Skillfully Teaching a Subject you Dont Like/Know well

[mathmarm]

The title sort of says it all.

How do you go about skillfully teaching a subject that you don't like or don't know well in the elementary years without any negative bias? I'm not trying to be snide--but if you were one of those people who hated math, or doesn't read well, has really bad handwriting/spelling yet you want to or do home school the elementary years, then how do you go about teaching your weakness skillfully?

 

Being bad at math isn't always the same thing as being mathphobic, or mathanxious and only having negative feelings associated with math for years and years. If you weren't good at math, you can get an elementary math book and work through the math ahead of your kids--you can learn the math that you never mastered ahead of or along with them and your neutral attitude doesn't hinder you, but if you hate math, every time you see a simple equation you get anxious, defensive and recall Ms. Kimble from 4th grade who humiliated you 15+ years ago then what? How do you overcome that real and visceral reaction to math or whatever it is?

 

Personally I feel very confident in my ability to teach Math from the PreK to the Post-Grad level (depending on the topic) but thats really my only specialty. For content subjects, sure I can just familiarize myself with/learn that content and use materials to teach, but how do you teach something if you yourself have never really liked that field?

 

 

Whether I homeschool or not, I want my son to have an enriched and intellectually stimulating home environment. I want him to have a mom that reads to him, so for Jrs sake, I have been reading a lot more these last several months. I have gone to the library and explored a lot of children's picture books and simple stories and I am progressing to reading a little more each day. I read aloud with voices this week also but I am not sure how I would ever be good enough to teach him to read without letting my negative bias for the subject to show. Next month, I'm going to be moving to more challenging material.

 

I'm not talking about just phonics or the mechanics of reading, I mean the art of reading. The skill of reading. If he has a mom that hates or is apathetic toward reading, then Jr doesn't have a fair chance to formulate and have his own opinions and experience with reading. (He might dislike or even hate reading--but I don't want it to be because of me, if that makes any sense. That might sound paranoid, but I've had students in college and high-school tell me that their whole family is bad at or hates math, kids pick up on their parents nuances and attitudes! It matters!) So long as he learns to read skillfully and fluently, I don't particularly care if he enjoys it or not. But I don't want it to bar him from anything that he wants to do. I want Jr. to have a chance to have his own experiences with books. My personal academic weakness is reading and writing. I can read and write--I have a college degree after all--but it isn't something I enjoy or am really neutral about. I'm not skillful at it. I'm not neutral about reading--my feelings about the activity tend to be negative.

 

However, as I ponder my own short comings, I think about the thousands of math phobic, math anxious students I have had in my classes over the years and I know that for every mathaphobe in my class, about 7 more have changed their majors so that they don't have to a class with me! Its crazy, I have also heard of students who do the same with science, or writing intense classes--they wont pursue what they want to do, because of some academic hang up and I wonder how 12 teachers over 12 years failed to reach these kids, failed to make any lasting mark or impact on them--or rather, how more teachers leave negative marks than positive ones! How can so many kids hate [iNSERT SUBJECT] enough that they'd literally spend their whole careers running from it?

 

I'm looking for genuine guidance here, I have plenty of time to build healthier attitudes and habits where my weaker academics are concerned. I don't want everyone to just agree or go along with me, I would love ideas, articles, books, suggestions, anecdotes, any thing that isn't a blatant dead end--on how you handle(d) this situation.

 

 

[Arcadia]

How do you go about skillfully teaching a subject that you don't like or don't know well in the elementary years without any negative bias?

I let my kids know that I have my likes and dislikes but I still need to plow through what I dislike to reach my end goal. For example, I like history but not as an exam subject. I still make sure my kids cover the bare minimum and they can spend more time reading their favorite history topics. I get bored by grammar and I have never learn sentence diagramming. If I didn't get grammar from being a bookworm, I won't have managed to ace my english exams and GMAT. Still I go over my kids grammar work the best I can and my kids see me revising parts of speech so they see mommy is only human and not a robot :)

When I forget or don't know something, I just tell my kids I'll make a note of it and find out. Sometime my kids will say they will find the answer themselves and teach me :)

The only thing I can't teach in the elementary years is PE. I am motor skills deficient; can't skip or ride a bicycle. Hubby does the PE.

