Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Tradition or Adaptation?

I know many families who have begun their school year - some venturing out for the first time, and some continuing the adventure where they left off earlier. I recently came across a book by Cynthia Tobias that reminded me of some ideas that may be of help to you. Our family's schooling experience was greatly enhanced by the information that I gleaned from several of Cynthia's books, starting with The Way They Learn, which is available from Sonlight.

Cynthia writes, "We do need educational reform, but most of all we need to remember who we are trying to educate. The students should be our first priority - each child should be considered an important and valuable customer who can potentially change the world for the better. We should keep our standards high, our academic goals clear, and our code of ethics strong. The point is, we need to teach kids to think, not just feed them facts to think about. That means we'll need to pay attention to the individual learning strengths and preferences of each student."

Cynthia inspired me to break the mold of my traditional education and adapt my approach to meet the needs of my children. While we still used the table for some of our work, we often abandoned it for more comfortable surroundings that were more conducive to my children focusing on the task at hand. I discovered that one of my boys was much more comfortable in softer lighting, that another could focus better when stretched out on the floor, and another was geared for best performance later in the day. There are a variety of aspects of your child's physical environment that could be modified to maximize his ability to focus and learn. These include the type of lighting (bright, soft, fluorescent, etc.), the seating arrangements (desk, table, floor, comfy chair, etc.), the temperature of the room, even the time of day that they are doing their work. Engage your child in experimenting with the best arrangement, but remember to hold him accountable for proving that the non-traditional study environment he prefers actually produces the best results.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

What to do with the toddlers?


We've all been in that place in life - maybe you are there now - where we have a toddler who has significantly increased the activity level in our house as he runs circles around us until that blissful moment when he falls asleep. In the midst of this circumstance, you ask, how can I possibly homeschool? The answer is that you can, if you have a plan.

Let's face it, with a toddler in the house, you won't get much of anything done unless you have a plan. You know your child's ebbs and flows, so to speak. There will be times that he needs one-on-one, and there are times that he needs to be trained to work with the team. Don't fall into the mindset that everything must revolve around him constantly, and that his education (in terms of training, not academics) will wait until he is 4 or 5 years old. Begin now to introduce the concept of working together, helping with chores, etc.

There are a variety of ways to occupy a toddler or even incorporate him in your schoolwork. I would suggest that you look at my earlier posts pertaining to using movement to teach wiggly children - with modification, these methods can work to occuply toddlers, too. Other ideas would be:

~ set up small collections of toys in bins labeled for each school day (Monday, Tuesday, etc.) and offer those to your toddler on just that day of the week. Seeing these toys so infrequently will make them seem "new" and keep the child interested longer while you work with the older children.

~ create a place for the toddler to "do school" - whether in the high chair, in a chair at the table, or at a small table nearby - and give him tasks to work on. These can include lacing cards, stacking blocks, connecting Legos or Duplos, or other small-scale activities.

~ establish a "recess" for each of the older children to play with the toddler while you focus on a subject with one of the other children.

~ make the most of nap time, saving subjects for which an older child needs quiet to concentrate or your undivided attention, provided nap time falls at a time of day when that child is at his or her peak in focus ability.

~ if you use music to help your children memorize, encourage the toddler to participate. I particularly recommend the Sing the Word Bible memorization CDs that Sonlight offers - they work well at home or in the car.

You will be amazed at what they can learn just by being in the room with you while you teach your older children. I remember a TV commercial that illustrated this so very well ... it featured a family eating breakfast and Dad quizzing his son on the state capitols. When he asked him the capitol of Vermont, the boy seemed stumped, but his little sister, sitting in her high chair, looked up from the food on her tray and called out "Montpelier!" It could happen in your home, too!