Do You Have a Teaching Philosophy

[PenKase]

I frequent these boards...I mean I REALLY frequent these boards....and learn A LOT! Coming here is like finding my personal gold mine!!!!! However, because there is so much yummy information, I find myself swayed to try this curriculum or that teaching method. I'm left at times feeling disoriented and a bit confused. For the past few weeks, I've been like the mad hatter (Johnny Depp version), setting up schedules and cementing our course of study for the summer. The more I plan, though, the more I lean against recreating "school" during their much needed and awaited break and beyond.

 

I have been thinking a lot about adopting a teaching philosophy. I'm beginning to realize that once I determine how to teach, I can solidify what to teach and how to teach it. I want create a family environment where learning takes place all the time and in any form. I want my children to grow up desiring to learn not having to learn because someone else tells them to, kwim? Something tells me this will require a lot of soul searching and good use of blinders!!

 

Has anyone else given some thought to teaching philosophies?

[easygoer]

The more I plan, though, the more I lean against recreating "school" during their much needed and awaited break and beyond.

 

I'll give the disclaimer: I'm not sure yet whether we will, in the long run, fall into the 'afterschooling' or 100% 'homeschooling' category...but for now my daughter is headed to K in the fall, she attended halfday preschool this past year and we keep working ahead on her level at home.

 

I very much relate to your post and the questions you are asking yourself. I have some profession experience with both teaching and tutoring, and I feel strongly that making homeschool too much like away-from-home-school diminishes some of the best advantages of the opportunity to learn at home. And I think this is that much more true for kids who are attending brick-and-mortar schools part- or full-time.

 

I find Charlotte Mason's *approach* to be my own answer to what you've brought up. Her short lessons, which are very conversational and Socratic, spacing out the content subjects at least any presentation of new material to once a week (which IMHO works very well for a focused, one-one-one coached afterschooler) and her emphasis on learning during unstructured playtime fits very well with the direction I see our afterschooling headed.

 

I am not completely satisfied with the content of any available CM guides with which I am familiar, but after really getting comfortable with the structure, writing in my own sequence (for example a history progression) became a very manageable task.

 

So that's what's informing me the most, as we move continue into the next phase around here.

Edited June 18, 2010 by easygoer

[Guest gonie]

Hello,

It's good to have a teaching philosophy but it seems to me what you are more concerned about is the Afterschooling process. As i can see your goal in life for your kid(s) is for them to be self learners and that's the goal of TWTM.

to cut long thing short, you can adapt the TWMT system into your afterschooling programme by identifying:

1. Your child's interests and consolidate on them;

2. Weknesses and augment such;

3. your kid's school strong areas to consolidate on;

4. the school's lesser focused areas of education and augment;

5. get a home/after school planner to really set goals straight;

6. determine your priorities i.e. is it reading above math or vice-versa e.t.c;

7. Try to avoid burn out for the kid and as such limit the hours spent on the after school programme;

8. Exploit the opportunities in the long summer holiday, weekends for more holistic studies with the kid(s).

Finally do a lot of readings with the kids because it's been proven that when reading scores other scores are up exponentially, it is in this regard that you will find the TWMT very useful.

TWMT-The Well Trained Mind.

Wishing you all the best.

[PenKase]

I find Charlotte Mason's *approach* to be my own answer to what you've brought up. Her short lessons, which are very conversational and Socratic, spacing out the content subjects at least any presentation of new material to once a week (which IMHO works very well for a focused, one-one-one coached afterschooler) and her emphasis on learning during unstructured playtime fits very well with the direction I see our afterschooling headed.

 

I am not completely satisfied with the content of any available CM guides with which I am familiar, but after really getting comfortable with the structure, writing in my own sequence (for example a history progression) became a very manageable task.

 

I feel almost exactly the same about CM! I love it's gentle approach and it's literature focus but I too am not satisfied with it's content. I am also planning to add a little CM spin to our home learning.

 

you can adapt the TWMT system into your afterschooling programme by identifying:

1. Your child's interests and consolidate on them;

2. Weknesses and augment such;

3. your kid's school strong areas to consolidate on;

4. the school's lesser focused areas of education and augment;

5. get a home/after school planner to really set goals straight;

6. determine your priorities i.e. is it reading above math or vice-versa e.t.c;

7. Try to avoid burn out for the kid and as such limit the hours spent on the after school programme;

8. Exploit the opportunities in the long summer holiday, weekends for more holistic studies with the kid(s).

 

 

Yes, I think first identifying and then planning is a good way to go. Obviously, we (afterschoolers) don't have as much time as a homeschooler so spending time determining what to study is crucial. I like your idea of consolidating. That will save a ton of time! Avoiding burn out is a main concern and priority here. Because my children do exceptionally well in school I want to avoid recreating what they are learning in school. I want to enrich their education and introduce areas of study not provided there.

 

As I have been afterschooling for quite a few years now, I think I have a good handle on the process. My concern is really teaching my children that learning doesn't just happen at school but in the real world too. I think a more holistic/organic/granola approach is what I'm after. How I teach my children to love learning begins with retraining my own perception/expectations, kwim?

[EmilyK]

The more I plan, though, the more I lean against recreating "school" during their much needed and awaited break and beyond.

 

 

Has anyone else given some thought to teaching philosophies?

 

This quote really resonates with me too. I'm giving up more and more on achieving success with afterschooling curriculum, and yet feeling more successful on having a family culture of learning.

 

A few years ago I really enjoyed the book Raising Lifelong Learners and I think I should read it again.

 

As my kids get older it is harder to get them to do workbooks (for me, a bummer since I love them) but easier to do a lot of other educational stuff. So I still come here for lots of ideas but I'm telling myself not to buy any more workbooks or similar stuff!

[PenKase]

I'm giving up more and more on achieving success with afterschooling curriculum, and yet feeling more successful on having a family culture of learning.

 

This is exactly it!!! Bringing up my children in a "family culture of learning"

 

Funny because as I look back to my own childhood, I think what my sparked my love of reading was watching my mother reading in bed every night. A definite case of actions speaking louder than words. Sometimes I get so deep in my head as to what to teach and how to teach it that I forget about the everyday, unstructured and unscripted, learning moments that frequently arise.