Sleep - Anything But 'Down' Time

Sleep.  As children we may avoid it, certain that we might miss out on something, but as adults we crave the sleep that seems to be stolen by our commitments and responsibilities.  Why is sleep so important to our bodies, and what might it have to do with learning?  As I continue to work through John Medina's Brain Rules, I can tell you more than I knew before.

You may think that our body is "in neutral" when we are sleeping, yet science has demonstrated that, for the majority of the time that we are sleeping, that is not the case.  In fact, the only time you can observe a real resting period for the brain is in the deepest parts of what is called non-REM sleep, which takes up only about 20% of the total sleep cycle.  While your body may appear to be resting, the brain is not resting at all.

Now most people report that sleep is restorative, and note that if they don't get enough sleep, they don't think as well.  In the mid-1960s, a high school student did a science-fair project involving his not sleeping for 11 straight days and observing what happened.  To sum the experiment up, his brain began to malfunction - he became irritable, forgetful, nauseous, not surprisingly tired, and even suffered many symptoms similar to Alzheimer's disease.  All because of lack of sleep. 

One of the early discoveries in the area of sleep science was the fact that our bodies are locked in a daily warfare between the circadian arousal system (wakefulness) and the homeostatic sleep drive (you guessed it, sleepiness).  Internal and external forces help regulate the conflict, defining both the amount of sleep we need and the amount of sleep we get.  Scientific literature has labeled  people with different sleep rhythms as larks (early risers who are most productive around noon), owls (those who are most alert around 6 p.m.), and hummingbirds (the other 70% of the population who vary between those time ranges).  Though it is obvious that people's preferred sleep times can vary, just how much sleep an individual needs has not been concluded.  Sleep schedules are quite dynamic - changing with age, with gender, with pregnancy and with puberty. 

Most of us would agree that infants and young children need a nap to get them through the day, but science has found that short, regular naps can greatly benefit adults as well.  President Lyndon Johnson routinely closed his office door and took a 30-minute nap, which he said gave him the stamina to meet the demands of his position.  May seem odd to us, but consider that a "siesta" is part of many cultures.  Whether you actively pursue a nap each day or not, numerous studies have demonstrated that even a brief nap can improve performance by at least 30%.  Did you need a reason to take a break?

I think it's safe to say that most of us have heard the phrase "let's sleep on it."  What's behind the concept?  Can ordinary sleep benefit learning?  Yes!  Sleep has been shown to enhance tasks that involve visual texture discrimination, motor adaptations, and motor sequencing.  The learning that appears to be most sensitive to sleep improvement is that which involves learning a procedure, but consolidation of all learning and experiences in the day takes place the night after they occurred.

Lack of sleep hurts learning.  In fact, a highly successful student can be set up for an academic fall just by adjusting the number of hours he or she sleeps.  Cumulative losses of sleep are difficult to make up, and the physiological effects are staggering.  When sleep is restricted to 6 or less hours per night for just 5 nights, cognitive performance will match that of a person suffering from 48 hours of continual sleep deprivation.  When people become sleep-deprived, their body's ability to utilize the food they are consuming falls by about one-third - causing the body to crave more food, and adding weight gain and accelerated aging to the effects.

Does this information validate some of your innate understanding of sleep, or have you encountered information that contradicts your expectations? Are you a parent like me whose "owl" child seems to function in another dimension from the rest of the family?  How do you accommodate his individual rhythm and keep the whole family working together?  I chose the route of compromise - planning the activities that we would do together for late morning or afternoon, and allowing my "owl" to focus on his independent school work in the evening when he was most alert.  There were occasions where an external influence required him to be involved earlier than he preferred, but that was only when I had no control over the scheduling.  It took some adjustment for all concerned, yet the outcome was beneficial.

One thing is for certain ... I now have a greater appreciation for the importance of sleep, both for myself and my family.  I wish you pleasant dreams and effective learning!

Kelly

Remember to Repeat

Wouldn't it be a delight if our brains worked like a cassette tape recorder?  Do you remember those handy gadgets.  All you needed to do was put a blank cassette into the machine, press record and talk or sing into the microphone.  Then rewind and press play, and you heard a recording of what you had done.  While it might seem that it would be great to have it work that easily, our brains are, in fact, capable of so much more than the old cassette recorder.  The key is knowing how to maximize its potential.

That's what I'm hoping to share in this series of blog posts as I read John Medina's book, Brain Rules.  I can't say that I agree with his whole perspective - he works from an evolution-focused foundation - but many of his insights have been extremely enlightening.

We last talked about short-term memory and the fact that repeating information at regular intervals would enhance the encoding of that information.  Likewise, receiving that information in a variety of ways - through multiple senses - would provide more intricate and lasting encoding.  The key phrase for short-term memory was Repeat to Remember.

Next we will look at long-term memory, for which the key phrase is Remember to Repeat.

New memory traces - often referred to as working memory - are flexible, subject to amendment, and at great risk for extinction.  Converting this working memory into long-term storage is called consolidation.  Just like short-term memory, the fixative for long-term memory is repetition at regular intervals.  Thinking or talking about an event immediately after it happens greatly enhances memory.  Putting thoughts into your own words is another beneficial action.  Both are incorporated in the educational exercise of narration, where the student may read or listen to a passage or chapter in a book, and is then asked to recount the information in their own words.  Doing so right after the initial exposure is effective, and then repeating the information again - telling Dad at dinner, or sharing it with someone later in the day - will further fix the information in place.

There are auditory and visual components to memory, but when both can be incorporated as the information is first processed, the memory traces are more intricate and more easily retrieved at a later time.  The brain's retrieval systems seem to undergo a gradual shift from specific and detailed reproductions of information to more general and abstracted recall.  Regular re-exposure to the information will help to keep the memories more detailed.

Harvard phychology professor, Dan Schacter, tells his students, "If you have only one week to study for a final and only ten times when you can hit the subject, it is better to space out the ten repetitions during the week than squeeze them all together."  Late night, last minute cramming sessions are not effective.  Rather we learn here that it is better to revisit the information regularly between the time it is introduced and the time that retrieval is needed (test day) in order to ensure that retrieval will be as vivid as possible.

