Teaching How To Learn vs. What To Learn - Opinions?

[scrapbabe]

I've been thinking a lot about the idea of teaching my children how to learn and not just what to learn. This school year has been going pretty well, but I have a little itch that I can't quite figure out how to scratch. We're getting our list of things done daily (mostly). Things like math, latin, history, writing, spelling, etc. But I feel like there isn't much fun or adventure or excitement. I've been looking at Five in a Row and the upper levels thinking I'd love to be able to read with my kids and draw from our reading fun ideas, or fun rabbit trails to take and discuss and study. I don't know where in the world I would start with such an idea.

 

Wouldn't it be fun to read Little Britches and study about cowboys, maybe go horseback riding, learn how to lasso, or tie different knots? Learn about early irrigation, make a small model. Look at paintings of the American west and learn about artists from that time period. Now see, this book lends itself easily to rabbit trails. But I still don't feel well equipped to take them. I feel I lack the knowledge or the desire and so instead of pulling a learning adventure out of a book, we just read.

 

Anyone have any thoughts? Anyone know of a good book or article to read? Anyone really good at doing this in their homeschool and want to share what they know?

 

Thanks for listening.

[Guest]

I've been thinking a lot about the idea of teaching my children how to learn and not just what to learn. This school year has been going pretty well, but I have a little itch that I can't quite figure out how to scratch. We're getting our list of things done daily (mostly). Things like math, latin, history, writing, spelling, etc. But I feel like there isn't much fun or adventure or excitement. I've been looking at Five in a Row and the upper levels thinking I'd love to be able to read with my kids and draw from our reading fun ideas, or fun rabbit trails to take and discuss and study. I don't know where in the world I would start with such an idea.

 

Wouldn't it be fun to read Little Britches and study about cowboys, maybe go horseback riding, learn how to lasso, or tie different knots? Learn about early irrigation, make a small model. Look at paintings of the American west and learn about artists from that time period. Now see, this book lends itself easily to rabbit trails. But I still don't feel well equipped to take them. I feel I lack the knowledge or the desire and so instead of pulling a learning adventure out of a book, we just read.

 

Anyone have any thoughts? Anyone know of a good book or article to read? Anyone really good at doing this in their homeschool and want to share what they know?

 

Thanks for listening.

 

But your ideas listed above are absolutely, utterly perfect! Start there, since you have them. And you will find that the more you do this, even if it begins with just one or two small things you do, the more ideas you -- and your kids -- will begin to have.

 

The Kids Book Club Book by Judy Gelman may offer you some ideas to get you going. They take a book and set up a few activities, recipes, and discussion ideas around it.

 

There is a whole series of books entitled ______ For Kids -- you fill in the blank of the time or historical figure: there is a book on Leonardo, for instance, and others on Marco Polo, Shakespeare, Lewis and Clark... there's one for just about every major historical period. We had Ancient China, the Civil War, and World War II. Each book has some text, but the main treasure is the compilation of activities: making models, trying food, painting or some artistic activity, writing with quills, etc. I found nearly all of them at my local library. Ancient Egyptians and Their Neighbors is another great book of activities.

 

For science, the GEMS series produces teachers guides on various topics, which are units consisting of hands-on activities. The guides include detailed materials lists, lesson plans, extension and enrichment ideas, as well as lists of non-fiction and fiction books centered around the topic, so you can mix together science, literature, arts, and more. http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org

 

Once you have looked through a number of books like these, you'll work out how to plan things. And if you include your kids in the process of choosing activities and brainstorming more, you will be teaching them how to learn as well as taking them through the great content.

[Penelope]

I do that kind of thing more on our breaks. Or as rabbit trails.

 

I also think you can do all the things you mentioned in conjunction with Little Britches, without having them take up school time. We have been horseback riding, learned to tie knots for scouts, and read books about Remington and other artists because they came up as interests when we read that book. But we didn't replace regular history or science with those things.

[angela in ohio]

We do those things as our family time. My parents did the same, even though I was in public school. I think more families used to do this, regardless of schooling style, before TV, etc.

 

We study our core subjects, and then we read books about the same subject, travel, go to museums, etc. We usually have a family interest going, as well as several individual interests, at the same time.

 

Our core academic areas provide the skills dc will need to pursue education, and following interests has provided the love of learning. We have seen the two intersect beautifully in our 14 yo, who entered high school with solid skills for learning and an incredible drive for education. :001_smile:

[scrapbabe]

We do those things as our family time. My parents did the same, even though I was in public school. I think more families used to do this, regardless of schooling style, before TV, etc.

