
Last photo is some of the amazing photos from the Life on Earth Teacher box
I spent about $13 for all of these books! I like to have a lot of resources on hand for whenever I'm inspired in any given direction.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Filling the bucket
"We are shut up in schools and college recitation rooms for ten or fifteen years, and come out at last with a bellyful of words and do not know a thing."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education."
Albert Einstein
“It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.”
Albert Einstein
“Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.”
William Butler Yeats
Ask most homeschool moms for their ultimate educational goal, and they will answer, "I just want my kids to have a lifelong love of learning". We have a fear that by using textbooks, workbooks, paper and pencil we are killing the joy of learning, and developing children that run screaming from anything remotely interesting. And so, the circus begins. We ditch curriculum and pick up something "fun". We implement projects with lots of coloring, cutting, and pasting. We practically stand on our heads in order to make learning fun, and make it stick with our children for a lifetime. Every heavy sigh, or complaint "I hate..." (science, math, reading, etc.) is taken as our personal failure. There you go again, Mom: you just killed their love of learning!
The advice typically is: "back off and let them develop their own interests". How long should a parent wait? One month? One year? Five years? Twelve? We don't want to fill their buckets, we want to light their fire for learning. This is coming from a homeschool mom that has had the same fear, heard the same anti-educational rhetoric, and read the same advice over and over again. And now I'm ready to challenge that idea. It's wrong, and I'm not going to sit idly by hoping that some spark gets caught between here and age 18. I'm also not going to stay up until 4am recreating a rainforest in my livingroom, so that my kids can learn about the Amazon (as cool as that sounds...)
I have enough to worry about as a homeschool mom. Can I set any expectations at all for my children? Should I not ask them to think or work or study at all? It's bad news, but on a shopping trip, most children would rather look at the entertaining boxes of cereal than calculate which deal is better: 2 for $5 or 3 for $6. Most children do not want to apply themselves, challenge their current level, and put forth work to go farther in their studies. That's what the parent is for.
Mom (Dad, Legal Guardian, or Personal Tutor) need to set some goals. These can be co-operative goals, or completely parent enforced. You decide what needs to be learned; you decide what needs to stick. And you decide how much those things need to be enforced, or reinforced. You also pick the materials, and you stick to it (by golly!) It's OK. Most likely, you aren't killing anything, even if your child's complaints sound like the neighbor's cat is being skinned alive.
Go forth and fill that bucket! (And maybe a fire will get lit along the way...)
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education."
Albert Einstein
“It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.”
Albert Einstein
“Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.”
William Butler Yeats
Ask most homeschool moms for their ultimate educational goal, and they will answer, "I just want my kids to have a lifelong love of learning". We have a fear that by using textbooks, workbooks, paper and pencil we are killing the joy of learning, and developing children that run screaming from anything remotely interesting. And so, the circus begins. We ditch curriculum and pick up something "fun". We implement projects with lots of coloring, cutting, and pasting. We practically stand on our heads in order to make learning fun, and make it stick with our children for a lifetime. Every heavy sigh, or complaint "I hate..." (science, math, reading, etc.) is taken as our personal failure. There you go again, Mom: you just killed their love of learning!
The advice typically is: "back off and let them develop their own interests". How long should a parent wait? One month? One year? Five years? Twelve? We don't want to fill their buckets, we want to light their fire for learning. This is coming from a homeschool mom that has had the same fear, heard the same anti-educational rhetoric, and read the same advice over and over again. And now I'm ready to challenge that idea. It's wrong, and I'm not going to sit idly by hoping that some spark gets caught between here and age 18. I'm also not going to stay up until 4am recreating a rainforest in my livingroom, so that my kids can learn about the Amazon (as cool as that sounds...)
I have enough to worry about as a homeschool mom. Can I set any expectations at all for my children? Should I not ask them to think or work or study at all? It's bad news, but on a shopping trip, most children would rather look at the entertaining boxes of cereal than calculate which deal is better: 2 for $5 or 3 for $6. Most children do not want to apply themselves, challenge their current level, and put forth work to go farther in their studies. That's what the parent is for.
Mom (Dad, Legal Guardian, or Personal Tutor) need to set some goals. These can be co-operative goals, or completely parent enforced. You decide what needs to be learned; you decide what needs to stick. And you decide how much those things need to be enforced, or reinforced. You also pick the materials, and you stick to it (by golly!) It's OK. Most likely, you aren't killing anything, even if your child's complaints sound like the neighbor's cat is being skinned alive.
Go forth and fill that bucket! (And maybe a fire will get lit along the way...)
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
The Reward System
At one time or another, the homeschool parent will try offering a reward for learning or in order to encourage a type of behavior in their child. The reward system is supposed to motivate children to do what their parent wants them to do: but it is typically not something the child would do on his own. The reward is supposed to offer the incentive necessary to motivate the child, when the thing itself is not very motivational.
I used the word "supposed" a few times. Some parents have found a lovely gem of a tool to use over and over again. Other parents have thrown up their hands and said "nothing motivates my child!" In the documentary, Freakonomics, the reward system is disproved as a valid method for motivating *most* children. In the documentary, they explain the results of a study put out by a university, in which low performing students in a high school are offered a large sum of money to boost their grades. The study results were disappointing: far less students made the effort to study then expected. The money was nice, but it wasn't enough to make a change in many students' behaviors.
One of the authors of Freakonomics describes his experience with potty training his daughter with M & Ms as the reward system. His results were very much the same that I experienced: a child able to manipulate the system for M & Ms, but not actually willing to become potty trained.
I've given the reward system a bad rap over the years, and did not believe it to be a good option for my own children, until recently. I think I've hit upon the secret of using the reward system successfully. First, I'll share a story:
Over a year ago, I realized the need to teach my children their multiplication facts. I had had a baby and was incredibly busy changing diapers, doing laundry, and catching up on sleep with cat naps. This did not make a good homeschool teacher. I recognized this need and hoped to encourage some independence in my children. Afterall, the facts had to be memorized, one way or another. I offered a reward, with the hopes that they would take a month, learn their facts, and happily take what I offered. At first, my oldest (then age 9) was motivated and began studying her facts. She memorized 2s, and a little bit of her 3s before giving up. When I asked her about it, she blamed me: I wasn't providing the activities she needed to learn them. I explained that this was her job: if she really wanted to learn them, she would devote the time and effort to studying them. She shrugged mysteriously, and that was that.
One year later, I decided that if I waited for her to become motivated, she would never learn her facts. I set up timed drill and enforced practice every single day. In less than 2 months, she had 0-5s memorized. She earned the first half of her reward: lunch at a fast food restaurant. The second reward will be given once she can complete 0-9s. Through this story, I learned that the reward system CAN be used successfully, but not in the way you might think...
