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.