 

We study our core subjects, and then we read books about the same subject, travel, go to museums, etc. We usually have a family interest going, as well as several individual interests, at the same time.

 

Our core academic areas provide the skills dc will need to pursue education, and following interests has provided the love of learning. We have seen the two intersect beautifully in our 14 yo, who entered high school with solid skills for learning and an incredible drive for education. :001_smile:

 

 

Unfortunately our family time is limited. We run a business in the afternoons and so mornings are all the time we really have together. I don't want these rabbit trails to take over our regular studies, but would like to find a way for them to mesh together. Weekdays are shot with school and work, and Saturdays we are often working or travelling for work. Sundays we have huge callings in our church and are busy there. It's not my ideal life and wasn't always like this. But for now this is where we're at. The rabbit trails and activities will have to be done as school time. At least for the time being.

 

These are some fabulous ideas. Thank you!

[Guest]

I considered rabbit trails a vital part of school time for my dd, not something separate that we did for "fun." Current scientific research on how the brain works in children is establishing the importance of combining fine motor work, movement, art, and unstructured exploration right along with, interwoven with, more formal book learning.

 

The TOPS and GEMS science units are both good examples of how this can be put to work in science; kids DO science, observe, record their observations, discuss; their readings are interwoven rather than separate, and reading is certainly not given top priority over doing. The activities stress conceptual understanding; while specific vocabulary and math are used, they are not the main feature, but tools through which to pursue the concepts.

 

The activity books and book club project book I mentioned above are also ways to combine hands-on work with reading and writing.

 

Doing an activity, experiencing, drawing, interviewing, building, modeling, putting together a video or poster board or notebook, are all ways of learning. In his classic book A Place Called School, John Goodlad found that these are the kinds of ways that middle school kids (his main focus) wanted to pursue their studies; they are also precisely the ones given short shrift or altogether neglected in the typical school.

 

Although the classical method emphasizes reading and writing (and I am not downplaying their importance), these are not the only ways in which serious, real learning takes place, nor do they work equally well for all kids as the primary way to acquire understanding.

 

Many people separate "school" from "fun," interest-based learning, or rabbit trails, and this is certainly one valid way to approach learning. But equally so is interweaving and combining the two. Go for what suits you and your family. I just wanted you to know that neuroscience is behind you all the way.

[scrapbabe]

Thanks KarenAnne. I really appreciate your ideas, your wisdom, and your response. As well as everyone elses. It is something I can't seem to pin down in my little brain. Not sure how to implement that natural learning. I am mulling over all of the responses. Thanks so much! Hope others will chime in! There's so much wisdom here.

[regentrude]

I have a few comments.

First, I see you oldest son is 13 years old. He should be able to decide independently what he is interested in, within a general framework of study, given the freedom and time to do so, and do projects related to his fields of interest. That's how my kids learn, they design their own assignments and are much more motivated this way.

 

Second, what constitutes a rabbit trail? Who says that your curriculum is the only correct selection of things to learn? We can never learn everything, it is all a matter of selection - so might as well select what strikes our fancy.

 

Third, as much as "projects", there are some children who don't care do build models, learn knots etc. I have two of them at home. Every time I want to do "hands-on" stuff, they groan and ask "Can't we read about it in a book?" For them, reading is more fun than making a model or stuff like that. So I have resigned that we are not going to build dioramas and make costumes - their way of learning is different. The beauty of homeschooling is that I can accommodate this.

[scrapbabe]

I have a few comments.

First, I see you oldest son is 13 years old. He should be able to decide independently what he is interested in, within a general framework of study, given the freedom and time to do so, and do projects related to his fields of interest. That's how my kids learn, they design their own assignments and are much more motivated this way.

 

 

 

Third, as much as "projects", there are some children who don't care do build models, learn knots etc. I have two of them at home. Every time I want to do "hands-on" stuff, they groan and ask "Can't we read about it in a book?" For them, reading is more fun than making a model or stuff like that. So I have resigned that we are not going to build dioramas and make costumes - their way of learning is different. The beauty of homeschooling is that I can accommodate this.

 

My oldest is this way. He does rabbit trails all day long. A rabbit trail to me is reading about something or seeing something and it sparking an idea or a question that we now want to study and explore. However my two youngest are not naturally this way. They do enjoy it though when it happens, so I'd like to help create an atmosphere of learning to explore and study further topics that we find interesting.

 

We too hate to put together models, build dioramas and make costumes. And please NO folding, cutting, and pasting!:lol: However, puppet shows, science experiments, related art projects (mostly drawing), and other fun activities are things they really enjoy doing. They just aren't naturally leading themselves to it and I feel like I'm selling them short. I'd like to be better and leading them to find their own rabbit trails. For awhile it might be rabbit trails I discover, but hopefully it encourages their imagination to find their own interests.