As teachers, we can seek to pace the information that we are giving to our students so that we are incorporating new information gradually and repeating it at timed intervals, rather than bombarding our students' brains with a constant flow of new information and minimal opportunities to revisit and explore deeper the concepts that were recently introduced.

For enhanced memory function ... Repeat to Remember, and Remember to Repeat.

Kelly

Repeat to Remember

One of the primary functions associated with the brain is memory, and this is a key function for students and educators. Knowing a little more about how the brain stores information may help you in your efforts to teach your children.

The brain has different types of memory systems that fall into two categories - those memories that involve conscious awareness and those that are voluntary.  Once you have learned how to ride a bike, recalling the skill at a later time does not generally require a conscious effort.  However, remembering a telephone number does require a conscious effort.  This type of memory is what we would call a declarative memory - involving something you declare - and it is the type about which researchers have learned the most.  Declarative memory involves encoding, storage, retrieval and even forgetting.

Most people believe that the brain is a lot like a recording device where learning is based on pushing the record button, and remember is similar to pushing the playback button.  But it really isn't that simple.  There are several types of encoding, which involve all of our senses, and their processing centers are scattered through the brain.  These include:

• Automatic encoding - which occurs unintentionally and is easily recalled because the memories seem bound in a cohesive, readily retrievable form
• Effortful processing - which requires conscious attention and deliberate effort, but the information does not tend to be bound together and requires a lot of repetition for effective retrieval
• Semantic encoding - which is focused on the definition of words
• Phonemic encoding - which involves the comparison between the sounds of words
• Structural encoding - which involves the visual inspection of shapes

What does this mean for your child's learning efforts?  Well, here are some guidelines for enhancing the encoding process, and thereby the memory retrieval.

First of all, the more elaborately we encode information at the moment of learning, the stronger the memory.  When information is presented in a way that incorporates multiple senses, that information will be encoded in various parts of the brain and produce a stronger opportunity for retrieval.  For example, when reading from a textbook, the student is receiving visual information for encoding.  Adding the student's voide reading the words - or at least the key sentences - out loud, provides auditory information for encoding, and taking notes or highlighting key information provides touch input that further expands the encoding.  Another example from the literature-based approach would involve reading a story that incorporates factual information within the context of a character's life and actions.  As the student connects emotionally with that character, the factual information becomes more personal in nature and is more elaborately encoded.  Ensuring that the student understands the meanings of words, and adding personal examples make the most of the brain's natural predilection for pattern matching.

Memories have different life spans.  Hermann Ebbinghaus has been credited with research that determined that people usually forget 90% of what they learn in a class within 30 days, with the majority of the forgetting occurring within the first few hours of class.  Isn't that encouraging?  However, he also found that simply repeating the information at timed intervals greatly increased the memory.  What does this mean to us as parent educators?  In order to help our children remember the information that are encoding, we must revisit that information regularly.  This can be done through discussion after material is read, by reviewing what has been learned about historical figures and events in our Book of Time, by making up songs or ditties with key information ... there are numerous ways to repeat information and extend the life of the memory.

Lastly, it is suggested that retrieval may be improved by replicating the conditions surrounding the initial encoding.  When a student has learned a particular portion of information in a special setting, returning to that setting will usually aid in the retrieval of the information.  You can recreate the sounds, the smells, the seating ... all to enhance your student's ability to retrieve information that has been encoded.

Repeat to remember, circle back to prior subject material and look at it again.  Your student will benefit greatly!

 Another post presenting information drawn from John Medina's Brain Rules.

Kelly

Attention!

Does it matter if we pay attention when learning?  You bet it does!  The more attention the brain pays to any stimulus, the more effectively the information will be encoded and retained.  Better attention always equals better learning in every academic category.

So do we use the military approach of yelling "attention!" whenever we want our homeschooled children to focus on what we have to say?  I really don't think that would be effective - we'd be hollering too much during the school day, and some of our children would be so distracted with the effort of sitting still that their brains would be anything but focused on what we are saying.  [By the way, the handsome soldier in the picture is my youngest son, demonstrating his good Army posture ... with the addition of a slight smile.]

The fourth rule that John Medina explains in his book, Brain Rules, addresses what attracts the brain's attention.

Memory - in everyday life, we use previous experience to predict where we should pay attention.  Even different environments create different expectations in the brain.  This could affect your child's willingness to pay attention if he is facing a subject that has felt defeating in the past.  Experiment with different settings for working in this subject, looking for an upbeat place and a new approach to give him success.

Interest - regardless of our culture, "interest" or "importance" is closely linked to our level of attention.  Marketing professionals actually believe that the reverse is also true - that unexpected attention getters can also spark interest.  Some commercials use unusual, unpredictable or distinctive features to harness our attention.  Likewise, you could use a story or picture to draw your children's attention and pique their interest before beginning a new lesson.

Emotion - emotionally arousing events tend to be better remembered than neutral events.  When the brain detects an emotionally charged event, it releases dopamine into the system which greatly aids memory and information processing.  This is one of the primary benefits of a literature-based approach to learning, where the story is written so as to immerse your child into the environment and emotion of the event, thereby fixing the detail into memory much more effectively than reading a dry narrative in a textbook.

We humans are terrific pattern matchers, constantly assessing our environment for similarities.  Our memory is enhanced by creating associations between concepts.  When you are introducing a new concept in Math, try showing your child how this concept can be utilized in real life before you explain how to do it.  This may seem like approaching it backward - most Math lessons would teach the concept and then show how to apply it - but you may find that your child's attention will be more focused and their grasp of the concept itself more firm if you use this approach.  He may even take the problem solving further than you had demonstrated, which makes the lesson all the more effective.

There's more to this topic of attention that I will share in my next post ...