Set up very clear expectations.
"Learn your multiplication facts" is not a clear enough goal. If your child can come up with the answer to 9x9, but makes 2 erroneous guesses first, or it takes 30 seconds to figure out the answer, is it truely mastered? I researched typical expectations for the task and maturity level and came upon this goal: Math facts are mastered when each fact can be answered in 3 seconds. If my daughter can complete a 100 problem worksheet in 5 minutes, with 0 incorrect, she has the facts truely mastered.
Don't expect it to motivate or change behavior
Unfortunately, if you want it to happen, you're the one that needs to move heaven and earth to make sure that it does. Enforce the learning, making certain that progress is being made. The reward itself is not enough to motivate most students. You provide the structure and ensure that your student is working toward the goal. If left to be done independently, don't be surprised if your student lacks motivation. Once you've seen the goal met, don't forget to reward yourself, too! (Afterall, teaching is hard work).
If I'm doing so much work, what is the purpose of a reward, then?
Even though you're overseeing the work and making sure that it gets done, there are definite benefits to using a reward to encourage your student.
The reward system can offer real benefits to your child; however, do not expect that to be enough. Your child may not show the independence and work ethic that you are hoping to see. If the task is valuable enough to you, you'll need to see it through to make sure that your child does it. Set realistic and clear expectations so that both you and your child can measure their progress and know when a goal has been met. You will need to enforce the task and make sure that it is being worked on regularly. Give the reward once the task has been completed. This can give your child a real sense of accomplishment, is a way to celebrate the goal in a fun way, and can teach your child how to set their own goals and rewards in the future.
I used the word "supposed" a few times. Some parents have found a lovely gem of a tool to use over and over again. Other parents have thrown up their hands and said "nothing motivates my child!" In the documentary, Freakonomics, the reward system is disproved as a valid method for motivating *most* children. In the documentary, they explain the results of a study put out by a university, in which low performing students in a high school are offered a large sum of money to boost their grades. The study results were disappointing: far less students made the effort to study then expected. The money was nice, but it wasn't enough to make a change in many students' behaviors.
One of the authors of Freakonomics describes his experience with potty training his daughter with M & Ms as the reward system. His results were very much the same that I experienced: a child able to manipulate the system for M & Ms, but not actually willing to become potty trained.
I've given the reward system a bad rap over the years, and did not believe it to be a good option for my own children, until recently. I think I've hit upon the secret of using the reward system successfully. First, I'll share a story:
Over a year ago, I realized the need to teach my children their multiplication facts. I had had a baby and was incredibly busy changing diapers, doing laundry, and catching up on sleep with cat naps. This did not make a good homeschool teacher. I recognized this need and hoped to encourage some independence in my children. Afterall, the facts had to be memorized, one way or another. I offered a reward, with the hopes that they would take a month, learn their facts, and happily take what I offered. At first, my oldest (then age 9) was motivated and began studying her facts. She memorized 2s, and a little bit of her 3s before giving up. When I asked her about it, she blamed me: I wasn't providing the activities she needed to learn them. I explained that this was her job: if she really wanted to learn them, she would devote the time and effort to studying them. She shrugged mysteriously, and that was that.
One year later, I decided that if I waited for her to become motivated, she would never learn her facts. I set up timed drill and enforced practice every single day. In less than 2 months, she had 0-5s memorized. She earned the first half of her reward: lunch at a fast food restaurant. The second reward will be given once she can complete 0-9s. Through this story, I learned that the reward system CAN be used successfully, but not in the way you might think...
Set up very clear expectations.
"Learn your multiplication facts" is not a clear enough goal. If your child can come up with the answer to 9x9, but makes 2 erroneous guesses first, or it takes 30 seconds to figure out the answer, is it truely mastered? I researched typical expectations for the task and maturity level and came upon this goal: Math facts are mastered when each fact can be answered in 3 seconds. If my daughter can complete a 100 problem worksheet in 5 minutes, with 0 incorrect, she has the facts truely mastered.
Don't expect it to motivate or change behavior
Unfortunately, if you want it to happen, you're the one that needs to move heaven and earth to make sure that it does. Enforce the learning, making certain that progress is being made. The reward itself is not enough to motivate most students. You provide the structure and ensure that your student is working toward the goal. If left to be done independently, don't be surprised if your student lacks motivation. Once you've seen the goal met, don't forget to reward yourself, too! (Afterall, teaching is hard work).
If I'm doing so much work, what is the purpose of a reward, then?
Even though you're overseeing the work and making sure that it gets done, there are definite benefits to using a reward to encourage your student.
- It provides more than just "because I said so". It offers another reason to meet the goal.
- Finally meeting the real goal gives your student a sense of success and accomplishment.
- The reward offers a tangible way to see that the goal was accomplished and is a way to celebrate.
- You're training your child to learn how to set goals, work toward goals, and set rewards for themselves when they are older.
The reward system can offer real benefits to your child; however, do not expect that to be enough. Your child may not show the independence and work ethic that you are hoping to see. If the task is valuable enough to you, you'll need to see it through to make sure that your child does it. Set realistic and clear expectations so that both you and your child can measure their progress and know when a goal has been met. You will need to enforce the task and make sure that it is being worked on regularly. Give the reward once the task has been completed. This can give your child a real sense of accomplishment, is a way to celebrate the goal in a fun way, and can teach your child how to set their own goals and rewards in the future.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Successful Education (links) and a commentary
As a follow-up to my earlier link, Finland's Education Success, I thought I would post some other "finds". These links were originally posted on The Well Trained Mind forums, a site dedicated to Classical Education.
How Do Successful Schools Treat Teachers? From Huffpost Education
Your Child Left Behind from the Atlantic, an article that challenges our excuses for falling behind (our diverse culture and teaching non-English speaking immigrants, and that our culture simply cannot be compared fairly to Finland)
So....what does this mean for us homeschooling parents?
I am conflicted by this question. As a homeschool mom, I want my children to develop self-study skills, independence in their education, and I want them to own their education. My oldest daughter is only ten; I never excelled at Algebra and Geometry, so I have this hope that she is able to own this subject as she matures. Reality is, she'll probably have questions and lack understanding (just like she does now, which is pretty normal for most kids).
However, the teacher is important. How can we homeschool parents build our own skills as home educators? How can we be better teachers?
How Do Successful Schools Treat Teachers? From Huffpost Education
Your Child Left Behind from the Atlantic, an article that challenges our excuses for falling behind (our diverse culture and teaching non-English speaking immigrants, and that our culture simply cannot be compared fairly to Finland)
So....what does this mean for us homeschooling parents?
