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A House of Order, Part 1:
Mapping out Your Curriculum
by
Melanie
Skelton
I
don’t know about you, but sometimes I start feeling like chaos rules in
my home. Between the laundry, dinner and home schooling, we carry a
heavy load as home educators. The process of learning to put it all in
order, so that both home and school run more efficiently,
is ongoing. This article is part one, of a four part series, where I
will focus on different aspects of how we can help home and school
become less chaotic and frustrating.
...read more
Consider the plans you make when preparing for a vacation. Do you
map out the places you intend to visit or just jump in the car and
hope it all turns out?
When you are on vacation you'll get more out of it, if you have a
basic plan. It is most helpful to know where you are, where you
are going, where you intend to eat and sleep along the way, and
any sites you want to be sure to see. It is possible that you
will find out about something along the way that will sidetrack
you...and this is alright. Flexibility will allow you to enjoy
your trip and get the most you can out of it. But if you travel
with no plan at all there is no guarantee you will end up anywhere
that matters. Although the cornfields in Iowa are something to
experience, you may want to see more on you journey.
The same applies to your home school journey. Although you may
want to keep your curriculum flexible so you have time for side
trips when the desire strikes, having a basic plan will help your
children benefit more from the journey.
The following steps will help you to plan out this journey more
effectively.
Understand where you are. How does your child learn best?
Are they an auditory learner, a visual learner or a learner who
needs to touch it and do it to learn it best? Understanding
this can make all the difference in how you approach learning with
your child. Learn to understand the factors that influence
learning in your home. Understanding your own personality and
those of your children can also be helpful in defining how you
will approach learning. It is also critical that you understand
the level at which your child is learning. If you assign work to
an eight year old that requires them to analyze they may
struggle. However, at this age they are very capable of absorbing
information. Don’t be frustrated if you cannot figure this out
all in one shot. Find books that teach these things, and study
how your children learn. This will be an ongoing process that
will help you adjust your curriculum as you see the need.
Understand where you want to be going. Consider why you
have chosen to teach your children at home and what you want to
accomplish overall. Write this down and go back to it when you
feel like throwing in the towel.
Define the subjects you plan to study in the upcoming year. Do
you want to focus on life sciences or learn about the earth? Will
you study ancient history or the Renaissance? Once you have made
some general decisions in each subject it will be easier to narrow
it down into specifics. For instance, we will be studying life
sciences this year. I’ve divided that into three segments: the
study of animals, human body and plants. It makes the most sense
that we study plants in the spring when we naturally start working
out in the garden and go on nature walks. We will do much of this
learning outside. We will study animals the first part of the
year and have purchased a zoo pass so that we can incorporate
several trips to the zoo into this study. I will outline what I
think we should learn about animals and then allow for some
exploration in our study. We will use the library extensively in
finding material for this study. We will learn about taxonomy and
pull out field guides that will help us learn how to categorize
the animals we see and learn about.
Understand the interests of your children. Sit down and have
a brainstorming session with them. This doesn’t mean you will
cover every idea they throw out. If your children are like mine,
they will throw some ideas out that are very general and others
that are so off-the-wall that there is no way I’m really going to
spend energy on doing much with it. But you may tune into some
things they would like to learn about. If you incorporate topics
that interest your children into your plan they will be excited
with you.
Schedule a Planning Session. Once you have an idea of where
you are and what your destination is, set aside a time to put it
all down on paper somehow. This can be as detailed or general as
is comfortable for you. Map out the year with a plan of what you
will be covering each month. Remember that December will get busy
and in the spring you will probably want to go outside. You can
choose to make notes of the resources you will use or know that
when you get to that subject you will pile the kids in the car and
head to the library. I’ve done it both ways.
Some subjects will require less planning than others. In the past
I’ve mapped out what math assignments each child will do each
week, and I don’t recommend it. We use Math-U-See and I expect
them to do an assignment every day. However, if a particular
child is struggling with a concept I want them to have the time to
slow down long enough to understand what they are learning. On
the other hand if they are ready to move on to another lesson, we
will skip ahead.