[boscopup]

The one subject I really HATE is geometry. Don't ask me why. I have no idea. I'm good at geometry. I can do it just fine. I only got a B in the class in high school because I didn't do my homework (I hated geometry!). I got 100s on the tests. I love all other forms of math but geometry. Even doing elementary level geometry, I just hate it.

 

And guess what my kids love most in math? The geometry sections! :lol:

 

I just grin and bear it and don't let my hatred of geometry show. ;) They do know that I like algebra better. I haven't told them about my hatred for geometry. And it really seems to be an irrational hatred. Oh well. My kids have still learned about shapes, area, perimeter, circumference, volume, etc.

[8filltheheart]

The one subject I really HATE is geometry......

And guess what my kids love most in math? The geometry sections! :lol:

.

I really detest chemistry. Seriously detest it. I try to not let it influence my teaching or my kids. Our oldest loves chemistry and is a chemE, our dd thought about majoring in biochem,and our 12th grader loved chem and AP chem. (my9th grader really dislikes it this yr, though :( )

[Chrysalis Academy]

So far the subjects I reallly dislike (i.e. formal logic, some kinds of philosophy) don't seem critical to my dd's education.  I'm struggling right now with my 2nd grader who really wants to paint.  I don't know anything about the physical art of painting.  I appreciate art, and I can teach my kids about art, but I haven't got a clue about teaching them to do art.  And the problem is, I don't really want to learn about it! I got a book on the types of paints from the library the other day, and trying to read it my eyes crossed and I thought, "I really don't care about the difference between watercolors, acrylics, and oils!"  

 

I don't seem to have too hard of a time motivating to learn about other subjects - science, history, lit, math.  I'm genuinely interested to learn and increase my knowledge about those things.  And I only have so much time.  So what to do about this?  I don't know.  I will try to look for outsourced art classes, but it's hard and frustrating for me to be unable to hellp my dd with this interest, and to be so not interested in learning about it.

 

I also dislike physics - not hate, not dread, but dislike compared to other forms of science.  I am a biology girl.  I am very, very careful to not let my kids know I don't like physics, because I don't want to bias them one way or the other.  I'm sure they notice, though, that there is a difference in my enthusiasm and background knowledge in this area.  I still haven't decided what that means for us at the high school level - this may be another outsourced subject eventually.  I am making a sincere effort to learn more about this one, though!

 

I don't know.  Do we have to be experts at everything our kids are interested in?  Certainly not all elementary school teachers are.  In fact it seems like (to me, and to school administrators/teachers I've talked to on curriculum committes) that many who choose elementary teaching as a specialty don't especially love math.  If they love math, they are more likely to be a jr high - high school teacher.  So that has an influence, no doubt.

 

Sometimes when I worry about being the very best of everything for my kids, I have to remind myself that if I can be the best in some things, and better than the alternative in the rest, maybe that's good enough.  (Can I even be lame at just one or two things?  ;) )

[sagira]

I concur with RoyRogers. I find something interesting in each subject I teach. In fact, learning and discovering new things is my second best favorite aspect of homeschooling.

[boscopup]

I really detest chemistry. Seriously detest it. I try to not let it influence my teaching or my kids. Our oldest loves chemistry and is a chemE, our dd thought about majoring in biochem,and our 12th grader loved chem and AP chem. (my9th grader really dislikes it this yr, though :( )

 

:lol:

 

I like the math portion of chemistry, but the working with chemicals part (the labs) scares me too. So add that to my list! I always hated that. I didn't want to light a Bunsen burner. That involves fire. I don't like getting near fire. I don't want to put chemicals together and see what their reaction is. I am totally not into that. Have me solve some chemical equation? Sure. I can do that all day. :tongue_smilie:

 

[quark]

If it's a subject I can't teach, I learn along. My role switches to fellow student/ facilitator.

 

I look for resources that employ humor or a different approach at teaching (harder to achieve at more advanced levels but easier somewhat at the younger levels)

- e.g. math books like Murderous Maths, puzzles, codes and ciphers, science comics/ graphic novels e.g. by Jay Hosler

 

I use lots of documentaries!

