So, I'm not entering the homeschool debate or anything, and this online community is pretty open, but seriously... some people are not teachers... at least not of reading, writing and arithmetic! I am one of those people. I'm so thankful for the grace I've found among my bloggy friends... many of them homeschoolers!and I do know, however, that I am called to instruct my children in spiritual matters and I do my best. Especially when they are teaching me patience and I am trying to teach them patience...
But the ins and outs of teaching, I've got nothing... no ideas, no creativity, no wisdom on how to connect the dots in learning!
Seriously, it took me a WHOLE DAY to figure out that pennies
would help my 7YO figure out math problems.
would help my 7YO figure out math problems.
We have been blessed with a local Christian school with WONDERFUL teachers that handle the reading, writing and arithmetic, while at the same time reinforcing what my kids are learning at home spiritually. (this is only possible through many scholarships and the help of others)
but back to my total LACK of skills in education... My daughter received a summer packet of math, reading and writing sheets to work on through out the summer. The suggestion was to work on it a little bit each week... not getting it all done within the first week. She did work on it the first week and has done some of it occasionally through out the summer, but school starts in two weeks and she realized she has a lot of papers to complete.
She is SMART and a voracious reader, reading way above her grade level. But math, not exactly a favorite of hers. So each question (simple addition) was a challenge, and I didn't want to just give her the answers, but I didn't know how to help her work through it. Until, in a burst of inspiration, I thought of pennies. And I found a handful of them and we started counting and counting! And separating piles and counting some more.
And finally, we finished the worksheet with no more tears!! Now I don't know if that will help her in the long run, and I know math is a lot of memorizing, but it go us through one day and one worksheet and that works for me!!
So, I just have to know... How do your kids learn the basics??!?!