 

I've just been thinking that it could be a better and more fun learning environment to study things that naturally come up in our reading instead of just passing over them - a more wholistic approach to learning.

 

 

Second, what constitutes a rabbit trail? Who says that your curriculum is the only correct selection of things to learn? We can never learn everything, it is all a matter of selection - so might as well select what strikes our fancy.

 

:iagree:Yes, I think this is exactly what I'm saying. I don't think my curriculum is the only or best selection of things to learn. I want to help my youngers learn to study the things that they are interested in... to create their own rabbit trails.

[Guest]

I recently had a really interesting conversation with one of the program directors/curriculum writers at GEMS science. I had written a rave letter about how much I learned from doing the Plate Tectonics unit with some sixth-graders; somehow the hands-on activities did what I didn't quite get from a college level course, or even from growing up on the West Coast and in Hawaii right next to volcanoes. There was one point in the unit where the kids had erupted their model volcanoes in two different ways, one with a stopper in them that blasted out (strato volcano) and one regular baking-soda-and-vinegar type eruption. We had looked at various rock samples from different places, including black sand I'd saved from Hawaii in my youth, rocks from near Mt. Shasta, etc. We had mapped the Ring of Fire. We'd done viscosity studies. Suddenly it just all came together and I had one of the hugest "aha!" moments of my adult life.

 

Anyway, the guy said that I would be surprised how often this happened -- that people studied tectonics the traditional way, could pass written tests, had some level of basic knowledge; yet they didn't have that deep, conceptual understanding until they worked with materials themselves, posed questions and tried to find answers, repeated experiments until they were ready to move on, approached a topic from a number of angles and with different materials (visual, textual, kinesthetic).

 

That was certainly true of me. I would consider myself a textbook learner in the most conventional sense; I prefer to learn mostly through reading and writing, and I had always thought this was how I learned best. But this experience brought home to me how limited that style of learning CAN be (not necessarily always is, of course). This was quite shocking to me because my entire career has been based on book-based learning and reading.

 

Crafts and little models of the "let's build a cabin from popsicle sticks" types may be great for some kids and not so great for others, and I get that. But incorporating multi-modal learning into your school day and looking at topics outside the formal curriculum as equally valid in an educational sense can take many forms, from the simple to the comlex: build a scale model of a trebuchet, for instance; ride a horse and learn to tie knots and make a lasso; look at paintings of presidents and talk about the way they are posed, how color is used, what props mean; compare coins from different countries and tie this in to a study of alchemy and forgery in history; visit different ethnic restaurants and map the major sources of energy/nutrition in different parts of the world; watch a historical re-enactment and talk about why people love to dress up like soldiers from hundreds of years ago and fight mock battles.

 

These can be separated from the conventional part of the school day as many people do it, or they can be part and parcel of the way you approach learning.

 

As your kids experience more of these different ways to go about things, see how topics overlap and intersect, have experiences outside the textbook, they may begin to generate more ideas for themselves than they do now. They just may need to see how it's done for a while first, process that, before they can do it more on their own.

[angela in ohio]

They just aren't naturally leading themselves to it and I feel like I'm selling them short. I'd like to be better and leading them to find their own rabbit trails. For awhile it might be rabbit trails I discover, but hopefully it encourages their imagination to find their own interests.

 

A few random thoughts:

 

While personality does account for a bit, environment is still a big factor in this. Can you look back and see things that have changed between your oldest's and your younger's environment? Sometimes instead of reinventing the wheel, it is easier to look at things we may have been doing already, but quit doing, and get back to them.

 

The biggest factors I have noticed are:

1. modeling it - Do they see me pursuing intellectual interests? (You already have one model in older ds, and that will help greatly.)

2. time - Do I provide "bored" time, which will motivate them to seek out things to learn and do? (I know you said time is limited, but can you re-structure some things or drop some things during the day to provide this?)

3. money and materials - Do I get them resources to pursue something they are interested in?

4. an audience - Do I ask them what new they have learned? Do I listen closely and value what they are saying?

 

I really focus on making them own their own interests, instead of incorporating them into mom-led school time. When I am done homeschooling them, they will still need to be able to do this on their own. I want them to know that it is a part of daily life for anyone, not just a "homeschool thing." :001_smile: I would give up a bit of the daily "school time" and make it independent study time until they rediscover that natural curiosity.