[regentrude]

I really detest chemistry. Seriously detest it. I try to not let it influence my teaching or my kids. Our oldest loves chemistry and is a chemE, our dd thought about majoring in biochem,and our 12th grader loved chem and AP chem. (my9th grader really dislikes it this yr, though :( )

 

I tried really hard not to let my intense dislike of chemistry influence DD, but I was unsuccessful. She hates it as much as I do. DH hates it too. We all hate it for exactly the same reason ;-)

Now physics, we totally love that, all three of us.

[lllll]

..

[happypamama]

I would fake enthusiasm if need be, if I felt it was something important. I also try to find something interesting in the subject, and I may rely on material that does the work for me. I'm happier to put my own history programs together, for instance, because I like history and feel comfortable with it, but science is not my thing, so I find that it works better to have a set open-and-go program. It's still hard to make sure we get it done, but it's a lot more successful than when I tried to cobble together my own science programs.

 

And I figure we make up for the things we're not good at with the things where we are. I love history, and I love languages, and those are fun for us!

[8filltheheart]

I tried really hard not to let my intense dislike of chemistry influence DD, but I was unsuccessful. She hates it as much as I do. DH hates it too. We all hate it for exactly the same reason ;-)

Now physics, we totally love that, all three of us.

 

Glad to know I am not alone.   I really loathe it.   I wanted dd to do physics this yr simply b/c I didn't want to face chemistry.  :P

[Mom22ns]

:lol:

 

I like the math portion of chemistry, but the working with chemicals part (the labs) scares me too. So add that to my list! I always hated that. I didn't want to light a Bunsen burner. That involves fire. I don't like getting near fire. I don't want to put chemicals together and see what their reaction is. I am totally not into that. Have me solve some chemical equation? Sure. I can do that all day. :tongue_smilie:

 

 

I'm the total opposite. I love messing with chemicals. The fact that there is fire involved in Chemistry is its biggest selling point. I hate the math. For me chemistry always felt like a set of math word problems - yuck!!

 

As much as I love science and science labs, neither one of my kids do. It is my very favorite thing about homeschooling and they tolerate it to humor me - thats it! 

 

I don't see what I like and don't like or what I'm good at vs bad at as having had much impact at all on my kids. They have developed their own likes and dislikes and have learned just as much (or more) in my weak areas as they have in my strong areas.

[Heathermomster]

Basically, I ask questions among the people I trust and read about the subject until I feel confident enough to teach it.  I also learn alongside my kids.  The one subject that I really don't like to teach is physical science labs because a couple have been very annoying.

 

ETA:  I also hire out subjects.  DS has dyslexia, so paying a professional for reading and IEW has been wonderful.

[texasmama]

Math is my stumbling block. I never seemed to understand it. However, math is a clear strength of two of my kids. Go figure!

What has helped me: Using a program with my kids (Singapore) which taught math conceptually and in a visual manner (bar diagrams) revolutionized my own understanding and "wrote over" my past negative experience. Arithmetic makes sense to me now. :) I am struggling at times with parts of our pre-Algebra program (AoPS), but I am learning along with mykids.

I have been honest with my kids about my lack of amazing math skills. I have been open to re-educating myself. I never feared that my lack of math knowledge would cause my kids to be poor at math or dislike it because they so obviously were gifted at math from an early age. (And by gifted, I mean it is a clear strength which exhibits itself in standardized testing.)

My honesly with my kids and my willingness to let them see me struggle just exhibits in a concrete way that no one is good at everything. That is a good life lesson to model, I think.

[ElizabethB]

I tell people only half-jokingly that I should have practiced on other people's children for math.

 

I tutored with phonics for years before I even had children.  That made it ridiculously easy to teach phonics.  I tutored algebra and trig, but that is totally different than elementary level math.  It took a while and some reading to figure out how to best teach elementary math.  I now have my daughter caught up, but she would have been better off if I had read "Knowing and Teaching Elementary Math" and tutored some elementary level children before trying to teach her math.  

