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Teaching Tips August 2010 |
Believe it or not, education is NOT about grade levels, grades, tests, or even scope and sequences. Nor is education about standards,
placement, or achievement scores. All of these school activities came about because of the needs of a group classroom teacher to monitor
numerous students.
Simply put, learning is knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. Knowledge is the accumulation of information, a sort of knowledge data base that is stored in our long-term memory. Understanding is the ability to pull together bits of this knowledge in a meaningful way or synthesizing information together in a way that makes sense. Wisdom is the ability to apply both knowledge and understanding to any situation that arises in a way that brings positive results. Those three stages of learning roughly coincide with the three broad categories of education: elementary, intermediate, and high school. The primary role of the teacher is to provide opportunities for students to accumulate knowledge and develop understanding, and then to guide the self-learner in gaining wisdom. The nature of wisdom, however, requires a certain level of maturity, experience, and recognition of core values and beliefs - all of which come later in high school and beyond. For most homeschoolers, then, our job is to build a foundation of knowledge and skills. But which skills? Which information? That all depends on your philosophy of education or how you view home training. You see, building knowledge also has three stages: exposure, practice, and mastery. Exposure is introducing the student to the topic or skill. Practice is working with the information in a variety of ways, interacting with the material, in order to move it into long-term memory. The practice actually reinforces the brain connections used to process that information until it becomes automatic. Mastery means the student is so familiar with the topic or skill that it can be used in any context at any time – not just when the textbook has reminded the student how to do it. Here's the key. Not every skill has to be mastered. Not every skill has to be practiced. And not every skill has to be introduced (there are some things we'd rather our children not learn!). Only essential skills must be mastered. What's considered essential, once again, depends upon your philosophy of education and the goals you have set for your homeschooling. What overwhelms many homeschoolers is thinking that way too many skills and topics must be mastered at earlier and earlier levels. Sometimes even before the child is ready to learn the skill, let alone master it. For instance, the basic grammar skills are the eight parts of speech, using those eight tools to build sentences that make sense, with words that are used properly and spelled correctly. In reality, those skills don't have to be mastered until the student is ready to apply them in more complex applications – mainly junior and senior high. The same holds true for arithmetic computations for whole numbers, fractions, percents, and decimals. When you are evaluating your child's progress, rather than thinking in terms of grade levels, think in terms of exposure, practice, and mastery – and where you are at in the overall scheme of learning. Primary and Early Elementary: • exposure and practice of basic skills • basic self-control • basic skills in listening, speaking, and asking questions • following directions • mastery of large-motor skills (running, jumping, balancing) • developing fine-motor skills (using a pencil/pen, coloring, cutting, pasting Upper Elementary • mastery of basic skills • exposure to and practice in science and history • exposure to developing understanding (or synthesizing information) • exposure to life skills (e.g. time management, organizational skills, household skills) Intermediate: • practicing science and history • broadening the data bank of knowledge • practicing understanding and synthesizing information across subject areas • mastering reading and arithmetic skills • practicing life skills • exposure to application skills High School: • practicing application skills in all four core subject areas • mastering all skills considered essential by the family • exposure to and practicing of wisdom, including self- expression and individual talents Most scope and sequences do not take into consideration the exposure-practice-mastery process. If your curriculum contains a scope and sequence, or if you are using an evaluation checklist, you will want to go through the list first to see what you believe must be mastered and what can be practiced only, or what just needs to be introduced in passing (or maybe even ignored). 744 Words To view more 'Teaching Tips' Articles please 'Log In' and visit the 'Achives' page. |