[Ray]

"Anyone know of a good book or article to read"?- ScrapBabe

 

 

Teaching How to Learn in a What to learn Culture- Kathleen Hopkins. It is a decent read not the same ole teacher to teacher jargon common to this genre though the target audience is teachers. It does have some pie in the sky moments, but quickly comes back to earth with arguments stressing the importance of practical things like grammar and cursive handwriting.

 

if you want to read it right now iBooks has it;) But it is fairly pricey for that format IMO, merely a buck cheaper than a hardcopy from Amazon.

Edited November 28, 2010 by Ray
changed from gibberish to jargon more pc

[prairiegirl]

My kids learn much better through unit study-type learning/rabbit trails but I am still having difficulty leaving behind CE. So I have tried to meld the two. I use block scheduling for history and science. We do history for a month--every day for a block amount of time. Then we do a month of science and then we do a month on a book of my children's choice (they take turns) and we do a unit study through that book. We still do math, LA, latin daily (this is separate from the blocks.)

 

This has worked out the best for us. It has turned out to be a lot of work for me but I enjoy planning this way so it isn't that much of a hassle.

 

Due to life's happenings, we haven't been able to carry on with our schedule this year, though. So we are taking a month off in Dec. and I am letting the kids carry through with their own interests. We spent a big chunk of yesterday culling through our library's online system and have ordered books to help them on their way. They are very excited!

 

The way we are dealing with rabbit trails might not work for you as we go way beyond lunch every day, but maybe it will help you to brainstorm a way that will work for your family.

[Capt_Uhura]

Scrapbabe - I have been struggling with the exact same thoughts! I will mull over this thread for some time. I know SWB recommends DC finding something they want to pursue further each week in either lit, history or science. That is really something I want my DC to pursue. FOr ex: we were in the car and I brought up carnivorous plants. We got into a discussion about how these plants came to be. Were there lots of them and we only have a few species left or did only a few of them evolve? DS is supposed to be researching it. He found one book and read it. My friend gave him a college level text to peruse. He hasn't done anything yet with it. I think he needs some guidance. He was also going to build an NXT model of a carnivorous plant. I know I should drop our regularly scheduled programming and work on this for a few weeks but it's hard not to feel like we will get behind....I know it's silly....particularly in content areas since there is no way you can cover it all anyhow.

 

Must. ponder....

 

capt_uhura

[Firefly]

Agreeing 100% with KarenAnne. This is the way I'm schooling and having tried other approaches as well, find that this style of learning suits BOTH my DC, even though one is strongly right brained and one strongly left. They are both learning and retaining so much more by experiencing rather than hearing/reading about something (though reading is still a big part of what we do). Go with your gut and try doing something new and different. You can always go back!

[scrapbabe]

Agreeing 100% with KarenAnne. This is the way I'm schooling and having tried other approaches as well, find that this style of learning suits BOTH my DC, even though one is strongly right brained and one strongly left. They are both learning and retaining so much more by experiencing rather than hearing/reading about something (though reading is still a big part of what we do). Go with your gut and try doing something new and different. You can always go back!

 

 

Thanks. After homeschooling for 10 years, I have learned to go with my gut a little more. I still worry a lot though. But this is something I'm so unfamiliar and uncomfortable with. I guess I'm hoping for some hand holding until I get comfortable with it. It's certainly not the way I learned... but I would have enjoyed learning that way.

[scrapbabe]

A few random thoughts:

 

While personality does account for a bit, environment is still a big factor in this. Can you look back and see things that have changed between your oldest's and your younger's environment? Sometimes instead of reinventing the wheel, it is easier to look at things we may have been doing already, but quit doing, and get back to them.

 

 

Great point. As I look back though... my oldest was homeschooled in a different town that was SSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOO homeschool friendly. Every mother participated. I ran a history group. We read biographies on a figure in history then spent a few weeks doing activities based on that person. I had time then to do that kind of stuff. And it is a little easier doing it for a group than just your own small family. Now we live in a town where, for some reason, homeschoolers are kind of snobby and exclusive. I've found it hard to find a group to fit in with and I don't have the time to run something myself right now. Hmmmm.... need to think about this one more. Great advice.

[NanceXToo]

Your ideas are great! Just go with them! Start small and just go with ONE of them and take it from there! Just have fun. :) My daughter enjoyed reading Heidi, then watching the movie, then trying goat's milk for instance, because that's what Heidi drank. When we read the Addy series (American Girl) and Addy chose her own birthday and celebrated with a ice cream party, we marked the date in our calendar and had ice cream that day. Just little things. If something you read leads to an idea that you can make happen, go for it. It's good practice for warming up for the bigger ideas lol.