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!