First things first: What on Earth am I going to teach my kids? Do you realize how many choices are out there? How many methods of homeschooling, let alone curriculum choices??? What makes one better than another? And which ones are right for MY kid?
I gathered opinions on Facebook from homeschooling friends and learned about some of the most popular curriculum choices available. Then my BFF recommended that I read through The Well-Trained Mind, A Guide to Classical Education at Home and 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum. I haven't watched t.v. in weeks...I spend all my free time reading!
Both were fascinating. In 100 Top Picks, the author explains four different learning styles that describe Ryan, Mike, Kaylin and me in creepy detail. Each style has a corny name that makes it easy to reference throughout the book and both girls and boys can be any (or a combination) of these learning styles. Here are the highlights:
Wiggly Willy (aka Ryan)
- kinesthetic learner (hands-on)
- has a short attention span
- carefree children who live for the moment
- hates being bored
- needs the freedom to move around
- works well with projects, but needs supervision
- learns better with "real" books than textbooks
- easily overwhelmed by pencil-and-paper work
- often diagnosed with ADD/ADHD
Perfect Paula (aka ME)
- responsible children who like to see that everything is done correctly
- likes things to be clearly structured, planned and organized
- have a narrow comfort zone
- feel more secure when things are orderly
- seldom act spontaneously
- follows rules and respects authority
- enjoy typical school curriculum
- would rather receive information than think creatively
- often does well memorizing or repeating information (more in early elementary grades)
Competent Carl (aka Mike)
- likes to be in control of themselves and their surroundings
- tend to be analytical, constantly trying to figure out what makes things tick
- want to know in advance what they'r doing and why
- needs curriculum with minimal busywork and review
- enjoys logically organized lessons
- typically enjoys problem solving
- can have weaker social skills
- enjoy solitary activity
- expect others to operate the same way they do
- don't find it easy to adapt to other ways of doing things
- tend to be self-motivated and enjoy long-term, independent projects
- love to brainstorm and think out loud
Sociable Sue (aka Kaylin)
- often have warm, responsive personalities
- interested in people, motivated by relationships
- care a great deal about what others think of them
- like to be recognized and acknowledged for achievements
- vulnerable to conflict and critisism
- often avoid competitions, preferring cooperation
- tend to be big picture people
- don't like memorizing names and dates for history
- love change and new things
- gets bored with the same learning format
Did you see yourself in any of those learning styles? What's interesting is that your learning style usually becomes your teaching style. That's why Mike seems to teach my kids things so well: swimming, tying their shoes, riding their bikes...he's able to break down the steps for them into "logical, organized lessons."
Apparently, Perfect Paula moms often homeschool Wiggly Willy kids because they didn't succeed in school the way they expected. This was so eye-opening for me! Now I know to be even more understanding and gracious when teaching Ryan. I need to remember that when we're doing long lessons, he needs something to fidget with in his hands and that his ansty-ness isn't a sign of disrespect. There was actually a suggestion that Wiggly Willy's memorize better (things like math facts) when jumping on a trampoline. Fascinating!
The best thing about the 100 Top Picks books is that they have a chart of all of the top 100 homeschooling curriculum rated on a scale of 1-5, based on each learning style. For instance, there is only one math curriculum that is rated a 5 (the best) for Wiggly Willy's. It's very hands-on and you'd better believe I ordered it for Ryan!!! Yet, there are a bunch of 4-5 rated Science choices, because Science tends to have more hands-on experiments.
I am getting more and more excited about teaching Ryan. We're going to take a couple of weeks off, mostly to wait for our curriculum to arrive, but also to settle into the new dynamic of having Ryan home all day.
Next, it's time to make a new daily routine/schedule. And as a Perfect Paula, I now feel NO guilt or shame in the fact that I'm more comfortable with structure and order to my day!!!
I gathered opinions on Facebook from homeschooling friends and learned about some of the most popular curriculum choices available. Then my BFF recommended that I read through The Well-Trained Mind, A Guide to Classical Education at Home and 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum. I haven't watched t.v. in weeks...I spend all my free time reading!