Remember that life is part of school. If you are canning,
get your children involved. If you are building new shelves, your
children can learn great things from helping. If you are going
somewhere, there are always museums and other learning
opportunities along the way. Let a child be in charge of meal
planning and preparation once a week. If they are younger, they
will need more help. There is much to learn in the kitchen.
Remember to incorporate the things that are part of life into your
school plan.
Plan for side trips. Keeping your plan a bit flexible will
make it possible for you to pause and learn about a current event
or the strange bird that chooses to make your carport home for the
winter.
Enjoy the journey. Planning a curriculum that meets your
needs will make your year more enjoyable. When you need to
simplify, do it. When you or your children are excited about
something, pursue it. If you want to experiment with lapbooks or
unit studies, you can. Remember to enjoy this time with your
children and make the journey all you want it to be.
Melanie Skelton has educated her six children at home for eight
years. She is the co-founder of Utah Families Teaching at Home
and assists in teaching workshops to empower and help home
educators. She is the web designer for the website, found at
http:
http://www.utahfamilies.net/ and is in the process of
co-authoring a book about home education. This book will help
home educators better understand learning styles, personality
styles and levels of learning. It will teach the reader how to
apply this information to their home school and plan out a
curriculum that will meet the needs of their children.
[ hide article ]
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Morning, Noon and Night
The Stages of Our Lives With Languages
by Beth Butler
What does a baby listening to a bilingual music CD, a school age child
learning two words in two languages for the same object and an elderly
person sitting in a retirement community have in common? They all will
experience a wide array of benefits derived from being bilingual.
It’s mind-boggling to keep up with the most recent research in the field
of bilingualism. Experts speak about the many areas of the brain
sparked by introducing two languages early in life. They refer to the
neural pathways created and connected during second language learning in
the first five years of life. They provide study after study that
proves overall advanced cognitive development takes place within groups
of bilingual students when compared to their monolingual peers....read more
Now the latest evidence, as recent as early January 2007,
points to lifelong use of two languages assisting with the delay of the onset of
dementia symptoms by four years when compared to monolingual daily existence!
As the daughter of an eighty year old mother who recently moved into a
retirement community, I find this latest study out of the Rotman Research
Institute at the Baycrest Research Center for Aging and the Brain fascinating!
We have known for years, as parents and as educators, that
our children are like sponges. They soak up new information with ease and
retain much of what they learn after much repetition. The likes of PBS, NickJr.,
Disney and children’s programming decision makers realize the importance of and
interest in helping our youth of today get a jump start on becoming bilingual.
Just ask any young girl and boy in your local preschool who Dora & Diego are!
Dr. Ellen Bialystok, Ph.D., and her colleagues have
conducted previous studies showing that bilingualism enhances attention and
cognitive control in both children and older adults. One of Dr. Bialystok’s
studies conducted on language acquisition in children showed that bilingual
children read sooner than their monolingual peers and score twice as high on
language tests as well as demonstrate advanced problem solving capabilities.
Reading her findings is like getting free coaching on how to raise a child to
succeed in our global society!
Following the stages of our lives with language learning is
becoming increasingly easy to do. Learn one language, speak it daily, and you
will find yourself missing the boat. Learn two languages or more, speak them
often, and you will proudly exhibit early reading skills as a four year old,
score higher on standardized tests as a school age student, and wave off the
early onset of dementia. The findings are in, the experts agree; being
bilingual makes life’s journey a pleasant one.
Beth Butler is a bilingual educator of young
children and strives to prepare our young children for a very global society.
She is the founder of the internationally acclaimed BOCA BETH Program
that introduces children ages birth – ten to Spanish as a second language. The
BOCA BETH Program and its fun and easy-to-use bilingual products were
recently awarded Learning Magazine 2007 Teachers’ Choice Award for the
Family & Best Educational Product of the Year (2006 & 2005) –Parent to
Parent/Adding Wisdom Award.
To sample this fun, integrated bilingual product
line for free visit
www.bocabeth.com.
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Is Your Child Self-Confident?
by
Naomi Aldort Ph.D.