Kelly

Wired (and Re-wired) to Learn

What does a nerve cell look like? A fried egg provides a great visual of a cell, but needs some modification to look like a nerve cell.  If you're not afraid of a little clean up, try this with your children – put it on the table and smash it with the palm of your hand, splattering it across the table. You should have a many-pointed star. Now take one of the points and stretch it out away from the “body” of the egg, then take your thumb and squish the farthest region of the point you just stretched. You now have a visual representation of a nerve cell, or neuron – two smashed stars connected by a long, thin line. The original smashed piece represents the nerve’s cell body, and the star points are dendrites, while the stretched out region is called an axon, and the starburst at the furthest end is the axon terminal.  Talk about an effective demo, huh?  I can't take credit for this one - it's adapted from John Medina's Brain Rules, from which I also quote below.

Now let's put that neuron into perspective in the brain itself.  You can visualize the real world of two neurons interacting by "thinking of two trees uprooted by giant hands, turned 90 degrees so the roots face each other, and then jammed together. Usually, thousands of neurons are jammed up against one another, with their branches forming connections in a nearly incomprehensible mass of branching confusion.”

“Occasionally, the end of one neuron swells up, greatly increasing in diameter. The terminal ends of the other neurons split down the middle like a forked tongue creating two connections where there was only one. Electricity crackles through these moving neurons at blinding speed…with clouds of neurotransmitters filling spaces between the neuron trunks.” The human brain is learning!

“As neurons learn, they swell, sway, and split. They break connections in one spot, glide over to a nearby region and form connections with their new neighbors. Many stay put, simply strengthening their electrical connections with each other, increasing the efficiency of information transfer.” The brain is constantly learning, so the brain is constantly rewiring itself.

The human brain is only partially constructed at birth, with the majority of construction being finished by the mid-20s and fine-tuning carried on well into your 40s. When babies are born, their brains have about the same number of connections as adults have; but by the time they are 3 years old, the connections in specific regions of their brains have doubled or tripled. It doesn’t last though, as the brain will actually trim back a lot of this expansion and return to adult numbers by the age of 8. Then the process starts again at puberty with connections settling down to adult numbers in the late teens. Though the larger pathways in the brain – the neural equivalents of interstate freeways and state highways - are fairly consistent, individual patterns are evident when you get to the smaller routes – the brain’s equivalent of residential streets and dirt roads. “Whether examining toddlers or teenagers, different regions in different children develop at different rates.”

Here’s the educational application …

Our current educational system, particularly the classroom model, is based on a series of expectations that certain learning goals should be achieved by a certain age. But does everyone’s brain follow that one pattern? Students of the same age show a great deal of intellectual variability. About 10% of students do not have brains sufficiently wired to read at the age at which we expect them to read. And this is not the only subject area for which the brain’s readiness can vary.

Rather than fix your expectations on any particular scope and sequence, present the opportunities and observe your child. In the homeschooling setting it is much easier to vary your approaches and your timing for learning opportunities. If your child does not appear to grasp a concept quickly, consider whether you may be introducing it too early for that child. Pull back and reinforce what they have grasped, or try a different approach for introducing the concept. Incorporate as many of your child’s senses – seeing, smelling, hearing, touching and even tasting – in their learning environment and watch the outer evidence of the brain’s rewiring in action.  What an incredible adventure you are sharing with your child!

Kelly

Exercise Boosts Brain Power

At the encouragement of a friend, I am reading the book, Brain Rules, by John Medina. Just a couple chapters into the book I have encountered information that I simply must share, and this blog seems to be the best way to do so. I feel a series of posts coming on as I mine the valuable nuggets of this book.


Brain Rule #1 – Exercise Boosts Brain Power

We’ve heard a lot about the benefits of exercise for our bodies, but I hadn’t so clearly encountered its benefits for brain power until now. My post titled "Move and Learn" in May addressed the benefit of movement and academics, but this was mostly from the learning style perspective. I’m now armed with even more information regarding the benefits of exercise – or movement – for our brain.

A good bit of research has been done to compare the effects of sedentary and active lifestyles. Exercise can result in sometimes astonishing elevation in cognitive performance compared with those who are sedentary. Exercisers outperform couch potatoes in tests that measure long-term memory, reasoning, attention, and problem-solving. That’s fine, you may be thinking, but that’s not been our habit up to now. Hang on though, all is not lost. When normally sedentary people are enrolled in an aerobic exercise program, all kinds of mental abilities begin to come back online for young or old. In a recent study, children began a program of jogging for 30 minutes 2-3 times a week. After 12 weeks, their cognitive performance had improved significantly compared with pre-jogging levels.

Dr Antronette Yancey’s studies found that exercise improves children. Physically fit children identify visual stimuli much faster than sedentary ones and appear to concentrate better. Brain-activation studies show that children and adolescents who are fit allocate more cognitive resources to a task and do so for longer periods of time.

“Kids pay better attention to their subjects when they’ve been active,” Yancey says. “Kids are less likely to be disruptive in terms of their classroom behavior when they’re active. Kids feel better about themselves, have higher self-esteem, less depression, less anxiety. All of those things can impair academic performance and attentiveness.”

Why exercise works so well on the brain – a brief physiology lesson …

When we eat, the body uses teeth, stomach acid and the intestines to tear the food apart and reconfigure it for absorption. Much of our food is turned into glucose, one of the body’s favorite energy resources, and absorbed into the bloodstream via the small intestines. It is then carried to the body’s cells where cellular chemicals tear apart the molecular structure of glucose to extract its energy. Such fierce activity generates a fair amount of toxic waste, primarily in the form of excess electrons, better known as free radicals. If not quickly corralled, they will wreck havoc on the innards of a cell and thus the body. The main function of oxygen in your body is to act like an efficient electron-absorbing sponge. At the same time the blood is delivering foodstuffs to your tissues, it also carries these oxygen sponges which absorb the electrons and transform them into carbon dioxide which is carried back to the lungs for expulsion from the body. The oxygen-rich air you breathe keeps the food you eat from killing you.