I am conflicted by this question. As a homeschool mom, I want my children to develop self-study skills, independence in their education, and I want them to own their education. My oldest daughter is only ten; I never excelled at Algebra and Geometry, so I have this hope that she is able to own this subject as she matures. Reality is, she'll probably have questions and lack understanding (just like she does now, which is pretty normal for most kids).
However, the teacher is important. How can we homeschool parents build our own skills as home educators? How can we be better teachers?
- we can study and learn about the subjects we teach
- homeschool parents can mentor each other, offering support and help
- we can try different strategies in our teaching so that our children understand
- we can learn about good teaching techniques and implement these techniques where it makes sense in the homeschool (not all good teaching strategies in a school setting will work in a home setting)
- we can recognize the advantage we have as parents: we know our children, love them, and have a relationship with them. This naturally adds to our "teaching skills" and we can use this knowledge and caring to be good teachers.
Finland's Education Success
Here is a link to an article published on Time.com about Finland's education system. Finland ranks amongst the top 3 in the world for student performance in reading, math, and science. Finland's methods, however, are a stark contrast to it's neighbors in performance (Singapore and South Korea). Find out more here:
Finland's Educational Success? The Anti–Tiger Mother Approach
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2062419,00.html
I personally like Finland's approach better than the Tiger Mom approach, and think that the key is the careful selection and training of the teachers. Along with that, allow these highly trained teachers to actually teach, without choosing the curriculum, methods, etc for them. I loved this from the article, "you don't buy a dog and bark for it". I think this is an approach that the U.S. could incorporate.
Finland's Educational Success? The Anti–Tiger Mother Approach
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2062419,00.html
I personally like Finland's approach better than the Tiger Mom approach, and think that the key is the careful selection and training of the teachers. Along with that, allow these highly trained teachers to actually teach, without choosing the curriculum, methods, etc for them. I loved this from the article, "you don't buy a dog and bark for it". I think this is an approach that the U.S. could incorporate.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Unschooling vs Structured Learning
This week I have been trying to prepare a comparison of Structured vs. Unschooled Learning. This has been a very challenging thing to write! What I have found is that "Structured" learning is difficult to define, because it can happen in a very co-erced way, or it can happen in a very cooperative way. When parent and an older student work together to set goals, and the parent sets the structure with the child's needs in mind, that structured learning can look a lot more positive! Likewise, Unschooling can be difficult to define, because it can happen in a very unstructured way (child is given complete freedom), or it can happen in a very cooperative way (parent having some defined goals in mind and gently steering the child in that direction, or the child being open to the parent's leading in some subject areas). In both Structured learning and Unschooling, there can be a good deal of give-and-take, honest and loving assessment from the parent, and direction from both parent and child. So, I came up with this chart as a compare/contrast between Unschooling, Goal Set Learning (Structured), and Traditional School Learning (Structured).
Monday, April 11, 2011
Unschooling - when it works/when it doesn't
This blog, thus far, has focused on teaching facts and concepts to children. Unschooling families would argue that this type of learning is unnecessary. Unschooling has its merits and this article will lay out the pros and cons of unschooling, and signs that unschooling is not working for a family.
Unschooling, what is it?
Unschooling is a broad homeschooling term to mean that most or all of the child's education is interest led. The child will learn what they want to learn when they want to learn it. Some families gently guide their children by setting some goals (reading by age 8, basic math at age 10, for example). Most families try to expose their children to a wide variety of different topics, in hopes that a few might catch fire in the curiousity of their child. Life experience gives all of the necessary background information which serves as the building blocks for learning. Library trips and visits to museums and nature centers are some ways that children are exposed to new ideas. This may not sound like anything new to you, and may sound like something you implement in your own home. All loving families that care about their children's educations use unschooling tools to a certain extent. Most unschooling families do not use textbooks (unless that is what the child himself chooses to learn from), or use workbooks in a very limited way (i.e., one unschooling family may "traditional school" for math, while using unschooling methods for everything else).
When is unschooling a good option?
Unschooling, what is it?
Unschooling is a broad homeschooling term to mean that most or all of the child's education is interest led. The child will learn what they want to learn when they want to learn it. Some families gently guide their children by setting some goals (reading by age 8, basic math at age 10, for example). Most families try to expose their children to a wide variety of different topics, in hopes that a few might catch fire in the curiousity of their child. Life experience gives all of the necessary background information which serves as the building blocks for learning. Library trips and visits to museums and nature centers are some ways that children are exposed to new ideas. This may not sound like anything new to you, and may sound like something you implement in your own home. All loving families that care about their children's educations use unschooling tools to a certain extent. Most unschooling families do not use textbooks (unless that is what the child himself chooses to learn from), or use workbooks in a very limited way (i.e., one unschooling family may "traditional school" for math, while using unschooling methods for everything else).
When is unschooling a good option?
- when a child is naturally driven to learn
- when a parent is comfortable with a child learning at his own pace
- when a parent offers ample opportunities for learning and exposure to ideas (i.e., offering a lot of books, kits, paints, supplies, field trips, and life experiences)
- when a child shows an interest and the parent is able to spontaneously feed that interest with supplies (books, field trips, building supplies, etc.)
- when a parent is able to trust the process and can believe that the child will have had a well-rounded education by graduation.
- when a child leaves the public/private school system and needs some time to de-school (recommended time to deschool: 1 month per every year in the school system)
- when the child's confidence in his own abilities to learn have been destroyed by formal learning and he emotionally shuts down when formal education is attempted.
- when a child is not driven to learn on his own
- when a child is reluctant or resistant to learning basic skills (ex: learning how to read)
- when there is a learning disability (although, this depends on the LD and the family)
- when a parent is unable to offer a variety of different experiences, materials, or spontaneously go with the child's interest
- when a child needs structure and organization in order to flourish: some children are frustrated or struggle without some sort of structure
- when a parent's expectations for what they want their child to learn has not been met (ex: parent hoped child would learn to read by age 10, but they still do not show any interest in learning to read)
- when the parent is uncomfortable waiting until age 18 to see that everything balanced out in the child's own timeframe
- when the parent does not see any growth in the child's learning development, either due to suspected LDs or the child does not seem to show a drive to learn anything.
- when there is no structure at all within the family (children do not help with chores, are unwilling to pitch in to help out, or are unwilling to listen and show respect to the parent)
- when the parent, child, or both need some sort of structure, and structure is lacking in this particular family.
