 |
| Source: totalmasteryofsuccess.com |
I've recently had the pleasure of talking about homeschooling with two new-to-homeschooling mothers. One has started her homeschooling journey this school year, the other plans to embark on the journey this fall. Both women had lots of questions to ask me about various curricula we use, how I plan out our school year, and what our typical learning day looks like.
It was interesting though--in both conversations, I found myself coming back to one central theme. In fact, I'd like to take the time to share about it with you in today's blog post.
You see, I've found that there is something MORE important than curricula, planning, philosophies of home education, and teaching styles. What I have found, over the past six years, is how crucial it is to have a clear understanding of how my children learn. It is only when we understand how we learn, and how each of our children learn, that we can best choose curriculum and plan our days, weeks, months, and school years.
Whether or not you choose to home educate your children, we are all teaching our children and are involved (at some level) in their learning process. Even if you don't have children, we are always learning as adults, and as God's children. Understanding how we, and our children, learn best brings forth much clarity and peace to our days.
One book I recommended to both of these mothers is The Way They Learn by Cynthia Tobias. It is a fantastic resource which discusses multiple learning styles and teaching approaches. Some children are concrete thinkers, while others are more abstract. Some are auditory learners--learning best through lecture-style teaching or reading aloud--while others are visual, understanding best through diagrams, charts, pictures, and graphs. My son is a kinesthetic learner, doing best when he can keep his hands or legs busy as he listens and takes in the information.
I remember one section of the book was particularly helpful as it described four types of learners, presented in a four-quadrant chart. I was surprised to discover that my oldest daughter, my son, and I were all in three different quadrants of the chart as it related to our learning styles and the questions we unknowingly bring to the table when we learn.
For example, my learning style involves wanting to know the answer to the following questions: What does this need to look like? and When is it due? Meanwhile, my son's style of learning is wondering How can this be done more efficiently? and How much of this is necessary? Understanding how we both learn toward different ends, and freeing one another from unrealistic expectations, has served to ease the strain that often ensued when I would made demands of him and his time. I've since learned that he does best when he can think of his own way to go about doing things (be it setting up a science experiment or crafting a paper) instead of having a concrete plan of mine laid out that he must follow.
Now, please don't misunderstand me--I still struggle at times to find the patience to allow us all to learn in our most preferred styles! But I find that when I do allow us all to learn in our preferred way, at our own speed, and in our own time, things go MUCH smoother, and we find the connection we enjoy as we learn and grow together as a family.
If you are homeschooling and are hitting the February blues, or if you are new to homeschooling or considering it for next year, I hope you will be encouraged by today's post. Perhaps a good solid look at each child (and yourself!) and the ways in which they learn best will breathe new joy into your homeschooling days, or place you on solid footing when you do embark on your homeschooling journey!
Whatever our age or stage, may we always be learning, dear friend! What joy awaits us when we discover and grow, and be in wonder of it all.
“The world is so full of a number of things, I ’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.” --Robert Louis Stevenson
No comments