Friday, August 5, 2011

Learning

I think there is a huge difference between
the education I received and what I gave my children.
I was taught to memorize for a test.
I learned to glean material to get "just enough".
It was common to spend 45 minutes in a classroom
where the only one speaking was the teacher.
There was no give and take.

Our home classroom looks lot different.
We don't take tests.
Because of our small class ratio I know what 
my children are learning and where they need more information.
We don't glean just about anything....
if we study something we go at it all the way.
Jumping into a subject with both feet.
With all of us researching and sharing we get a 
pretty good understanding of our chosen study subject.
Combining our various learning styles to 
completely ingest our given topic.


As for a lecture style classroom...
not at this school.
No way!
How in the world would I know what 
they were thinking or that they were engaged?

I totally get that in a classroom of 20 students
the kind of interaction we enjoy would make it difficult
to cover the huge amounts of material the textbook
requires.  However, I would rather have learned
half of the material thoroughly and in an engaging manner
than to have skimmed, memorized and forgotten.

Adding pets to the mix is always interesting...(wink)

Do you ever feel that you aren't getting enough
material into your children?
Ask yourself this.
Are they learning?
Are they learning how to learn?
Can they figure out how to find information to 
answer questions they may have?

This is much more important that you stuffing 
them full of dates and facts.

Homeschool parent,
I challenge you to let go of the old
classroom assumptions.

Teach by example.
Teach by conversation.
Teach by way of excellent books which 
inspire interest in a given subject.
Most of all....
teach the enjoyment of learning!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

"I would rather have learned
half of the material thoroughly and in an engaging manner
than to have skimmed, memorized and forgotten."

How very true. This was my training as a Principle Approach teacher with the Foundation for American Christian Education. We did drenching literature and history studies - unit studies - reading, writing, relating, and recording - teach a child HOW to learn and they have learning for a lifetime.

Now, that is my challenge come September teaching drama classes and producing plays for two public charter schools. Prayer is always appreciated.

Joy!
Miss Kathy

Mary @ Redo 101 said...

I'm so glad I just stumbled across your blog - I need to link in to someone else who is homeschooling and get some encouragement from their posts - you're chosen for the job :) Thanks for sharing, I'll be back often.

Mary

Karen said...

Hmm, I wonder if that's the difference between cats and dogs...Belle enjoys watching Algebra with the girls and sits in on our Science, but tends to sleep through History/Geography stuff.

Love the pic of Bandit!

Unknown said...

I love this post--I didn't know you had this blog--I will be back! I have a post in the hopper (awaiting my husband's touches) on just this subject!

Blessings,

Sherry