- when a parent's own educational philosophy differs from unschooling, and the parent is unable to give up that original vision
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Top 10 List to Improve Your Child's Memory
Here is a link to an article from Psychology Today. It is called Top 10 List to Improve Your Child's Memory. Here is an excerpt:
Looks like I have some reading to do!
One of the most exciting areas is brain-based memory research we now have is neuroimaging and brain-mapping studies to view the working brain as it learns. These memory tips are derived from my background as a neurologist. I review the neuroimaging research. I then use my experience as a classroom teacher to make connections between the research and strategies that are NEURO-LOGICAL.The author has a book called How Your Child Learns Best, and also a website http://www.radteach.com/
Looks like I have some reading to do!
Homeschooling's hard - have a frappe!
5-6 ice cubes
1 cup milk
2 scoops hot chocolate mix
1 scoop instant coffee
1 scoop sugar
scoop = approx tablespoon
Put it all in a blender and blend until smooth and icy. Pour into a tall glass. Lock children into closet and put on sound cancelling headphones. Enjoy!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Distractions from learning pt 2: Math Manipulatives
Maria Miller, author of Math Mammoth (a homeschool math curriculum), wrote a blog entry called The Value of Manipulatives. She explains how Math Manipulatives can actually become a learning distraction. In my last post, Distractions From Learning, I explain that sometimes, attempts to draw students into a lesson can misfire, and actually serve as a distraction. Mrs. Miller's post is a great example of math manipulatives distracting from the lesson. Is teaching with math manipulatives a bad teaching strategy?
Math Manipulatives - what do they do?
Manipulatives show numbers visually and concretely. You cannot hold 2, but you can hold two apples. Manipulatives present Place Value: a ones place, tens place, hundreds place. Higher level math continues with place value, into the decimal / fraction places and into thousands, millions, billions. Manipulatives give the student something to touch and move around (manipulate). When shifts happen in place value, this can be taught concretely, by showing the real shift in numbers. Place value blocks are a common concrete representation of abstract concepts.
When do manipulatives distract?
Many of us have seen the hundreds blocks get stacked into a house, complete with a tens block fence, and ones place people. Our little students are not thinking about place value when erecting a tall skyscraper out of manipulatives! When students ignore the lesson and explore the blocks creatively, the manipulatives did not enhance the math lesson: the manipulatives distracted.
Another distraction: when the student does not make the transition from concrete to abstract. At some point, 2 apples and 2 apples can be understood abstractly as 2 + 2. This stage of moving from concrete to abstract repeats with each new concept. Remaining in the concrete phase means that the student still doesn't understand the connection between those 2 physical items and its representation. A student can fall into this trap even in higher math. Manipulatives should be a short phase before moving to the next phase. The natural next step is a visual presentation on the page, and lastly, being able to work the abstract numbers.
Sometimes, using manipulatives with incredibly large numbers serves as a distraction. In Maria Miller's blog post, she has a video of a child working a math problem using a pictoral representation of the numbers. The numbers are in the thousands. Shifting and counting these numbers becomes problematic because the sheer size of the numbers gets in the way. Working the abstract numbers is faster and more reliable. In teaching the concept of large numbers, a manipulative or pictoral representation can help show the student "hey, this is what is really happening, behind the scenes"; but hopefully the student will catch on and be able to bring this understanding with her in the next step: traditional algorithms.
Math Manipulatives - what do they do?
Manipulatives show numbers visually and concretely. You cannot hold 2, but you can hold two apples. Manipulatives present Place Value: a ones place, tens place, hundreds place. Higher level math continues with place value, into the decimal / fraction places and into thousands, millions, billions. Manipulatives give the student something to touch and move around (manipulate). When shifts happen in place value, this can be taught concretely, by showing the real shift in numbers. Place value blocks are a common concrete representation of abstract concepts.
When do manipulatives distract?
Many of us have seen the hundreds blocks get stacked into a house, complete with a tens block fence, and ones place people. Our little students are not thinking about place value when erecting a tall skyscraper out of manipulatives! When students ignore the lesson and explore the blocks creatively, the manipulatives did not enhance the math lesson: the manipulatives distracted.
Another distraction: when the student does not make the transition from concrete to abstract. At some point, 2 apples and 2 apples can be understood abstractly as 2 + 2. This stage of moving from concrete to abstract repeats with each new concept. Remaining in the concrete phase means that the student still doesn't understand the connection between those 2 physical items and its representation. A student can fall into this trap even in higher math. Manipulatives should be a short phase before moving to the next phase. The natural next step is a visual presentation on the page, and lastly, being able to work the abstract numbers.
Sometimes, using manipulatives with incredibly large numbers serves as a distraction. In Maria Miller's blog post, she has a video of a child working a math problem using a pictoral representation of the numbers. The numbers are in the thousands. Shifting and counting these numbers becomes problematic because the sheer size of the numbers gets in the way. Working the abstract numbers is faster and more reliable. In teaching the concept of large numbers, a manipulative or pictoral representation can help show the student "hey, this is what is really happening, behind the scenes"; but hopefully the student will catch on and be able to bring this understanding with her in the next step: traditional algorithms.
Distractions from learning: when activities distract from the lesson
Many of my thoughts expressed on this blog have come from a book called Why Don't Students Like School by Daniel T. Willingham. One point he brings up in his book is: how is your student thinking about the information that is being presented? Often, our purpose in presenting a lesson is to get the student excited about the topic. Sometimes, our well intended purpose goes astray when the student focuses on the wrong thing. For instance, that hands-on lesson that involves making a map of Japan out of cookie dough? Were your students actually thinking about the geographical layout of Japan or were they thinking about licking their fingers or adding more blue to that ocean? That is one thing to consider when making lesson plans. What are your students really thinking about? Unit studies are well-known, well-liked method of learning in the homeschool world. When studying pioneer days, homeschool families may choose to hand dip their own candles or make a corn husk doll. I've heard of brave, endeavorous families building a full size wigwam in the backyard to add to their study of Native Americans. There are many fantastic, memorable projects to undertake as a homeschool family. However, sometimes these projects can be distractions from the real learning that takes place. How will you know if a hands-on project will be a distraction or will help cement the information in your student's mind?
Ask them later
One tale-tell way of knowing what your student really got out of the lesson is to ask them later. Have your child explain to a friend, your spouse arriving home after a full day of work, or a grandparent. Ask them: what did we do today? and why did we do that? If they can explain what happened and most importantly why it happened, the lesson was a success!
Watch their reaction
During the lesson, what is your student doing? Is he fully engrossed in what he is doing? Are his questions relating to the information you want him to learn? Or is he asking odd, unrelated questions? Is he fixated on playing with the materials or creating something that does not relate to the lesson? If you find that your student is distracted or is not relating the project with the information he needs to retain, then this particular activity did not meet its original purpose.
