"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...)
Saturday, April 30, 2011
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.
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