Blood acts as both wait staff and haz-mat team, and any tissue without enough blood supply is going to both starve and be poisoned – including your brain. Though only representing about 2% of the body’s total weight, our brain utilizes 20% of the body’s total energy resources. Improving the blood’s delivery system can improve both the brain’s energy supply and waste removal. Exercise does not provide the oxygen and food – it provides greater access to the oxygen and food. When you exercise, you increase blood flow across tissues of your body. As the flow improves, the body makes new blood vessels, which penetrate deeper and deeper into the tissues of the body. The more you exercise, the more tissues you can feed and the more toxic waste you can remove.

Imaging studies have shown that exercise literally increases blood volume in a region of the brain called the dentate gyrus - a vital constituent of the hippocampus, a region deeply involved in memory formation. Early studies also indicate that exercise also stimulates one of the brain’s most powerful growth factors, BDNF, which exerts a fertilizer-like growth effect on certain neurons in the brain. This protein keeps existing neurons young and healthy, and encourages the formation of new cells in the brain.

After presenting this fascinating lesson on brain physiology, Dr. Medina proposes that classrooms integrate more movement, and that Phys Ed programs be increased rather than eliminated. Might be a little harder to sell this in a large school district, but it wouldn’t be as hard to integrate the idea of exercise/movement in our homeschool environment. Maybe you don’t relish the thought of jogging, but you could add some basic calisthenics – jumping jacks, sit ups, running the stairs or around the house, etc. – to get the blood pumping in your home at regular intervals in the day. I daresay that you will discover improvements in both academics and mood. Try it out!

Kelly

The Top 10 Reasons We Homeschool Our Children

As promised, I will finish the list I started with my last post ...

6.  To build intimate and meaningful relationships with your children in order to show them how much you love them.  I learned early on in my homeschooling adventure than one of the side-effects of classroom socialization is that my children thought they needed to spend most of their time with other children their own age.  Little brother just wasn't a 'cool' playmate, and hanging out with mom wasn't ideal either.  But I saw this attitude change as we discovered new aspects of our relationships and we began to enjoy each other's company.  More time together also made it easier to be a student of my children - to observe them and discover their strengths and weaknesses, their likes and dislikes - which made my parenting more effective.

7. To share with your children the common, everyday joys of life and be there when they need you most.  I was there when my younger boys learned to read, I was there when they saw and grasped a new concept in Math or Science - and it was a delight!  I was also there when life handed them disappointments, and I could encourage them to keep seeking, to keep knocking on the door.

8.  To be your children's mentor, spiritual leader, role model, friend, and teacher.  A lot of hats to wear, I know.  Yet consider how hard it would be to fill these roles for your child if you weren't with them throughout the day - or if you were having to undo more negative accumulation from classroom and peer experiences.

9.  To protect your children from the negative influences they may encounter outside the home.  Now don't get me wrong ... I'm not saying to place your children in a cuccoon that completely shields them.  We didn't completely keep them away from negative influence, but were better able to protect them by choosing the venues and balancing their exposure with our guidance and affirmation.  As they grew older, we allowed them greater choice, while providing the sounding board for discussions of what they experienced and the appropriate response to it.

10.  To instill in your children a life-long love for learning and to show them that learning is not boring, but exciting.  This love for learning is, in my opinion, the result of our efforts in #3 - meeting your child's unique needs.  When you help your child identify his learning style, and provide the tools for him to be successful, then your child's innate curiosity and desire to learn isn't squelched, but is rather fueled for the future.

You've made a good choice!  The road won't be easy, and there will be days that you question your decision, but look again at the reasons for the path you have chosen, and be encouraged.

Kelly

The Top 10 Reasons We Homeschool Our Children

Has anyone ever asked you why you homeschool?  Did the question catch you off-guard, or were you prepared to answer?  The first time that I was asked that question, I was not really prepared to answer clearly, so I purposed to get my reasons fleshed out and written down.  This exercise had multiple benefits ... I was better prepared the next time someone asked why I homeschooled, and I could read through my reasons when I was waivering after a tiring day.  Several years ago, Sonlight published ten reasons which stated mine (and additional reasons that hadn't yet occurred to me) in a more succinct manner:

1. To instill your values and beliefs in your children - this is a primary reason for most homeschoolers with whom I talk.  We want to be the ones who guide our children in developing their character and their faith, and to do so in our home amongst those who love them, rather than trusting them to learn from their peers.

2. To encourage academic excellence in your children.  That phrase - academic excellence - can bring both delight and fear to parents.  Perhaps you aren't confident in your own academic excellence and thus wonder whether you will be able to set an appropriate standard for your children.  If that is the case, then set a new standard for yourself alongside the children, because most homeschooling parents find that they learn quite a lot in the process of guiding their children in their studies.  Seek out materials that do not require you to know the subject, but will enable you to learn with the children ... you'll be amazed at the results.

3. To speak to and meet your children's unique, individual needs.  Let's face it, in a classroom environment, everyone can't march to a different drummer.  But in your home, you can tailor the materials you use to best speak to your children's individual learning styles.  Explore my earlier posts about this topic and equip your child with the tools that God designed him or her to use most effectively.

4. To help your children through the difficult times in their lives.  Or even allow them to help you through difficult times.  That's why God placed us in families - not only to grow together, but to also hold each other up.  I have often said that I believe our teenagers need us (parents) as much as our preschoolers do, and the years between are equally as important.

5. To help your children understand the hard questions we face in life.  Of course, "understand" is somewhat a relative term for children, since they will grasp increasing depths of understanding as they develop.  But we can still be there consistently, answering their questions at the level they can grasp, affirming their desire to know and our faith that God is always with us.

These are enough for now - I'll finish the list in my next post.  Meanwhile, I encourage you to contemplate these reasons.  Do they reiterate your reasons for homeschooling?  If so, what have you done to put them into action, and could you fine-tune your efforts?  If not, then how do your reasons vary, and what are you doing to act on them?

