The Art of Teaching is challenging me once again:
That last sentence especially is hard for the “P” in me to swallow (Myers-Briggs terminology). I tend towards winging it and doing things on impulse rather than following a plan. That might work all right when you just have little ones, but it can be a detriment as they get older and have more things they are required to do, more places to go, etc. I don’t want to completely lose that spontaneity, because that would be losing a part of who I am, but I know that it’s something I need to balance out with a good dose of planning and routine.
It was also interesting to consider how providing our students with an overview of what they are learning – and why – can give them a purpose for their studies and motivation to do the work. As homeschool moms, we probably don’t need to give the detailed outlines that Highet describes, but even just a short discussion about why we are doing this, and what a “class” will look like might be beneficial, especially with our older students. I’m thinking about how to apply this with our Iliad study coming up in the new year.
Also read/listened to recently:
- Hubby: still plowing through The Roots of American Order
- Me: Miss A and I are still working on The Thinking Toolbox
- Miss A: eager to finish Gulliver’s Travels in a few weeks – she really dislikes it 😛
- Mr. D: Never Give In: The Extraordinary Character of Winston Churchill by Stephen Mansfield
- Mr. E: The Story Book of Science by Jean Henri Fabre
- Little L: read the first two Bob Books this week (with some help)
- Little R: seems to be stuck on Curious George and Richard Scarry 😉
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