Mariposa has been going so well with her learning of fractions, that I was presented with a stumbling block when she suddenly didn't understand the concept of mixed fractions. "Why don't you understand this, but you can make equivalent fractions so easily?" No matter how many times I tried to go over it all again, we couldn't move up to the next step. Okay .. time out! I didn't want to drive Mariposa to despair over this, and I could feel my anxiety going up a notch too.
What do you do when what you are teaching to the best of your ability just doesn't seem to be working?
I know that it's not only maths which can cause learning anxieties, but I'll continue with my example as my point of reference.
Mariposa needed time to see, again, how she did know that 5 thirds are the same as 1 and 2 thirds. We'd done this before (this is where cooking is a GREAT way of teaching fractions!) but she'd forgotten. The material needed to be married back into a context she could understand. I needed to give her time and space to experiment and remake those connections.
Approaching learning in small, gentle steps encourages the child's mind to begin to think through how a new idea works and see how it relates to every day life. When we hit a 'road block' it's time to really slow down. Both of the children have taught me that if I try and tick all the boxes to be learnt by a certain date, I'm only satisfying my own need to say 'done it!' They don't learn the lessons so well that way. They need to own the learning, having had time to digest the material and make connections to the other 'knowns' in their lives, before I can serve up the next stage.
Another example is something that Maestro told me last week. He's discovered the label of 'Classical Learning' somewhere in his findings lately and has told me that he prefers this style. He's a very systematic person and also enjoys being challenged. His developing interest in classical literature has been slowly on the increase. Whilst he enjoys a good range of literature, he told me that he also wants to read "Robin Hood" and "King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table." Later this week we're also going to have a look at Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" as part of his Medieval history. (Help! I haven't read that yet!)
What came about last week was Maestro patiently explaining to me that he finds that he's not really learning anything new using a particular book. He'd rather spend his time trying to work through some of these books with older English, and he could spend time later writing a book report. "The vocabulary in the other book is already in those stories, Mum. If I get stuck, I can easily look them up, but most of the time I can understand it all already. I'm just a slow reader, though, so maybe we can get some of them as audio books, please?!" Okay ... so, again, I have to learn to stand back a little and watch what is developing instead of being mandatory about the 'tick the box' syndrome and complete a book from which he's not really learning.
To top it all off, I must muse on how different these two children are from one another. They come to the solutions in such different ways, leading me on a journey I wouldn't have taken myself. I'm still learning to be patient enough to stand back a little and see that bigger picture, though. It's so easy to expect them to do it all my way! There is a time to ask for my methods, with the love and respect that should happen in a family, and then there's the time to let them grow into their own maturity. ... See! I'm learning, slowly! :)
Thank you for dropping by!
4 comments:
Oh, Catherine - how precious! To have someone who can recognise where he would like to spend his time, and to make the connections - realising that the vocabulary is in the stories. That's true learning if I ever saw it!
Sometimes, I do think we get so caught up in ticking those boxes that we miss the 'real' learning that is happening.
I, too, am learning to step back a little this year, and get out of the way. Even though we've done less, they've learned more!
It sure is a learning curve...
:) Linda, I'm so glad we share similar thoughts.
I had to write that post yesterday as a means to deal with some frustrations I was feeling.
... and Mariposa has figured out mixed numbers now, and converts them to and from improper fractions easily. It just took a couple of days for it to 'click'. :)
Hi Catherine,
I love homeschooling! I'm right with you... it such a great journey.
Thanks for sharing!
You are doing a great job with your children. We know them so much better than anyone else. I am learning a lot about patience too. Learning that I do not have as much as I thought I had :-) I do love home schooling, but when we have days, weeks, months where the connection just isn't made....that is exasperating!
Living and learning and leaning on the Lord.
Post a Comment