Trial and Error
So how do you know ahead of time that a lesson will focus your students' attention on the learning at hand? How can you steer clear of activities that serve as a distraction? A big answer to that is trial and error. If you repeatedly see activities turn into distractions, you'll need to ask yourself what was it about those activities that did not focus on the lesson? How did the topic veer away from the lesson? You can also ask yourself ahead of time, by running through the lesson in your mind: what is my student supposed to think about and does this lesson focus his attention on that?
In conclusion
Hands-on activities, projects, and unit studies can be a wonderful addition to school and homeschool learning. A parent or teacher needs to assess if the activities will help the student to learn the lesson or if the activity will serve as a distraction.
Ask them later
One tale-tell way of knowing what your student really got out of the lesson is to ask them later. Have your child explain to a friend, your spouse arriving home after a full day of work, or a grandparent. Ask them: what did we do today? and why did we do that? If they can explain what happened and most importantly why it happened, the lesson was a success!
Watch their reaction
During the lesson, what is your student doing? Is he fully engrossed in what he is doing? Are his questions relating to the information you want him to learn? Or is he asking odd, unrelated questions? Is he fixated on playing with the materials or creating something that does not relate to the lesson? If you find that your student is distracted or is not relating the project with the information he needs to retain, then this particular activity did not meet its original purpose.
Trial and Error
So how do you know ahead of time that a lesson will focus your students' attention on the learning at hand? How can you steer clear of activities that serve as a distraction? A big answer to that is trial and error. If you repeatedly see activities turn into distractions, you'll need to ask yourself what was it about those activities that did not focus on the lesson? How did the topic veer away from the lesson? You can also ask yourself ahead of time, by running through the lesson in your mind: what is my student supposed to think about and does this lesson focus his attention on that?
In conclusion
Hands-on activities, projects, and unit studies can be a wonderful addition to school and homeschool learning. A parent or teacher needs to assess if the activities will help the student to learn the lesson or if the activity will serve as a distraction.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Drill and Kill?
There is a reason it is called "Drill and Kill". Alright, I admit; I'm not sure why it's called that, but it conjures up feelings of dread. Perhaps it is called Drill and Kill because you drill so much that it kills all joy of learning. Or maybe it is akin to beating a dead horse. At any rate, it is not a pleasant connotation. When is "drill and kill", also known as "rote memorization", a good idea? How can this be implemented in learning so as to get the best results, without the agony of it?
What sorts of things make good memorization topics?
This is only an example of some commonly memorized facts. * If you are not from the United States, you will have your own country's leaders, wars, and songs to remember, as well as Geographic locations. ** If you are of another faith or philosophy, then you will have a different set of writings for memorization.
Is there ever a time when you should memorize first, understand later? There may be some subjects where memorization should come first, and understanding later. There is always the child that memorizes the Pledge of Allegiance and says "invisible" instead of "indivisible". It is natural for the mind to supplant what it doesn't know and understand with those things that it does know. In most cases, it is helpful to have an understanding of the concept behind the memorization beforehand. When memorizing 2 + 2, a child may gain more in his mathwork if he understands the abstract concept of 2 + 2 first (i.e., if we have 2 apples here, and 2 apples there, and we add them together, we have 4 apples). The Pledge of Allegiance is a good example of learning by rote first, and understanding later. A child doesn't need to understand "indivisible" before repeating the allegiance in a public setting. The point is that someday, he will learn what "indivisible" means, and the a-ha moment that follows ("Ohhhh, so that's what the allegiance means! And here I always thought it was "invisible"!) One more scenario - learning rote alongside concepts may help cement the concepts better. While memorizing a list of U.S. Presidents, it may be helpful to learn their stories, too! George Washington may have more meaning to a child if she also learns that George Washington was a general in the American Revolution, and that afterwards, the country needed to come up with a government that was not based upon having a king. It might also be a good time to memorize the branches of government and understand what their role is in running the country.
Is there a way to lessen the boredom of drill, while still getting those facts memorized? Doing the same thing every day gets very, very dull. Flipping flashcards, although effective for some children, can get tedious. Using games, even silly ones, can make drill more fun. Using a Jeopardy! format and allowing kids to shout out the answers or jot it on a dry erase board might make it less tedious. If a child does well with rewards, giving a small token for each remembered item can be a bonus (m&ms, pennies, stickers, computer game/tv time). Reciting while tossing a ball or bean bag gets both mind and body moving. Setting memorization topics to music makes it easier and more paleatable. Schoolhouse Rock and Animaniacs have great tunes for memorizing songs.
Review, Review, Review We've all experienced the loss of math fact knowledge at the end of a busy summer, and the three months of catch-up that follows. If the end goal is to retain that knowledge, you'll need to come up with some method of review. Review should happen more often at first (daily), but over time, the same information might only need to be reviewed once or twice a month. The longer something is practiced, the longer it will stay in the brain - and the quicker and easier that information will be to retrieve when needed!
In review:
What sorts of things make good memorization topics?
- Math facts: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division
- 50 United States of America *
- ...also 50 United States AND their capitols *
- The presidents of the United States *
- Geographic locations (oceans, countries, rivers, mountains)
- Dates of wars
- Key Bible verses **
- Months of the year, and how many days are in each month
- Pledge of Allegiance *
- National Songs *
- Newton's Laws of Gravity
- The first half of the Periodic Table of Elements
- Habitats (desert, tundra, rain forest, grasslands, etc.)
- Five Animal Kingdoms
This is only an example of some commonly memorized facts. * If you are not from the United States, you will have your own country's leaders, wars, and songs to remember, as well as Geographic locations. ** If you are of another faith or philosophy, then you will have a different set of writings for memorization.
Is there ever a time when you should memorize first, understand later? There may be some subjects where memorization should come first, and understanding later. There is always the child that memorizes the Pledge of Allegiance and says "invisible" instead of "indivisible". It is natural for the mind to supplant what it doesn't know and understand with those things that it does know. In most cases, it is helpful to have an understanding of the concept behind the memorization beforehand. When memorizing 2 + 2, a child may gain more in his mathwork if he understands the abstract concept of 2 + 2 first (i.e., if we have 2 apples here, and 2 apples there, and we add them together, we have 4 apples). The Pledge of Allegiance is a good example of learning by rote first, and understanding later. A child doesn't need to understand "indivisible" before repeating the allegiance in a public setting. The point is that someday, he will learn what "indivisible" means, and the a-ha moment that follows ("Ohhhh, so that's what the allegiance means! And here I always thought it was "invisible"!) One more scenario - learning rote alongside concepts may help cement the concepts better. While memorizing a list of U.S. Presidents, it may be helpful to learn their stories, too! George Washington may have more meaning to a child if she also learns that George Washington was a general in the American Revolution, and that afterwards, the country needed to come up with a government that was not based upon having a king. It might also be a good time to memorize the branches of government and understand what their role is in running the country.