 

When we were in Los Angeles, a friend a few years older than her was having trouble with fractions, decimals, and percents, I thought "Ha!  A practice student!!"  Ironically, that is the only area of math that my daughter just got with no additional explanations or work.  Oh well, her friend benefited from the help and they couldn't afford tutoring.  (She went from failing math to getting A's while I was there, but went back to not doing great in math after we moved.  Sadly, they got free or reduced cost afterschooling help in the schools because of their income but they never really helped her there, I'm not sure why. It took me so little time to explain the small things she was missing, I'm not sure why the school never helped her effectively.  She is actually very smart.)

 

For learning how to teach reading and spelling, I would recommend watching through my spelling lessons or reading through the materials linked at the end of my how to tutor page.  Better yet, find a student who is reading below grade level and practice on them using the methods in my how to tutor page.

[AK_Mom4]

Like other posters - I find good resources, often self-teaching, and am not afraid to outsource when needed.

 

No curriculum in the world is going to make it possible for me to teach a foreign language.  To say it was my worst subject in school is a terrific understatement.  I had to petition the dean in college to let me graduate after taking and nearly failing three different languages.  I could not hear the difference between the words and could not pass the conversational portion of the tests.  I will be outsourcing DD12's language studies.

 

On the other hand, I just dislike art and art studies. I would rather poke myself in the eye than read about different periods of art history.   For those, we pick up very good books from the library and DD12 goes thru the material on her own.  I buy the supplies and provide and extra hand when needed, but it is her interest that keeps it going.

[fraidycat]

I hope that the recommendations for curricula here can overcome my shortcomings.

 

My most hated subject.... Writing.

[Spy Car]

I started what I soon realized would be a "book length" response, and deleted it.

 

The shorter answer is growing up I did not love math. I did not "hate" math, as "hate" requires passion. I just thought it was boring, at least the way it was taught. In elementary school I would typically hide a novel inside my math book and read it (while pretending to be listening to the math lesson). With one ear cocked I was able to do well enough to get good grades in the subject, and that was pretty much all I cared about. I saw nothing or little that was interesting about math. Honestly.

 

I loved school. I loved almost every subject. Not math.

 

It was all memorization and procedures. There were a few time in later years when topics came up that I found really interesting. I remember went the concept of "locus of points" came up in Geometry that suddenly the slumbering student came alive. I had my hand shooting up to answer every question, while my much more math-adept class-mates seemed confused. Mr Hopfinger, the Geometry teacher, must have wondered who slipped what into my water that day.

 

But with the exceptions of some algebra challenges, and some geometry, I did what I needed to do to get an "A" and no more. Math was dead to me.

 

Not anymore. What changed? I found out I was going to be a father. I was overjoyed, and began a serious time of reflection that spanned many related subjects (like what it meant to be a parent, what are my responsibilities, and what dreams and aspirations might I have for this yet unborn child?).

 

Among the things I thought about a good deal was education, including my own and what I would want for my future son. And math kept coming to the forward of my consciousness. The intervention of time between school and impending fatherhood had made me re-think math (at least "in theory"), and I knew I'd limited some choices in my life (like not taking Biology or Chemestry at Berkeley because I was afraid to blow a good GPA) because my math skills were adequate enough to get the grades in High School—but not deep.

 

It was OK in some degree (I rationalized). I was a reasonably intelligent person from a family of extremely bright and accomplished people. But we had no mathematicians or scientists in the bunch. They were all writers, or lawyers, or historians, or film-makers, or involved in the "humanities." Me too.

 

But I started thinking that math should be an interesting subject. It is so involved in logic and reasoning (things I did like) and that it ough to be an intellectually interesting subject—and I had a growing (but uncrystalized feeling) that there was something about the way the subject was "taught" that was at the root of the problem—and not the subject itself.

 

And it is turning into a "book" again.

 

Anyway, hoping my child might be introduced to mathematics as an intellectually interesting subject, I started thinking and reading, and reading and thinking.

 

Liping Ma's book helped "crystallize" for me what I felt instinctually was "wrong" with my own math education, and it further convinced me that I had to find another way.

 

So I searched, and read, and spent a good deal of time thinking about mathematics. Why it was cool. How to get "complex" ideas across "simply." how it all fit together and made sence. Pretty soon I felt very passionate about math. And excited by the prospect of doing something very different with my son, who proved to me very similar to me when it came what we find "interesting."