My son is shy. He doesn’t respond
to questions and looks away. His sister is the opposite, last week she
said to an adult in the park, “Get up, this is my place, I just went for
a second.” The man called her “rude” and refused to leave. I have raised
my children with full responsiveness to their needs. Why is my son so
insecure and my confident daughter so forceful?
The concept of self-esteem has been highly misunderstood. It has been
confused with being outgoing, loud, conceited, arrogant, or dominant.
Yet, these qualities do not necessarily equate with high self-esteem and
are often a cover up for a sense of insecurity and inferiority. In
addition, many adults respond to children’s confidence in ways that
confuse the issue further; they may negate the child’s confident choice
for privacy with, “don’t be shy,” and they sometimes frown on a child
who is assertive and candid. ...read more
Your son’s self-esteem
may be so high that he doesn’t care to impress anyone or to fit their
expectations. Respect his preferences, and his self-esteem will keep growing. In
a similar way, you can delight in your daughter’s ease in asserting herself; she
has a clear sense of justice and of being worthy and deserving. With years of
experience and exposure, she will learn to assert herself in kinder ways and she
will also learn when to let go and flow with another person’s choice.
Self-esteem is not a certain personality. Instead, self-esteem is a sense of
being content with who one is and deserving of the best. We easily recognize
self-esteem when a child is a leader, extrovert and social, but we forget that
it takes as much courage and self-esteem to assert one’s need for quiet, privacy
or solitude. Indeed, not every introvert lacks in self-esteem, and not every
extrovert feels worthy.
A typical example is the child who does not like to mingle with groups of
children. Such a child prefers an intimate friendship with one or two; she is
being confident when she refuses to join a group game. She is being authentic
and not intimidated by anyone’s expectations of her.
I recall one of my children at a play group when he was five. Six children were
engaged in an organized game with their parents. He sat on the side observing. I
sat with him expecting to either sit there the whole time or leave if he
requested so. The organizer of the event felt a need to include my son in the
play. A few times she came over and tried to convince him to join the game. Each
time he looked strait at her eyes and nodded his head for “no.” On another
occasion he asked to go to a pottery class, but once there, he did not want to
sit with the other children at the round table and opted to go home. It takes a
lot of confidence to stay true to oneself under such pressure.
Likewise, the appearance of confidence can be deceiving; sometimes a “me me,”
kind of behavior can be a cover up for deep seated insecurity. For example a
mother told me about her daughter, Iris, (all names and circumstances in the
examples are changed) who was always shouting, “Me first.” In her tumbling class
she was constantly getting to the head of the line. She seemed very happy when
she got to be noticed and to be first but easily upset if she wasn’t.
Coming home from one tumbling class, Iris seemed irritable. When her mother
inquired about her experience at the class Iris said, “I didn’t like it today.
Nancy never let me be first. I hate her.” Later, Mom was sitting at the piano
with Andrea, Iris’s younger sister. Iris passed by and said on the run, “Ah,
little genius Andrea, the queen.”
What looks like confidence and exuberance, in this situation, is more likely
Iris’s despair and insecurity. She has an inferior view of herself at home, and
in her anguish she tries to negate her self-doubt by looking for recognition
elsewhere.
Of course a child may also show her low self-esteem by being overtly scared.
Yet, when a child hides her insecurity under the appearance of showing off, we
might not recognize it. Therefore, instead of looking for conventional features
of confidence in your child, ask yourself if she is true to herself and if she
acts as one who is content and deserving; observe to see if she is excited to be
herself and free to choose her outgoing moments as well as her quiet ones.
Often, self-esteem shows up in our daily relationships with our children. In a
phone session I learned about a boy who regards himself highly. Rio was busy
playing outside with the water hose. His father became concerned about the waste
of water and called Rio from inside the house, “Please shut the water off, the
well can run out of water.”
Not hearing his father, Rio went on playing, at which point his father became
angry. He went to the window and shouted, “Shut that water off right now!