Is there a way to lessen the boredom of drill, while still getting those facts memorized? Doing the same thing every day gets very, very dull. Flipping flashcards, although effective for some children, can get tedious. Using games, even silly ones, can make drill more fun. Using a Jeopardy! format and allowing kids to shout out the answers or jot it on a dry erase board might make it less tedious. If a child does well with rewards, giving a small token for each remembered item can be a bonus (m&ms, pennies, stickers, computer game/tv time). Reciting while tossing a ball or bean bag gets both mind and body moving. Setting memorization topics to music makes it easier and more paleatable. Schoolhouse Rock and Animaniacs have great tunes for memorizing songs.
Review, Review, Review We've all experienced the loss of math fact knowledge at the end of a busy summer, and the three months of catch-up that follows. If the end goal is to retain that knowledge, you'll need to come up with some method of review. Review should happen more often at first (daily), but over time, the same information might only need to be reviewed once or twice a month. The longer something is practiced, the longer it will stay in the brain - and the quicker and easier that information will be to retrieve when needed!
In review:
- Memorization can be a useful tool in Learning
- There is no shortage of things to be memorized! Whatever will make learning easier, or the things that you need to retrieve in your brain on a regular basis - these are the items to work on memorizing
- Sometimes it is better to memorize first, understand later. Optimally, you'd want your students to understand first and memorize second; however, it isn't always practical. Understanding can always come later. A third idea is to give some background knowledge along with the items being memorized, to help with understanding what you are learning and to hold the student's interest
- Memorizing doesn't have to be 100% horrible. Games, activities, rewards, and songs can make it easier to handle.
- Practice those things that you wish to retain. The longer you go without practicing, the faster the information will slip from your brain.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Levels of Knowledge
If you could group knowledge into categories, it might be something like this: no knowledge, shallow knowledge (varying levels), and deep knowledge. After many years of study, someone may reach "Expert" level.
When we teach our children, our goal is for them to gain deep knowledge in a topic. Deep knowledge gives them an in-depth understanding of the topic and the tools they need to think critically (i.e., analyze, compare, contrast, come up with new, creative ideas about the subject). It is impossible to give our students deep knowledge of everything (it would be nice, though, wouldn't it?) This means that the teacher needs to determine which topics are Deep Knowledge topics. Shallow knowledge is better than no knowledge at all; it allows the students a small background familiarity for them to build on to in their memories. With some things, aiming for shallow knowledge is enough.
Expert level is a unique category. It is a very specific set of knowledge; an expert is set apart from the rest. An expert has worked with deep knowledge for awhile and can apply his knowledge in new, inventive ways. We need an expert for his unique insight, field experience, and out-of-the-box thinking.
Here are some examples of topics:
Astronomy
Algebra
Famous Explorers
Geography
Arithmetic (adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, fractions, & decimals)
English Grammar
Latin
Which of these topics would you aim for Deep Knowledge? Which ones would you aim for some level of exposure, or shallow knowledge? Do you know an expert in any of these fields?
Friday, March 25, 2011
Learning Styles: a relationship with information
Have you ever noticed that one thing might capture your child's attention and inspire learning, but something else doesn't? Have you ever tried to harness that thing and repeat it in your lessons? One way of looking at it is to consider your child's relationship with information. I have found the Gregorc model helpful in revealing this relationship with information. The Gregorc model breaks it down thus:
Abstract vs Concrete
Sequential vs Random
Abstract deals with Ideas, the deeper hidden meaning, while Concrete deals with the things we can see, hear, touch - the things that are tangible.
Sequential deals with order (step 1, step 2, step 3...) while Random is spontaneous; what is important right now?
These qualities come together to form 4 basic personality types: Concrete Sequential, Abstract Sequential, Abstract Random, nad Concrete Random. Of course, no one is locked solely into one personality type exclusively, and can have qualities from each one. But there is usually one that predominates.
The reason I find this so important is that it tends to define the child's relationship with his parent (as parent and as teacher), and it also defines his relationship with information. Here are two examples:
A Concrete Sequential's relationship with information is just plain facts and nothing more. No frills, no stories to draw you in. If you try to capture the attention of a CS with creative, open-ended assignments, with deep-thinking analysis, you will have one very confused student. That is not the relationship a CS has with information.
An Abstract Random, though, has a very personal relationship with information. She feels a connection with information. History isn't just facts, it's living breathing human beings! A rock isn't just a rock, but a sparkling gem or an item that holds a secret waiting to be discovered (a fossil!)
When considering your approach as a teacher, tudor, or homeschool parent, think about your student's relationship with information. When you have seen them learning, what was it that drew their focus? And why do you think that is?
Abstract vs Concrete
Sequential vs Random
Abstract deals with Ideas, the deeper hidden meaning, while Concrete deals with the things we can see, hear, touch - the things that are tangible.
Sequential deals with order (step 1, step 2, step 3...) while Random is spontaneous; what is important right now?
These qualities come together to form 4 basic personality types: Concrete Sequential, Abstract Sequential, Abstract Random, nad Concrete Random. Of course, no one is locked solely into one personality type exclusively, and can have qualities from each one. But there is usually one that predominates.
The reason I find this so important is that it tends to define the child's relationship with his parent (as parent and as teacher), and it also defines his relationship with information. Here are two examples:
A Concrete Sequential's relationship with information is just plain facts and nothing more. No frills, no stories to draw you in. If you try to capture the attention of a CS with creative, open-ended assignments, with deep-thinking analysis, you will have one very confused student. That is not the relationship a CS has with information.
An Abstract Random, though, has a very personal relationship with information. She feels a connection with information. History isn't just facts, it's living breathing human beings! A rock isn't just a rock, but a sparkling gem or an item that holds a secret waiting to be discovered (a fossil!)
When considering your approach as a teacher, tudor, or homeschool parent, think about your student's relationship with information. When you have seen them learning, what was it that drew their focus? And why do you think that is?
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Skill learning vs Content learning
As homeschool teachers, we often choose to focus on content, while sacrificing the development of skills. I've been there before: assigning the next workbook page, checkmarking it off of my list for the day, spying ahead in the book to see if we'll finish by summer. This is classic of content based teaching. What is wrong with that?