Kelly

Develop a Love for Learning, part 2

So let's look back to our formula. We've talked about Exposure through Exploring, Experiencing and the Emotional connection, but now we look at what these yield, and the first thing I think of is Creativity. When you read great books together, the children's interests in the information to which they have been exposed can inspire their own projects and activities, rather than activities planned by the parent. A pre-planning activity that is instigated by the parent may not tie in to the children's interest, in which case the time and effort devoted by the parent is not as fruitful as letting the chldren drive the activities. When we studied Egypt our boys begged us to delay planting the garden so that they could set up a model archaeological dig - this was so much more effective than my spending an hour planning and prepping for an activity that the children would spend 5 minutes doing and not necessarily find enlightening. When you read a pioneer book, your child may want to churn butter; when you study pyramids, your child may want to find a few boxes of sugar cubes handy for building a model; when you study Samuel Morse, you may find your children working to set up a mini-telegraph in your home. The possibilities are endless, as is the fruit. This creativity results in greater Comprehension of the information that has been explored.

While reading great books together is a primary way to encourage children to love to learn, there is another key way that incites a love for learning and also encourages Creativity and Comprehension. That is to share something you love with your child and do it right along with them. If you have a skill or hobby, share it with your kids. This could include fishing, music, baking, car mechanics, or gardening. Your child will be unskilled and probably make more of a mess than you would, but because they want to be like you, this type of shared experience will make them not only want to learn more about the activity but also to know more about you. Beyond imitating mom or dad, your children may seek to imitate heroes they discover in their books. Ben Franklin, Helen Keller, Thomas Edison, William Wilberforce, Albert Einstein and so many more can inspire your children to dream big and aim high. When learning side-by-side, you will be encouraged to learn more, explore more options and feel excitement in finding out what happened. Your enthusiasm will inspire your children, and the more experiences they have, the closer they will come to the last part of our formula - Mastery. This occurs when information has been clearly fixed in a pattern with which new information can fire in the brain and turn on the lights.

Einstein's formula has been used to provide a familiar visual reminder for the key points presented for developing a love for learning:

Exposure in Exploration, Experience, Emotion, Excitement = Mastery, Creativity, Comprehension

When we incorporate exposure, exploration and experience that ties emotions into our learning, we immerse ourselves into what we are learning, experiencing it with multiple senses, as opposed to skimming the surface, and we find that mastery comes from the creativity and comprehension that this immersion fosters. Put these to work in your homeschool adventure and I am confident that you will find your children - and even yourself - developing a love for learning.

Kelly

Develop a Love for Learning, part 1

Whether you are a current homeschooler, or considering homeschooling, if you have a child that thinks school is boring or anything but fun, you are looking for answers. How do we develop a love for learning in our children?

As I pondered this question and began jotting down ideas, it occurred to me that the ideas I had could be visualized through Einstein's familiar formula.

Let's start with E ...

Exposure - working from the fact that the brain's primary function is collection of information, we need to expose our children to information in a variety of forms that employ multiple senses.

• Examples bring awareness of a topic and spark their interest. Whether you are presenting engaging characters in context of a story, or taking your children on a nature hike, or showing them the variety of fruits and vegetables in the produce section of the grocery store ... you are bringing awareness. Facts presented without a connection are harder to grasp, but examples provide the context needed to retain information and begin to use it.
• Exploration is the next step as you gain Experience by putting the example into motion, test its application, discuss it and make comparisons, build a model or create a map. By working to provide opportunity to exercise the examples, you will find your children's interest growing.
• Emotion is the "gatekeeper of learning and performance," according to Susan Kovalik, the founder of Center for Human Brain & Human Learning. She points out that emotion keys memory, as you will understand if you think back to significant childhood memories. Invariably those memories can be tied to a strong emotion, be it anger, fear, joy, etc. Likewise, your child will remember information that is tied to emotion, even in the realm of academics.
• Excitement on your part is contagious and is the key to drawing in your children. Many of us have seen Brad Stein's Visine commercial where he epitomizes the lack of excitement with his "wow." If you are just going through the motions to press your children to get their work done, your children aren't going to be absorbing as much as if you are eager to see what can be discovered each day. If the curriculum you are using doesn't inspire excitement for you or your children, you may want to consider a change.
  

Even more intricately than the computers that are so central to our society today, our brains make meaning of new information by storing it in patterns. Your brain organizes information into patterns which are cataloged for storage and future retrieval, just as a computer would store information in documents, files and folders, according to the way you save the data. When you as the teacher present new information already sorted into a pattern, then your child's brain is easily able to use the information. Academic examples would be studying materials in a historical theme, or focused on geographical cultures, teaching Math with manipulatives or exploring fractions through a baking project. When we studied Science, we not only read about it, but we also did experiments, which naturally inspired my children to want to know more, dig deeper and find answers to their questions. When your child's brain seeks to retrieve information that has been stored in a pattern, the information in one neuron connects with information in other neurons, creating a brain-firing, electro-chemical reaction ... what we commonly refer to as the "lights go on." Susan Kovalik says, "the more experiences children have, the greater their ability to make connections."

My family has experienced this time and again when reading books or watching movies. Think about it - when you go to a movie, pay the admission price, perhaps stock up on popcorn and drink, and settle in to the theater seat, you would not be pleased if what appears on the screen is a list of bulleted statements telling the story. Interested? NO! The story in visual movie form, or in the rich word form found in great literature, calls you forward to find out what happens. "Just the facts, ma'am" is not appealing, yet if you imbed any amount of otherwise dry facts in the storyline, they become meaningful and memorable. This is because they are attached to the pattern of the story. An example of this would be our experience with the movie, National Treasure. The plot was intertwined with a mystery related to history, and set in a variety of historical places. What child or parent didn't learn American History in the process of watching that movie? We had the opportunity to be in Philadelphia after the movie came out on DVD, so we watched it again before venturing out to see the sights. Suddenly, the buildings had a whole new meaning - my boys were looking for the different places that were shown in the movie, searching for artifacts like those they had seen, and even got very excited to meet a park ranger who had been in the movie.

Great literature does the same without requiring the movie theater, projector or other technology - in fact, I love the versatility of reading. Great books can not only be read almost anywhere, but can transport you anywhere, anytime, and give you and your children a thirst to find out more about the person, time period or event. Emotional connections that are necessary for children to learn can be found by reading - and living the events through the characters in - great literature.

stay tuned for the rest of the equation ...