”Stunned, Rio quickly turned off the spigot and ran into the house. When he
faced his father, his eyes were brimming with tears. “If I shouted at you, ‘Go
shut the door of your van right now!’ how would you feel?” he asked. “I would
feel hurt,” Dad answered and expressed his regret for shouting.
Some people may feel shocked by this boy’s words to his father. Yet, Rio’s
expression indicated that he felt worthy. The thought behind his words was
probably something like, "how can you treat me this way? I am worthy of respect
and kindness, just like you." Children who feel safe to express themselves fully
at home, develop an implicit sense of their own worth.
The paradox is that often we lose sight of an insecure child while we worry that
something is wrong with a child who is confident. We want a child to be
assertive and secure, but when he is, we may get uptight, wanting to dampen his
spirit. In the same way the child who stands for his right for privacy often
encounters adults who negate his self-assurance and demand that he responds to
their probing questions. Protect your child’s authenticity and dignity and
celebrate when your son asserts his need for privacy and your daughter her need
for fairness.
Naomi
Aldort is the author of, Raising Our Children, Raising Ourselves. Parents from
around the globe seek Aldort's advice by phone, in person and by listening to
her CDs and attending her workshops. Her advice columns appear in progressive
parenting magazines in Canada, USA, AU, UK, and translated to German, Hebrew,
Dutch, Japanese and Spanish.
Naomi
Aldort is married and a mother of three. Her youngest son is thirteen-year-old
cellist Oliver Aldort
www.OliverAldort.com
.
For more information:
www.NaomiAldort.com
or
www.AuthenticParent.com
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What Are Husbands Good For?
by
Seth Prezant
What are husbands good for?
Well, according to a recent poll of 15 married women with children
(including friends, neighbors, and my wife), husbands are good for the
following: ...read more
- Opening
up stubborn mayonnaise jars
-
Disciplining the kids
- Walking
the dog
- Washing
the minivan
- Changing
light bulbs
- Cooking
- Foot
rubs
- Finding
the remote control to the TV
- Talking
about sports
- Nothing
-
Zippering up dresses
-
Unzipping dresses (not necessarily the wife’s)
- Carrying
laundry upstairs
- Removing
lizards from the house
- Taking
care of family finances
Surprised? Most are not. But keep
reading.
Not one of the moms polled said anything
about their husbands being good with their children. So I went back and asked
each one of the fifteen moms if their husbands were active in caring for or
teaching the children. All fifteen responded with a “yes” or “absolutely” yet
not one of them listed this quality in the poll.
How sad. Sad that fathers are not getting the recognition
most deserve on one of the most important roles a father has - teaching their
children. So the rest of this article is dedicated to the dads who know how to
crack open a jar of mayo and teach their children life long lessons.
Here’s some fun ideas (yes, bug ideas) that dads can do
with their children while teaching important lessons on nature, science, and the
art of exploration and discovery. The last one is my favorite!
Dad-Child Idea #1:
Make your own net. You’ll need an old broom stick, mop handle or a long straight
stick for the handle, a wire hanger to hold the net, and an old pillowcase or
stocking (no fishnets) for the net itself and duct tape to hold it all together.
Help children shape the hanger into a circle. Bend the two ends vertically away
from the circle at a length approximately 3”. Use the duct tape to secure the
straightened ends to the top of the handle. Now take the opening if the stocking
or pillowcase and carefully fold it over the rim of the hander and secure with
either duct tape or it may even be sewn onto the rim. It may not be pretty but
it will work. Besides, you and your child made it together!
Dad-Child Idea #2:
Kids love to experiment and kids love sweets. Let’s put them together for our
next cool project. Capture a beetle, millipede, or grasshopper. Put it into a
Bug House. With your child, prepare two separate water dishes using tops from
containers. In one, mix water with sugar and the other mix water with artificial
sweetener. Place both in the container with your bug and observe. Does your bug
like the water with natural sugar or artificial sweetener? You can also use the
same idea to test if your bug prefers Cheerios over Fruitloops, bananas over
apples, or broccoli over donuts.
Dad-Child Idea #3:
The only thing cooler than finding a bug is finding a
fossilized bug! This may be a bit difficult so let’s start off making our own.