Both were fascinating. In 100 Top Picks, the author explains four different learning styles that describe Ryan, Mike, Kaylin and me in creepy detail. Each style has a corny name that makes it easy to reference throughout the book and both girls and boys can be any (or a combination) of these learning styles. Here are the highlights:
Wiggly Willy (aka Ryan)
- kinesthetic learner (hands-on)
- has a short attention span
- carefree children who live for the moment
- hates being bored
- needs the freedom to move around
- works well with projects, but needs supervision
- learns better with "real" books than textbooks
- easily overwhelmed by pencil-and-paper work
- often diagnosed with ADD/ADHD
Perfect Paula (aka ME)
- responsible children who like to see that everything is done correctly
- likes things to be clearly structured, planned and organized
- have a narrow comfort zone
- feel more secure when things are orderly
- seldom act spontaneously
- follows rules and respects authority
- enjoy typical school curriculum
- would rather receive information than think creatively
- often does well memorizing or repeating information (more in early elementary grades)
Competent Carl (aka Mike)
- likes to be in control of themselves and their surroundings
- tend to be analytical, constantly trying to figure out what makes things tick
- want to know in advance what they'r doing and why
- needs curriculum with minimal busywork and review
- enjoys logically organized lessons
- typically enjoys problem solving
- can have weaker social skills
- enjoy solitary activity
- expect others to operate the same way they do
- don't find it easy to adapt to other ways of doing things
- tend to be self-motivated and enjoy long-term, independent projects
- love to brainstorm and think out loud
Sociable Sue (aka Kaylin)
- often have warm, responsive personalities
- interested in people, motivated by relationships
- care a great deal about what others think of them
- like to be recognized and acknowledged for achievements
- vulnerable to conflict and critisism
- often avoid competitions, preferring cooperation
- tend to be big picture people
- don't like memorizing names and dates for history
- love change and new things
- gets bored with the same learning format
Did you see yourself in any of those learning styles? What's interesting is that your learning style usually becomes your teaching style. That's why Mike seems to teach my kids things so well: swimming, tying their shoes, riding their bikes...he's able to break down the steps for them into "logical, organized lessons."
Apparently, Perfect Paula moms often homeschool Wiggly Willy kids because they didn't succeed in school the way they expected. This was so eye-opening for me! Now I know to be even more understanding and gracious when teaching Ryan. I need to remember that when we're doing long lessons, he needs something to fidget with in his hands and that his ansty-ness isn't a sign of disrespect. There was actually a suggestion that Wiggly Willy's memorize better (things like math facts) when jumping on a trampoline. Fascinating!
The best thing about the 100 Top Picks books is that they have a chart of all of the top 100 homeschooling curriculum rated on a scale of 1-5, based on each learning style. For instance, there is only one math curriculum that is rated a 5 (the best) for Wiggly Willy's. It's very hands-on and you'd better believe I ordered it for Ryan!!! Yet, there are a bunch of 4-5 rated Science choices, because Science tends to have more hands-on experiments.
I am getting more and more excited about teaching Ryan. We're going to take a couple of weeks off, mostly to wait for our curriculum to arrive, but also to settle into the new dynamic of having Ryan home all day.
Next, it's time to make a new daily routine/schedule. And as a Perfect Paula, I now feel NO guilt or shame in the fact that I'm more comfortable with structure and order to my day!!!
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1 comment:
The 'memorizing things while moving' doesn't surprise me at all. in all my theatre classes/shows, we were NEVER allowed to memorize lines sitting down. It's too passive. You need to get it into your muscle memory (your brain is a muscle too!) so we'd have to rehearse lines while doing yoga/aerobics, painting walls, jogging, scrubbing floors, skipping, ANYTHING involving movement. And when you can recite something while concentrating on another physical movement, then you know you've really got it memorized way deep down.
Maybe you can brainstorm a list of physical 'activities' (even cleaning the playroom) that Ryan can do while working on things that need to be memorized? Not only will it help him and his learning style, but also multi-tasks getting things done in your house. What kind of Perfect Paula doesn't like THAT?! ;-)
xoxooxooxoxo
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