 

And I remembered early on in my process how my father had made up a little booklet on "fractions" when I was little, and how impactful that little hand-draw book was in helping me "see." Not long after I found the Miquon Math Lab materials, and thought "these are like what my Dad made for me." They proved perfect for my son, who took straight away to C Rods, and I gobbled up the teachers materials.

 

Over a few years I'd transformed from the adult version of a kid whose least favorite subject was math, into a gu who was/is reading AoPS books for fun.

 

So I guess we can change.

 

The critical question for me was figuring out why I didn't like the subject (in my case math) and realizing that just because a subject is made to be boring doesn't mean there isn't another path. We've pretty much had a blast with math over the years. And when the-fruit-of-my-loins is asked by the curious what's his favorite subject? It's "math."

 

Bill

[lllll]

..

[Spy Car]

LOL. And here I was thinking I was the only one who did the above bolded, Bill. Only I could never do it in math. I used to do it in Spanish class and some English class which escapes me now. Even got A's, like you said. I didn't really hate those subjects (unless it involved poetry). They were just boring. I wonder how many other people on these boards did stuff like that.

 

I think I got through all the Austen novels, Bronte, Counte of Monte Crisco, One Day in the Life of Ivan ... , and can't remember what else - hiding the novels in my textbooks in classes.

So I can assume that you (like me) kept a flash-light under the covers? :D

 

Bill

[Rosie_0801]

I have horrible handwriting mostly because I was taught badly. I can't demonstrate lovely handwriting, but I can correct hers.

 

I don't know Arabic, and never will because I am unable to memorise vocabulary at a rate of more than one word per week, so fluency is never going to happen here. Mostly I pretend otherwise and concentrate on what I can do, like spend money on suitable materials, make positive remarks when she uses it, include songs and stories necessary for some cultural literacy and teach her to write. I will probably never know what I'm writing, but I can learn to write. In 10 years time, we will still have learned worthwhile things about another language and cultures.

 

And as for Mrs Kimble, I would learn to teach/facilitate the subject in a friendlier way so I could feel or pretend to feel superior to her.  :p  It'd serve the old bag right, wouldn't it? :lol:

[BoZeeCo's Mom]

I agree with everyone that I just use my research powers.  As they grow, I will be putting them in CC classes online for things that need to be a little more intensive that I don't feel comfortable with.  But then again, my confidence grows with my knowledge and theirs, so who knows?  Down the line I may feel comfortable with more than I think I will.  

[mathmarm]

Thank you all so much for your perspectives and your guidance. I just see so many people who are riddled with Math-related-Angst and I know families that all share such a disdain or negative attitude toward math and many who take pride in their ignorance of various subjects or their math apathy.

I don't take pride in my ignorance or short comings--I'm not ashamed of my short comings, they're a big part of my humanity and personality--but I don't want to just be

worry that I could be the influence that creates the exact same thing in my kid.

 

I just want Jr. to have a fair shot, his best chance at whatever he can or can't do, I don't want him to be 20yrs down the road, lamenting that he's not good at Math/Reading etc and how it holds him back. I have a lot of students tell me how they've hated or feared math for years and the stories that they tell often show that their parents enabled and encouraged their apathy and negativity toward math. I don't want to do the same with reading.

[lllll]

..

[thebacabunch]

I am actually fascinated by my reaction to my least favorite subjects when I find really good books, curriculum, resources etc. on said subject.  I gain an appreciation for them.  I loathed math.  I was confident that I could teach my kids because I got good grades in math, but I detested it.  Once I started teaching my oldest Singapore math I started to find amazement in mathematics.  I use tricks I am learning from math in my day to day life all the time. My husband is an engineer, for carps sake, and even he gets a little turned on by my kids math books and the different ways to do things. Things he now sees and does in a different way. Now I am fascinated with it.  It can still be hard.  My math leaning 8 year old and I were laughing because we found the angle mazes in BA to be so dang hard.  I have to read my oldest dd's textbook chapters 2 or 3 times to get how to present it, but when I do the light bulb moment is magic. 