First you need to find a dead (and dry) bug. This should be fairly easy since
bugs do not live long (especially in your house!). A dead
ant, June beetle,
dragonfly or fly
would work fine. You can either “press” them carefully into clay to leave a
fossilized looking imprint or…take out some wax paper and honey. Place the bug
on the paper and pour a small amount of honey on top. Place in freezer and in 20
minutes you have fossilized “amber” with bug in the center. Cool.
Dad-Child Idea #4:
Like snakes and lizards, bugs shed their skins, called exoskeletons, during a
process called MOLTING. Talk to your child about how people grow and demonstrate
how bugs grow and molt by using non-toxic white craft glue. Spread a small
amount of glue on your child’s hand and let dry. Slowly peel dried glue off and
discuss the different creepy crawlies that shed or molt.
Dad-Child Idea #5:
Over time, collect dead and dried bugs with your
child. A good place to store your bugs is in a small tackle box. After you and
your child have collected six to twelve bugs it’s time to make a display box.
Take the top of a shoe box and fill it just above the rim with cotton balls
making sure there are no gaps or spaces in between. You may use glue to hold the
cotton balls in place. Carefully arrange the dead bugs on the cotton balls.
Using clear plastic wrap, tightly cover the entire display and secure with tape
in the back. The pressure from the plastic wrap should keep your bugs in place.
If not, add more cotton balls in frame.
Dad-Child Idea #6: An Associate Professor at
Cornwell University’s Department of Entomology wanted to track various species
of Ladybugs. Some of these beetles have become increasingly rare and the fear is
that some species may even be extinct. The problem is that there are not enough
field scientists to travel the U.S.A in search of these ladybugs. His very cool
solution was to have children do the important scientific field work, find
ladybugs, document various data, and photograph the little buggers. It’s a
perfect Dad child project that can actually help save these ladybugs! Please
learn more by visiting:
http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/icb344/Lost_Ladybugs.htm
Dads, I would love to hear about your cool bug projects.
Please email your story and/or pictures to
seth@coolbugstuff.com. For even more cool bug ideas please visit
www.CoolBugStuff.com and as always…
Have a Creepy Crawly Day!
Seth Prezant is the founder and Bugmaster of
www.CoolBugStuff.com
.
His award winning web site was created to help promote fascination and education
in science using nature’s most abundant creatures…Bugs! Seth is a true EEE
(Education & Entertainment Entrepreneur) providing educational and entertaining
nature shows for schools, camps, aftercare programs and home school groups all
around South Florida. The Bugmaster can be reached @
seth@coolbugstuff.com.
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13 Myths About the SAT
by Jean Burk
Are you or your child looking forward to
the college adventure? Are you moments away from being out on your own,
living the dorm fiesta? You are ready to go, yet you haven’t started
preparing. The Scholastic Assesmente Test (SAT) is a hurdle that every
college-bound student must face. Nearly every university in the United
States requires this test for admission, and it can be a determining
factor when it comes to college admission and scholarships. Admittedly,
taking this test is daunting. The idea that the results could
affect your college career and maybe even the rest of your life can
cause anxiety and even panic. Even smart
kids can do poorly on this test. What is the average student to do? The
answer lies in gaining knowledge of
the test structure. There are a lot of misconceptions about the SAT, and
these misconceptions can hurt one’s
score. Hopefully, by clearing up some of these misunderstandings,
students will be better able to conquer
these tests. Here is a list of thirteen common myths about the SAT
and
the PSAT/NMSQT tests.
...read more
Myth #1 – The SAT assesses
a student’s knowledge.
False: This test is all about reasoning
and logic. It contains universal questions that anyone can answer regardless of
their academic background (public, private, or homeschool). So all that stuff
about Abraham Lincoln and microeconomics, you can throw it out the window. There
are three sections: math, critical reading and writing, and these test your
critical thinking and basic skill level, not your knowledge.
Myth #2 – Take the SAT in
your senior year.
False: Don’t wait until the senior year!
