Recently Peter was over in Hong Kong training some vets in animal husbandry. He was away for two weeks which though it was a long time for us it was necessary for the job if it was to be well done. I made a comment to Peter that two weeks meant that not only did he have time to teach well, but the ‘students’ had time to learn well.
Sometimes I say things and I then realise how significantly true the statement was. This was such a statement. And it has implications for us as homeschoolers.
Not only do we need to teach well – and that takes time but we also need to give our children time to learn well.
It is tempting to rush through subject matter – Peter would have loved to be home in one week. But it takes time to assimilate what you have learnt. It takes time to process and think about and gain understanding.
Do we give our children this time?
What does this look like?
- Short lessons mean that you don’t take in too much information in one setting
- Mastery (understanding) needs to be our goal instead of just getting the lesson or worksheet finished
- Take time to discuss what is being learnt (talking about what you are learning is a great tool for processing information)
- Encourage your children to ask questions and then to look for answers
- Allow your children to ‘not get it’ – this is not failure, this is learning and accepting where they are at today.
Do you need to slow down and take time to learn well?
- Oh! so that’s why! (livelifewithyourkids.wordpress.com)
- Looking Back to our Early Days, Part 4: Why Homeschool (livelifewithyourkids.wordpress.com)