 

I hated chemistry. All it took was reading about photosynthesis from Ellen Mchenry's Botany book for me to finally understand how chemistry works.  I walk around looking at trees and plants like I am in on a big secret.  I totally understand, PERFECTLY, how photosynthesis works.  My chemistry classes were overflowing with information but so bland and out of context that I could have cared less.  Now I understand how chemical changes work. 

,

The key for me is searching.  Searching, searching, searching until I find curriculum that teaches me.  When I learn to be excited about my subjects my kids see my enthusiasm.  We have precious time together learning things. 

 

My most hated subjects have become my favorite to teach.  Maybe it's because I am learning about these subjects, REALLY learning them for the first time.

[sagira]

Great post, Spy Car. We need more fathers like you.

[texasmama]

post 31 reported

[Dicentra]

So many people hating chemistry!!!! :(  Makes my lil ole chemistry heart hurt a little bit... ;)

 

Ah well.  I can't stand poetry.  Although I'm starting - just starting - to learn to appreciate it.  That's something.

 

In answer to the OP - I think it's the job of every good teacher to let the love of a subject shine through and for the subjects where you're just not feelin' the love - fake it. :D  Or FIND something in the subject to love.  I've just this fall taken on a part-time teaching position at the local college.  I've been tutoring chemistry there for a little while and was approached in August with the teaching position.  Was it for chemistry?  No.  Was it even for anything remotely related to science or math? No.  It's a course on literacy in the elementary classroom.  'Cause that's in my sphere of skills.  Not. :D  But I'm wanting to get back into teaching and this was an opportunity to get my foot in the door.  The subject matter of the course holds NO INTEREST FOR ME AT ALL.  But I said I'd teach it.  And so teach it I will, damn it.  And I'll be enthusiastic. :D  I can't stand all the edu-babble that I have to go through with the students but I do have an interest in educational psychology so that's how I'm hooking myself.  If I can hook myself, I can hook the students.  Some of the most interesting courses I've taught have been outside my comfort zone.  The Grade 12 philosophy course I taught when I was at the local high school was incredibly interesting - it let me "flex my brain muscles" :) in completely different ways than I was used to.  I also taught Grade 11 English in my first year as a teacher.  Again, totally outside my comfort zone.  I think we actually do the most growing as learners when we're forced outside our comfort zone - I think it helps us to move towards maturity as self-actualized adults better than anything else.  If we always stay in our comfort zone, there's nothing forcing us to grow and move forwards.

 

Look at whatever your hated/dreaded subject is as a puzzle or a mystery to be solved.  Think to yourself, "I've always hated (insert subject here).  But there are other people who love it.  There must be something to it that I've just not seen or discovered.  I'm going to research and think about the subject - all different ways of approaching the subject - until I can find a way to make the subject appealing to me."  This is kind of what I did with poetry.  What finally hooked me with poetry is the spareness of it.  As a very cut-and-dried, black-and-white physical science/math person, that spareness of language - the ability to say something in as few words as possible because each and every word was soooooo carefully chosen - appeals to me.  The flowery symbolism or the emotions associated with poetry doesn't appeal.  And that's the only approach I had ever been taught so, naturally, I learned to dislike poetry.  With a new way of thinking about it and approaching it, though, I've been able to see something in poetry that I didn't see before.  And I'm finally starting to like it. :)

[Jackie]

I can't say there is any any subject I passionately hate, but there are several I just don't understand. Even though I was always an honor roll student, it was often because I played the game of school well and not because I "got it". So now as my daughter nears school age, I am facing science and history. They were both always taught to me as such dry, lifeless subjects and I retained NONE of it and certainly have no love for either of them. I don't hate them, but I do dread them.

 

I've been working to find good curric that will teach them differently. I am excited now about doing science as lab-based from an early age. Even though I've never been a "project person", I will happily do all the projects I can find if it gives me hope of installing a love for science in my daughter. I still can't say I'm excited about doing history, but I am more interested in being able to follow along with a story-based history and maybe finally start making all the connections that I know are there and just have never followed before. DH offered to basically take these subjects over for me if needed, but I refuse. The thing I probably have most on my side in this is my stubbornness. I WILL learn these, darn it! And I know if it turns out to be too much for me, I can outsource. Possibly to DH.