I repeat: this is not a knowledge-based test. You should be able to
answer most of the questions by ninth grade. Universities generally take
applications in the fall before you graduate, and most of these applications
require SAT scores, so if you waited to take it, you may not be able to apply to
the college of your choice. Also, you can take the SAT multiple times, so if you
take it early, you can take it again if you’re not satisfied with your score.
Give yourself some leeway room, and don’t add pressure to your final year of
high school by waiting to take the SAT.
Myth #3 – The PSAT/NMSQT is
a practice SAT and is not important.
False: The letter “P” actually stands
for Preliminary, not Practice. The NMSQT stands for National Merit Scholarship
Qualifying Test. This means that this test can actually earn you scholarships!
If you do well, this one test can give you a free-ride to just about any
college. Take this test seriously. It only counts in your junior year for
scholarships, but take it for practice in ninth and tenth grades.
Myth #4 – You only have one
chance at the PSAT/NMSQT test.
False: Although the PSAT/NSQT is only
offered once every fall. If the need arises, you can take the alternative
testing method. You will need to contact The National Merit Corporation before
March. Students would then take the regular SAT 1 and their score would be
converted. Students will still be eligible for scholarships. By doing this
method, the test can be taken several times since the National Merit Corporation
will take the highest score.
Myth #5 – Students should
guess on SAT answers if you don’t know them.
False: There is a penalty for guessing
on a question and being wrong. One-fourth of a point will be subtracted from
your raw score. This may not seem like a lot, but over the ten sections of the
SAT, it could really add up. By understanding that the questions can point you
to the answer, it’s a matter of eliminating all the wrong answers first and then
being left with the correct one. If you aren’t able to confidently eliminate a
few answers, you should probably skip the question.
Myth #6 – You must get
every answer right for a perfect score.
False: People who have received perfect
scores on the SAT probably skipped several questions, and may have even gotten a
few wrong. However, their raw score was significant enough (that means they got
enough questions right) to garner them a perfect SAT score.
Myth #7 – SAT questions are
in order of difficulty.
False: As a general rule, the questions
start off easy and get harder, but truthfully, a lot of them are mixed together,
especially in the critical reading and writing section. You may find the very
first question the hardest question on the test. Difficulty on this exam is not
determined by higher level skills of math and verbal. Hard SAT questions are the
ones that students consistently got wrong on a previous experimental section of
the test.
Myth #8 – A student only
needs a good SAT score in order to get into college.
False: Colleges are looking for
well-rounded students. Admissions offices like applicants with plenty of
community service, academic awards, volunteer work, and leadership skills.
Students who have a proven track record of involvement and dedication are the
most sought-after individuals. Regardless of their SAT score, they are looking
for students who will be an asset at their school.
Myth #9 – All SAT prep
books are the same.
False: There are good ones and there are
some not so good ones. Some prep books have made-up problems that can be
irrelevant to the actual SAT and PSAT/NMSQT tests. Try to find a book that only
uses test materials from The College Board. A lot of books emphasize different
things, so try to use several different books to prepare.
Myth #10 – The SAT essay was added because The
College Board wanted to make the test harder.
False: The essay was added because
colleges were finding that incoming freshmen were not able to write on the
college level.
In response to this, the essay was added so that colleges could measure a
student’s ability to express ideas, develop a thesis,
and use language effectively.
Myth #11 – The essay is
graded by a computer.
False: All essays are graded by a real
person who has several years of writing experience and is familiar with the
rules of Standard Written English. For grading purposes, the essays will be
scanned into a computer and sent to the respective judges electronically. Each
essay will be graded by two judges and scored on a scale of 1-6. If the score
differs more than a one point between the two judges, a third person will then
grade it.
Myth #12 – You have to
spend a lot of money to do well on the SAT.
False: Some prep courses cost from
$2000 to $5000. Many of these courses contain a lot of busy work and some only
boast a 200 point average raise in test scores. Learning a lot of content is not
necessarily the key to doing well on the SAT. Each test generally has the same
recurring patterns and hidden strategies that can be decoded. Take the
initiative. Most of the information found at a prep course can be found in a
book. If a student can find the motivation to study for the SAT without the
nagging of a classroom, one can save a lot of money. However, if you are
unmotivated, finding a class may be the best thing for you, but you need to shop
around. There are classes that cut to the chase and actually teach how to
understand and take the test but cost considerably less.