Summertime Strategies

Ah, the good ol' days of summer. We remember them from our childhood as carefree days when we didn't have to dress for school, but instead could spend our days playing barefoot outside. Fast forward to the present and you may not see the summer as a carefree time. Some homeschooling families choose to school year-round, taking short breaks distributed through the year, while others follow the traditional school calendar and take 10-12 weeks "off" of school.

If you take a break from formal school work in the summer, do you sometimes feel like you take on the roll of referee in place of teacher? You aren't the only one! I often have homeschooling moms ask me how to make summer feel more productive and less like a free-for-all. My answer comes from a good friend of mine who has often said, "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail."

Think about that statement. It is really true in every aspect of our lives. Now, I'm not advocating that you schedule every moment of your summer days, weeks and months. I don't even schedule that much detail into my normal school year. But ... it helps to have a general template to follow, and include some regular activities to keep the days in order and give the children benchmarks to follow.

What are some items that you can include in your general template? Well, here are a few suggestions:

• continue the habit of reading aloud together - if you didn't finish all the Read-Alouds from your program in the school year, use your summer to complete them. This might be a great lead-in to a post-lunch quiet time, helping your children calm down and relax during the hottest part of the day.
• don't abandon the chore list! Those everyday and weekly tasks still need to be done, and there may be additional projects that could be completed with the help of your children. This is a valuable part of training them in life skills.
• set regular times for the beach, pool or park, and perhaps invite friends to accompany you. If this activity is scheduled consistently, you shouldn't have to field repeated questions such as "when can we go to ...?"
• focus on Science during the summer - this subject is sometimes one that gets overlooked in the demands of a heavy schedule during school, but it can be a delightful, hands-on project for the summer time, when you can take the time for rabbit trails according to your children's interests.
• planning a road trip? Add some journaling activities for your 3rd-grade-and-older children to help them record the adventure. You can print copies of the road maps you would use and teach the children how to read the maps and mark the route you take. When you stop at various sites, encourage them to collect brochures and take pictures that can then be incorporated in their journal, along with a brief note about their experience. These can be as simple as a pocket folder with notebook paper, maps and brochures, or can grow into a scrapbook of the trip if your child is so inclined.
• find a volunteer opportunity for individual children or the whole family. Whether helping at the local library, the animal shelter or a nursing home, there are a variety of options to demonstrate Christian service and reach out to people.

No doubt you will hear at some point in the summer the inevitable phrase ... "I'm bored." What's your response? Well, my first piece of advice is to limit the amount of electronic entertainment your children are allowed each day. The more time they spend in this way, the more addicted they tend to become, and the less creative they are with unplugged time. Part of your summer plan should include parameters for electronic entertainment. Then supply some craft kits or general creative supplies for your children to use. Another friend shared a wonderful response to this phrase - when one of her children declared his boredom, she would tell him to go outside and play for a bit, and when he came back in she would have a chore for him to do. Oddly enough, he was generally outside for an extended amount of time.

I pray that you have a blessed summer, with an occasional opportunity to sit on the porch with a cool glass of lemonade in hand as you visit with friends and family.

Kelly

Move and Learn

Do you remember your days in the classroom? Mine were so long ago they are pretty fuzzy, but I do recall hearing the teacher reminding students to sit still, encouraging them to focus rather than fidget. Did you hear that when you were in school? Perhaps you were one of the students they were speaking to, and you were struggling against your natural inclination to move while you learned.

Research is now demonstrating that children benefit from having the freedom to move while they are learning. According to a recent report on ABC News, classrooms have begun incorporating more exercise and beneficial movement, and the student's scores are improving significantly. Some classrooms have stability balls for the students to sit or bounce on rather than the traditional desk chair. Other classrooms are set up for students to stand while they work, and take movement breaks regularly. A high school near Chicago has shifted each student's schedule to start the day with physical education, as well as providing balls and bikes in the classrooms so that the students are constantly on the move. The result ... reading scores have doubled, and math scores have risen by a factor of 20. Rather than cutting the PE program, this high school's administration is looking for additional ways to get the kids moving.

Do you have children who struggle with math or reading? I would suggest that you get them moving. One of my earlier posts spoke about the kinesthetic learning modality, but I don't think that these schools are finding that the movement is benefitting only those students who are wired kinesthetically. I think there is benefit for everyone in movement. Exercise, such as square dancing, which incorporates aerobic activity to increase the heart rate and intricate movement to stimulate thinking, can jump start your child's brain (or your own) for better problem solving.

So break away from the desk, table, or couch on a regular basis during your school hours, and get moving! Explore new ways to challenge your children and yourself. You'll provide an outlet for their wiggle and, no doubt, discover that thinking is not as challenging as it was in your stationary past.

Kelly

Feeling Weary or Discouraged?

Do you find yourself counting the days until this school year is ended? It isn't uncommon for homeschool parents to feel fatigue and even discouragement in the spring. The Bible indicates that many of our experiences in daily life correspond to spiritual situations. Fatigue and discouragement in the physical can be a reflection of spiritual battles. My pastor recently shared some valuable insights for having victory in the spiritual and physical aspects of life and I thought they may be of help for you as you come into the home stretch for this school year.

First, you must know your enemy. There were days in my homeschool experience that I was inclined to think that my children were the enemy, but that was really not the case. Read 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 if you don't believe me. Your children are a gift from God, not your enemy; so you need to look at the bigger picture to identify your enemy. Perhaps it is a schedule that is packed far too full, allowing no breathing space or down time. In this season of your life, you need to protect your school time and carefully select your outside activities. If you feel that you are making little progress in your homeschooling, you may need to examine your approach and explore other options. When I began to explore my children's learning modalities and selected materials that worked in conjunction with those modalities, then our efforts were much more successful.

Second, you must know your weak points. If your children "push your buttons" that will be a clue that you have weak points. You may find it helpful to find an experienced homeschooler or 'Titus 2' woman at church and ask her assistance in identifying those weak areas and her advice and prayer support as you seek the Lord's help in fortifying those areas. God can using the homeschool setting to show you areas that He wants to develop in you. Don't ignore these opportunities ... it's a valuable part of your growth, and can demonstrate to your children that God works on us all.