Content based learning (for the student) keeps them on target for their grade or age level. Content based learning prepares the student for any standardized testing. It also dots the i's and crosses the t's. It is the way a homeschool parent can show the judge, "see, we really are doing something every day at home". Content based assignments are easier to plan, easier to grade, and easier to track. At the end of the week, you can safely say, "we completed 5 math pages, achieved an A on the spelling test, and can underline all nouns in a sentence". In History and Science, the parent can attest that "my son has read the chapter on Columbus, and identified the difference between a solvent and solution in Science". These are not bad things.
But sometimes the parent realizes that all of these things have been gained at the expense of skills. Seventh grader Sherman spelled "United Arab Emirates" correctly on last Friday's spelling test, but consistently misspells "there", "their", and "they're" in his writing assignments. Then, Mom smacks herself on the head and says "how did I let this go so long?" (Usually this is followed by discontent with the curriculum and a search for another one. Been there, done that).
What does skill based learning look like vs content based?
The typical content based spelling curriculum looks like this:
Pre-test on Monday. Activities to practice words on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Final test on Friday. New list next Monday. The words are picked by the curriculum provider. The curriculum provider often has his own methodology or philosophy behind the words he's selected and the activities for learning them.
Skill based learning is quite different. Skill based asks - "what words do YOU (my student) need to know?" Skill based teaching determines "what sort of study skills do you need in order to learn these words?" It also strives for mastery and retention - "how can you practice so that you always spell these words correctly?"
Skill based is less concerned with output and timeframes. "We'll get there when we get there. Let's just keep working on it" might be a common phrase. You've taught skills before and seeing newly developed skills can be very exciting -
When your 5yo can tie her shoes
When your 12yo cooks an omelet
When your 6yo rides a bicycle without training wheels
When your 15yo gets his driving permit
Skill based learning can be a focus in education, too.
You're child can complete long division, but does she know when to use it in real life? Does she have reasoning skills?
You're child can read, but can he comprehend and summarize what he just read? Can he dig out the main idea, or find information that he's looking for?
She can pass the spelling test, but can she spell?
Other skill type areas to consider:
Typing, computers, test taking skills, organizational skills, accountability (turning in your papers on time in college), study skills...
Skill based learning won't be as easy to assign, and is definitely not easy to track. But gaining a new skill can have lifelong benefits.
Content based learning (for the student) keeps them on target for their grade or age level. Content based learning prepares the student for any standardized testing. It also dots the i's and crosses the t's. It is the way a homeschool parent can show the judge, "see, we really are doing something every day at home". Content based assignments are easier to plan, easier to grade, and easier to track. At the end of the week, you can safely say, "we completed 5 math pages, achieved an A on the spelling test, and can underline all nouns in a sentence". In History and Science, the parent can attest that "my son has read the chapter on Columbus, and identified the difference between a solvent and solution in Science". These are not bad things.
But sometimes the parent realizes that all of these things have been gained at the expense of skills. Seventh grader Sherman spelled "United Arab Emirates" correctly on last Friday's spelling test, but consistently misspells "there", "their", and "they're" in his writing assignments. Then, Mom smacks herself on the head and says "how did I let this go so long?" (Usually this is followed by discontent with the curriculum and a search for another one. Been there, done that).
What does skill based learning look like vs content based?
The typical content based spelling curriculum looks like this:
Pre-test on Monday. Activities to practice words on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Final test on Friday. New list next Monday. The words are picked by the curriculum provider. The curriculum provider often has his own methodology or philosophy behind the words he's selected and the activities for learning them.
Skill based learning is quite different. Skill based asks - "what words do YOU (my student) need to know?" Skill based teaching determines "what sort of study skills do you need in order to learn these words?" It also strives for mastery and retention - "how can you practice so that you always spell these words correctly?"
Skill based is less concerned with output and timeframes. "We'll get there when we get there. Let's just keep working on it" might be a common phrase. You've taught skills before and seeing newly developed skills can be very exciting -
When your 5yo can tie her shoes
When your 12yo cooks an omelet
When your 6yo rides a bicycle without training wheels
When your 15yo gets his driving permit
Skill based learning can be a focus in education, too.
You're child can complete long division, but does she know when to use it in real life? Does she have reasoning skills?
You're child can read, but can he comprehend and summarize what he just read? Can he dig out the main idea, or find information that he's looking for?
She can pass the spelling test, but can she spell?
Other skill type areas to consider:
Typing, computers, test taking skills, organizational skills, accountability (turning in your papers on time in college), study skills...
Skill based learning won't be as easy to assign, and is definitely not easy to track. But gaining a new skill can have lifelong benefits.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Is Learning Fun? (Part 2)
Yesterday, I told the tale of two children. Today, I will explore how this answers the question "Is Learning Fun?"
The six year old loathed reading, which was very difficult for her. Learning was not fun, and phonics lessons was something of a chore for both the mother and the six year old. The mother kept at it and eventually, little by little, the six-turning-seven year old had developed enough skill to successfully read a Frog and Toad book. Fast forward six months later, and this same child, age seven-and-a-half, could read increasingly difficult books. She even chose to read books for her own enjoyment. What began as a horrible torture ended up becoming a wonderful pasttime. It took time and a whole lot of hard work. But once the basic skill had been mastered, it became easy...
and dare I say it....
it became fun.
What does that mean for teaching? Should the teacher doggedly stand her ground with every skill? Should learning be drudgery with the hopes that someday it won't seem so bad? What, if anything, should the mother of the six year old do to make learning enjoyable? And is this even possible?
Now, we'll look at the mother's methods a little bit closer:
First, the mother laid a great foundation for reading. She did all the typical things that are good for young pre-readers:
She read aloud to her daughter
They went to library storytime classes
The daughter saw her mother read for enjoyment
They picked out a large number of books from the library each week
They participated in summer reading programs (the mom read 30 books in one month to her daughter, as part of the pre-reader program)
Next, the mother laid the foundation of skills:
At age 3, the daughter learned her alphabet
At age 4, they watched Leap Frog videos together
At age 4 1/2, mother and daughter played with letter magnets together, and the daughter learned each phonetic sound
The mother presented a variety of games and activities for phonemic awareness
Last, the mother implemented these teaching strategies:
She gave it lots of time and patience (well, ok, not always patience...)