Myth #13 – You should only
take the SAT if you are planning to go to college.
False: Plans can change. Even if a
student delays college a couple of years, their SAT scores are generally held
for two years by the College Board and most colleges will still accept them.
Don’t be afraid, the SAT is
accomplishable. Preparation is the key to doing well, so if you do your
homework, you should do great. Start early. Learn all about the test, and then
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. Make this test a priority. This test could be the
answer to a good scholarship and to admission into a great university, so don’t
goof off. A good SAT score is something to be proud of, and that’s no myth.
Jean Burk is a local author and teacher who has
successfully helped students raise their SAT and PSAT/NMSQT scores as well as
get FREE college. You may contact her at
jean@collegeprepgenius.com or visit her site at
www.collegeprepgenius.com
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Motivation, Math and Googols More
by
Susan Jarema, Googol Learning
Teaching your child to be
self-motivated is not always an easy task. I have a terrible time
teaching my active six year old to want or even care about printing
clearly. But more recently, it seems I have spent even more time trying
to restore his desire to run.
My son belongs to the “Kilometre Club” at his school, but he hardly
tries to run at all. A group of keen girls have been diligently
collecting their Popsicle sticks for each completed loop on the track.
My son and his buddies are stopping to collect bugs instead. Of course,
being a “motivational expert,” I try to get the boys to run. No success.
Each practice, the girls’ distance running got stronger and the gap
increased; the boys fell further behind. My son and his friends had
basically given up because they had no chance of catching up to the
girls. The bugs had become a rewarding way for them to channel their
energy. ...read more
I realized this was the same thing that
occurs for many parents and teachers when teaching their children or students
math.
I spend much of my time motivating and
inspiring children to enjoy math and commit to building their “math force.” I’ve
been fortunate that my own two children had a head start on math, which built
their confidence and has lead to their becoming self-motivated learners in the
subject. They are like the girl runners who started off ahead and stayed ahead.
What has made my own children’s math
journey so successful? They have the basic arithmetic skills down pat - which
allows them to understand mathematical concepts quickly and easily. They know
that math is an important part of everyday life and see role models who use math
on a regular basis. They’ve overcome their fear of the “scary symbols” and
realize that the language of mathematics is not as difficult as it first
appears. Having been exposed to interesting math concepts like Fibonacci, Phi
and infinite series at a young age, they learned early that math is more than
arithmetic worksheets. Our home is full of math resources that make practice
fun. This is the base of knowledge that helps them have confidence with the
subject.
So what do we do when our child is on the wrong math track?
It’s even more difficult than starting from scratch because you have to overcome
their negativity and rebuild their self-esteem. Here are 10 ways to help you
motivate and coach your child back on to a successful math path:
-
Start by letting them know that you
are there to be their coach. You are proud of all their accomplishments -
together you and your child will overcome this challenge and get caught up in
math.
-
Remove the competition by taking
them away from the group to have some time to work on their own.
-
Explain the importance of learning
the basics and building a “math force.” Your “math force” is the basic
understanding of numbers and arithmetic that holds together all the concepts
and skills learned later on.
-
Explain that everyone can be good at
math – it’s just about spending the time and relearning the basics. Convince
your child that he or she CAN do it.
-
Assess your child’s current level of
math skills, and then help him set attainable goals. Make a list together of
all the tasks needed to achieve those goals. Remember, a goal is only a dream
until you have outlined a way to achieve it.
-
Revisit methods to help make
learning easier such as goal setting, memorization skills, diagramming
concepts and using manipulatives. Graph paper works wonders! Get a good book
that explains concepts well. Find a special time and place to work on math in
a relaxed atmosphere.
-
Make sure the basics are solid. Play
games and music to reinforce basic times tables, addition, subtraction and
division. Have the whole family re-learn them together so that everyone can
answer simple facts with speedy recall.