Next, you need to know your weapons. The passage I referenced earlier in 2 Corinthians tells us that "the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful" and 1 Peter tells us that God's grace is as varied as the trials we face, so you can be confident that He will help you. Your first weapon is prayer, surrendering yourself as you seek His guidance. You can also explore alternate curriculum options, seek to plan your schedule and days more carefully, and practice employing the word "no" with a smile. I'm primarily referring to not agreeing to participate in every possible activity, but choosing them carefully, ensuring that they provide greater benefit than cost to you in time, preparation, and energy. This was a hard lesson for me.

Lastly, I strongly encourage you ... don't give up! If you know in your heart that you are called to homeschool your children, then press on. If your current approach isn't working, then explore other options. Attending a homeschool convention is a great way to revive your vision, explore those options and redirect your efforts. Perhaps this needs to be a 'Mother's Day/Weekend Out' type of trip, giving you time to get away, rest and renew your energies. Trust me, you are worth it!

Last weekend was my first homeschool convention of the season. I traveled to what I consider my "home" event - the CHEF of LA convention near Baton Rouge. Though the attendance is not high at this event, it is always encouraging to see familiar faces and meet new homeschoolers who are just beginning their journey.

Mike Farris of Home School Legal Defense Association was a keynote speaker this year. Though the graduation of my youngest son finished my years as an active homeschooler, I still like to stay abreast of what is happening in the community, so I purchased the recordings of his sessions. He opened with a "Past, Present and Future" view of homeschooling which I found very interesting! The homeschooling movement has reached the 30-year mark, and it is obvious that God has intervened repeatedly to open doors and clear the path. However, lest we become complacent in our assumption that our rights to homeschool will continue, I encourage you to beware. There are still many individuals and groups who seek to quietly take those rights away. Stay alert to what is going on outside your homeschool walls ... the enemy is prowling ...

While a wide variety of informative sessions were being held, my assistant, Sherrie, and I spoke with veteran and prospective homeschoolers about their options. For those of us who grew up with a classroom education, textbooks and related materials seem to be the norm for education; but there is so very much more available. I think back to the various travels that my boys experienced through the pages of biographies, classics and historical fiction, immersed in the lives and thoughts of the characters in the books; and I would not want to return to the surface-skimming pages of a textbook. One episode in particular has stuck in my memory for some 14 years ...

In our first year of using Sonlight, my 5th grader had read a biography of Orville and Wilbur Wright, and his Language Arts assignment was to pretend that he was their mother, Mrs. Wright, and write a letter to her grandchildren relating a story from their father's childhood. The idea was for my son to review all the accounts he had read of the Wright brothers' adventures and select one to narrate in an informal letter format. However, my son informed me that he couldn't complete the assignment. "Why not?" I asked. "Because the Wright brothers were bachelors all their lives, and they didn't have children for her to write to!" was his reply. I was momentarily dumbfounded. I had not grasped that level of detail about their lives from the textbook that I had read as a child. I knew that they flew the first plane at Kitty Hawk, NC, in the early 1900s, but I did not know that their father owned a bicycle shop and their childhood exposure to mechanical things had sparked their inventive minds. This was a clear illustration of the level of comprehension and retention that a child experiences from real books as opposed to textbooks.

What are your stories? Did you have a Sonlight "aha" moment? I would love for you to share with us all ...

Kelly

The Coupons Are Coming!

Have you made plans to attend a homeschool convention this spring or summer? I would recommend that you consider it. Homeschool conventions can provide a number of benefits for you, whether you attend by yourself or with a friend as a mom's weekend away, or you go with your husband and focus on working together to set a plan for the next school year.

Convention organizers work to line up speakers and workshop sessions that will provide encouragement and guidance for you as you embark on new stages of homeschooling. The vendor hall offers the opportunity to view materials that you may be considering using with your children.

Granted, you may already be settled in the curriculum that suits your family perfectly, and you prefer not to be confused by a wide array of different options; but if your curriculum of choice is Sonlight Curriculum, then visiting the vendor hall at your homeschool convention will not only let you see what's coming next ... you will also leave the Sonlight booth with a $15 coupon to apply to your order of $50 or more. This is the first time such an offer has been available. And that's not all ... if you place your order with Sonlight by Sunday night after the convention, and include a note in the comment box to the effect of "rush processing per [your Consultant's name]" then Sonlight will process and ship your order on Monday at no additional cost to you. That means that you will have your order before the end of the week following the convention! How cool is that?

To find out what events will feature Sonlight Curriculum Booths in their vendor halls, go to the Homeschool Convention page and use the map or the calendar listing. If you are in Louisiana, Mississippi, or near Orlando, check the listing in the right margin of this blog to access details about the events that I will attend. Come visit my Sonlight booth - I'd love to talk to you about your experiences with Sonlight, your potential use of Sonlight, and provide you with a Sonlight catalog and your very own coupon.

The Catalogs Are Coming ...

This is always an exciting time of year for the Sonlight community as anticipation of the new catalog arrival builds. Some creative Sonlighters write poetry expressing their excitement, while others compose songs to new or existing melodies, calling on their mailbox to produce the desired publication. The new catalog goes into effect on April 1st, but I'll let you in on a secret ... it will most likely arrive before that date!

I answered my doorbell today to find our UPS delivery man standing on the porch with a two-wheeled cart stacked high with boxes of Sonlight catalogs. This is my stock for conventions this spring and summer. You would be proud of me for helping him stack them in the entry hall and waiting patiently for him to leave before pouncing on the top box to pull out the treasured catalog. In the years that I have used Sonlight, my appreciation for the UPS and FedEx delivery men has grown as they bring me box after box of treasured materials.

If you have ordered from Sonlight in the last two years, or visited a Sonlight convention booth, set up a customer account on the Sonlight website, or requested a catalog since the beginning of this school year, there is a Sonlight catalog with your name on it winding its way through the postal service for delivery to your mailbox.