She mixed up practice sessons with game time, so liven it up
She watched her daughter's progress carefully, to assess if she needed a different approach or to determine if there were any learning difficulties (vision, hearing, eye tracking, dyslexia)
After she had given it some time, she tried a different approach
In conclusion, learning is fun when the student is internally motivated to learn. When a student struggles or has no desire for that particular skill, learning is not fun. Sometimes, a dreary task can be made a little more fun by mixing in some games and activities. Still, this doesn't always work to make the task fun for the student. If the teacher is mindful of the student's needs and continues in her efforts, the student may enjoy the new skill after it is mastered. The teacher needs to consider if she is truly "killing" that student's love of learning, or if a true love of learning will develop once the skill is in place.
The six year old loathed reading, which was very difficult for her. Learning was not fun, and phonics lessons was something of a chore for both the mother and the six year old. The mother kept at it and eventually, little by little, the six-turning-seven year old had developed enough skill to successfully read a Frog and Toad book. Fast forward six months later, and this same child, age seven-and-a-half, could read increasingly difficult books. She even chose to read books for her own enjoyment. What began as a horrible torture ended up becoming a wonderful pasttime. It took time and a whole lot of hard work. But once the basic skill had been mastered, it became easy...
and dare I say it....
it became fun.
What does that mean for teaching? Should the teacher doggedly stand her ground with every skill? Should learning be drudgery with the hopes that someday it won't seem so bad? What, if anything, should the mother of the six year old do to make learning enjoyable? And is this even possible?
Now, we'll look at the mother's methods a little bit closer:
First, the mother laid a great foundation for reading. She did all the typical things that are good for young pre-readers:
She read aloud to her daughter
They went to library storytime classes
The daughter saw her mother read for enjoyment
They picked out a large number of books from the library each week
They participated in summer reading programs (the mom read 30 books in one month to her daughter, as part of the pre-reader program)
Next, the mother laid the foundation of skills:
At age 3, the daughter learned her alphabet
At age 4, they watched Leap Frog videos together
At age 4 1/2, mother and daughter played with letter magnets together, and the daughter learned each phonetic sound
The mother presented a variety of games and activities for phonemic awareness
Last, the mother implemented these teaching strategies:
She gave it lots of time and patience (well, ok, not always patience...)
She mixed up practice sessons with game time, so liven it up
She watched her daughter's progress carefully, to assess if she needed a different approach or to determine if there were any learning difficulties (vision, hearing, eye tracking, dyslexia)
After she had given it some time, she tried a different approach
In conclusion, learning is fun when the student is internally motivated to learn. When a student struggles or has no desire for that particular skill, learning is not fun. Sometimes, a dreary task can be made a little more fun by mixing in some games and activities. Still, this doesn't always work to make the task fun for the student. If the teacher is mindful of the student's needs and continues in her efforts, the student may enjoy the new skill after it is mastered. The teacher needs to consider if she is truly "killing" that student's love of learning, or if a true love of learning will develop once the skill is in place.
Is Learning Fun? (Part 1)
What came first, the chicken or the egg?
If a tree falls in the forest, but no one was around to hear it, did it make a sound?
And now the next question of great importance:
Is learning fun? (Or should it be?)
I will answer it with a tale of two children.
The first child is two and she loves to climb stairs. She watches to see if the gate is open, and when it is, she makes a bee-line for the stairs and begins climbing them. Up, up, up, down, down, down. Only, she doesn't crawl up them on hands and knees, the safe way. Her tiny chubby legs put one foot in front of the other, and she scales those stairs upright. She hangs onto the wall, or the guardrail (if she can reach it). This two year old is working on a skill. She is learning to climb stairs like an adult. She works hard at it every chance she can get. She wears her mother out, who hovers, protects, and admonishes the last person who didn't close the gate. For this two year old, is learning fun? Absolutely!
The second child is six*. She knows her phonics sounds and can painstakingly sound out letters and blend those sounds into a single word. She is learning to read. Her mother brings out the phonics primer and the six year old groans. Not again! It's too hard! I don't like it. The mother tries to reason: don't you want to read books like a big kid? The six year old says "no". "Don't you know that you won't be able to make a living in this world without knowing how to read?" the mother asks. The six year old says "I don't care." The mother, exasperated, threatens "then someday you won't have a home and you will be a bum on the street because you didn't learn how to read". The six year old tells other people "I want to be a bum when I grow up, so that I don't have to learn how to read". For this six year old, is learning fun? Absolutely NOT!
So what is the difference? Why is learning fun to the two year old and not fun for the six year old? Does the mother have a responsibility to make learning fun for the six year old? So far, it doesn't look so good for the six year old. Her love of learning is being squashed, and any hope she has of finding joy in reading a good book is gone forever.
To be continued...
* this story is based on a real child, who is no longer six years old.
If a tree falls in the forest, but no one was around to hear it, did it make a sound?
And now the next question of great importance:
Is learning fun? (Or should it be?)
I will answer it with a tale of two children.
The first child is two and she loves to climb stairs. She watches to see if the gate is open, and when it is, she makes a bee-line for the stairs and begins climbing them. Up, up, up, down, down, down. Only, she doesn't crawl up them on hands and knees, the safe way. Her tiny chubby legs put one foot in front of the other, and she scales those stairs upright. She hangs onto the wall, or the guardrail (if she can reach it). This two year old is working on a skill. She is learning to climb stairs like an adult. She works hard at it every chance she can get. She wears her mother out, who hovers, protects, and admonishes the last person who didn't close the gate. For this two year old, is learning fun? Absolutely!
The second child is six*. She knows her phonics sounds and can painstakingly sound out letters and blend those sounds into a single word. She is learning to read. Her mother brings out the phonics primer and the six year old groans. Not again! It's too hard! I don't like it. The mother tries to reason: don't you want to read books like a big kid? The six year old says "no". "Don't you know that you won't be able to make a living in this world without knowing how to read?" the mother asks. The six year old says "I don't care." The mother, exasperated, threatens "then someday you won't have a home and you will be a bum on the street because you didn't learn how to read". The six year old tells other people "I want to be a bum when I grow up, so that I don't have to learn how to read". For this six year old, is learning fun? Absolutely NOT!
So what is the difference? Why is learning fun to the two year old and not fun for the six year old? Does the mother have a responsibility to make learning fun for the six year old? So far, it doesn't look so good for the six year old. Her love of learning is being squashed, and any hope she has of finding joy in reading a good book is gone forever.
To be continued...
* this story is based on a real child, who is no longer six years old.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
When learning is hard...
The premise of this site is...
You can learn anything. Repeat: "I can learn anything"
This blog is about learning. It is about teaching. We're following the Yellow Brick Road to the center of the human brain, to see the wonders that await us there.
It's not always fun. And sometimes it's hard work. But there is something wonderful waiting at the other side.
As the chart above reminds us: Nothing is too hard with the right foundation. If it seems too hard, it probably is.
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