-
Find ways to inspire math and make
your lessons more interesting such as music, games, puzzles, tricks, books and
crafts.
-
Learn about the history of math and
how it evolved. Seek out role models from history and the present to help
reinforce the importance of math.
-
Show your child that mathematics is
much more than arithmetic.
Many who have never had an opportunity of knowing any more about mathematics
confuse it with arithmetic, and consider it an arid science. In reality,
however, it is a science which requires a great amount of imagination.”
Sonya Kovalevsky (1850-1891)
Together you can learn to appreciate
mathematics and inspire the whole family to enjoy learning. Google the following
to get started: Pascal, Fibonacci, Phi, tessellation, fractals, Mobius Strip,
Archimedean Spiral, brachistochrone path, the Game of Nim, Pythagorean Triplets,
Tower of Hanoi, magic squares, the Golden Rectangle, Napier’s Bones, Zeno’s
Paradox, the Konigsberg Bridge, abacus, pendulum, magnetic north, Stonehenge,
tangram, binary, Ada Byron, origami, chaos theory, symmetry,
rhombicosidodecahedron, and we mustn’t forget – our favourite number – googol!
Have fun and enjoy the beauty of
mathematics!
Article
originally published in the Homeschooler’s Guide magazine
www.homeschoolersguide.ca
Susan Jarema is the founder of
Googol Learning and the
Crazy 4 Math
Contest. The Learning with Googol Power Website has many free
resources to inspire mathematics and family learning in your home through
music, games, stories and layered learning. Visit
www.googolpower.com for
more information on workshops, presentations, the award-winning Googol
Power Math Series and Discovery Multiplication Program.
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Learning Languages is not Rocket Science.
3 Ways to Make Learning Easier
by Jim Sarris
My students believe learning Spanish is as
difficult as discovering the cure for cancer. They go on and on with
excuses about how they canīt remember vocabulary, how they feel pressure
when someone speaks, how they canīt understand what they hear.
Itīs the same story I hear every year in September.
.
...read more
Of course, as their teacher, I donīt agree but more
importantly, as someone who learned Spanish at age 22, I know that part of what
they say is true.
It was hard in the beginning and would have been hard all
along if I didnīt find easier ways to learn. Thatīs right, I found easier
ways to remember the vocabulary which made everything easier.
You see, if you have vocabulary at your finger tips, you
can recall verbs quicker, remember important nouns and verbs at the right time,
and generally relax and enjoy the process.
In the end, what appears to be incredibly difficult,
frustrating and demanding becomes manageable and even fun.
Whatīs the trick?
Here are 3 ways you or your child can begin to grab a hold
of basic vocabulary so that you can accelerate your learning.
Tip 1 - Make connections between what you need to learn and
something related that you already know. Hereīs an example. If you need to learn
the word for to sell (vender), think of something related (vendor). As it turns
out, vendor is a common word in English and it means someone who sells things.
Once you have made this connection, you donīt have to go back and re-learn
later. Itīs in your mind where it will stay.
Tip 2 - Incorporate what you want to learn into your daily
routine. For example, if youīre trying to learn the expression, īĻIīm going to
...Ļ why not use that expression whenever you would use it in English. Letīs say
you are in the car, sitting in traffic and begin to daydream. You think about
all you are going to do when you get home. That is a perfect time to begin to go
the expression in Spanish so that it becomes second nature.
Tip 3 - Take your time. Rome wasnīt built in a day and
neither will your Spanish abilities. However, they will become stronger with
consistent practice day after day. You can avoid the stress and frustration that
comes with expecting things to change overnight.
You can make learning much easier if you use the tips just
listed. You wonīt be fluent overnight but, if that was your expectation from the
start, then you have more to change than you think.
Keep it simple, keep it fun and be the one that does a
little everyday. You know what they say, ĻLittle hinges swing big doors!Ļ
Jim Sarris, author of Memory Skills Made Easy,
www.JimSarris.com
has a free report on his web site that talks more about memory problems students
have.
http://www.jimsarris.com
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