When it arrives, set aside some time to curl up in a comfy chair with a cup of coffee or glass of tea, and explore its pages. If questions arise, don't hesitate to contact me at klutman@sonlight.com and I will be glad to provide answers.

Kelly

Spring into Convention Season

I don't know what it looks like outside your house today, but I have caught myself standing at the window gazing at the sunshine and the evidence of new growth all around. Thanks to El Nino (there's a Physical Science topic for you to research with your children) we've had a very wet winter ... including over 25" of rain in December alone! Add to that the much colder weather that so many experienced nationwide and you can understand why I welcome temperatures that allow me to open the windows and welcome the breeze. Trees are beginning to bud and some are even in bloom down here on the Gulf Coast, and the birds are busy tending the nests they have built, singing as they work. What a delight!

Beyond the beauty outside, I am eagerly anticipating the start of homeschool convention season. Whether you attend a convention for the vendor hall, or preparation for the next level of teaching, or to get rejuvenated after a long winter, there is usually a lot of benefit to be found. Conventions also offer an opportunity for homeschooling moms (or couples) to get a few days away to restore their focus and enjoy some adult conversation. I hope that you will look for me at the conventions I will be attending - CHEF of LA in Greenwell Springs, LA, on April 22-24, MHEA in Starkville, MS, on May 14-15, FPEA in Orlando, FL, on May 27-29, and SWLA CHEF in Moss Bluff, LA, on July 30-31.

The Sonlight booth will be an exciting spot to visit, with an expanded size, a new look, the new Sonlight catalog, and the opportunity to get your hands on our materials. For the first time ever, we will also be giving a $15 coupon for a purchase over $50 to every family who visits the booth as a convention special! Stop by the booth and fill out the contact card to receive your new catalog and the coupon, as well as be entered in a drawing for a number of goodie bags.

If you look in the right-hand margin above my convention listings, you'll find a link for a Convention Survival Tips article that offers suggestions for planning your convention trip to reap the most benefit. Here's a tip tidbit ... bring along some of the printed return address stickers you get free in the mail, and use those for any vendor contact cards you are asked to fill out. It saves you a lot of time - especially at a large convention - and ensures that your information is legible for the vendor.

I look forward to seeing you somewhere along the Gulf Coast in the next few months. Until then, focus on your goals for this year and finish strong. You can do it!

Kelly

Win ... By Referring a Friend!

As winter draws to a close – at least that’s what we are anticipating here in the South – the homeschool convention season is just around the corner. I just spent several days in Littleton, CO, brainstorming with other Sonlight Consultants, and I have lots of new ideas in my head. I’m looking forward to my first event in April and having an opportunity to share Sonlight with homeschoolers like you.

Watch here for more information concerning a special, exclusive offer for each person who visits my Sonlight booth at the CHEF of LA, MHEA, FPEA, AH Expo or SEHS Expo events in 2012.

I’m offering a gift to my customers who refer a friend to me. The friend you refer must be 1) new to Sonlight – you are welcome to refer yourself if you are not already a Sonlight customer – and 2) make a purchase of at least $50 this year after I receive your referral. What’s the gift that I’m offering? It’s a free Sonlight book and a trio of Smencils. What are Smencils? They are scented pencils, available in either colored pencil or traditional #2 lead, that come in plastic tube cases to preserve their scent. They offer a unique twist to your child’s school work – a fresh aroma for your school – and a Sonlight book is always a treat. Send your friend’s contact information to me via e-mail at klutman@sonlight.com with “Sonlight Referral” in the subject line. I will register them as a new customer and introduce myself to them as their personal Sonlight Consultant.

If you are not currently a Sonlight customer, you are welcome to refer yourself … you can be your own friend.

It’s a great opportunity for both you and your friend – they get a personal Sonlight Consultant, available to answer their questions year ‘round, and you get a gift. Send me their contact information via e-mail, or your friend can contact me directly, telling me that you referred them. You both win, so send that e-mail now!

In case you are wondering, neither Sonlight nor I will share your friend’s contact information with anyone else. It is important to you and to us.

When a Written Test is a Must ...

Tests will be part of academic life at every level. You have a great deal of freedom to adapt your testing techniques in the homeschool environment, but should also offer opportunities for your child to test in the traditional method in order to be prepared for standardized testing, college testing and entrance exams. Let’s review some methods for your child to cope with the written test, no matter what his or her learning style.

For the auditory learner, thinking noises and processing information vocally are common. These can usually be accommodated in your daily educational activities, but in a group testing environment, the noise would be distracting for others. If you know the test administrator, you may be able to get permission for your child to listen to music on an iPod to provide the auditory cover needed. But don’t overlook the need for providing practice in a quiet testing environment. Make it a game. Start by challenging your child to work quietly for just 5 minutes, then build on that. When your child can work quietly for a reasonable span of time, add some further challenge such as distracting noises to help your child condition his auditory brain to tune out sounds.

A visual learner can be distracted simply by the appearance of the test itself. Lots of questions, lots of bubbles on a multiple choice test, disorderly presentation … any of these can present distractions to your visual learner. Coach your child to cover distracting portions of the test. A hand or second sheet of paper can be used to cover lower portions of the test, enabling your child to focus on the upper portion. The “wrong” answers on a multiple choice test are actually called distracters. These can cause your child to overthink the answer. Coach your child to cover the answers, read the question and think of the answer before looking at the choices, then mark the answer.

Your kinesthetic learner, aka wiggle worm, may find himself overwhelmed by the effort to simply sit still and not be able to answer the questions. Test whether manipulating a piece of clay or small stress ball, or chewing gum, will “release” your child to focus on the written work. As with the auditory learner, practice test conditions, challenging your child to be still for progressively longer periods. Or, find acceptable movement for a test environment – such as highlighting words, doodling in the margins – provided that the movement doesn’t occupy all of your child’s time at the expense of answering the questions.

Though written tests are not the only means for evaluating your child’s mastery of concepts, they cannot be completely avoided. Preparing your child to cope with the written test setting will provide him or her with a step up toward success.