My wife and I home schooled all three of our children. All three went and graduated from college. And, all three are currently employed in fields unrelated to their degrees. As I tried to advise them post-high school, I think I operated under a false understanding of today’s workplace – at least for two of…
A lot of us got into home schooling so that we could customize the instructional menu to match our child’s learning style. So… • Your child doesn’t like to read and is an auditory learner? No problem. Use audio books, or a website like Audible. • Your child needs to see everything, and is a…
In a previous post I encouraged you to “prepare for tomorrow, today.” In other words, I suggested that planning as opposed to “winging it” yields better results. The question I often get asked is, how far into the future and how specific should lessons be planned? A week, two weeks, a month? Years ago, one of…
Maybe you remember an experience like this when you were in school. The bell goes off and class “begins.” Sort of. “Begins” is a relative term. The teacher waits for the two or three stragglers before beginning the lesson so she won’t have to repeat herself. The attendance record now needs to be revised. Pencils…
In my last post I suggested that content presented first is more easily grasped and retained than equally difficult content presented later in the same sequence. But, there is an exception. When content is more meaningful, or interesting to the learner, it will be more easily learned and remembered regardless of when it is presented…
If you’re like many of us, yesterday was the first day back to school after Christmas vacation. Hard to get going after being off schedule for a couple of weeks. Sort of like going to the gym after being away for a little too long and getting on the elliptical to warm up. After…
How do your children feel when asked to do something they’ve never done before? How do you feel for that matter? What if you’re asked to do something you’ve never done before in front of an audience? Of course, it depends on what we’re being asked to do. Our thinking may range from “You’ve…
At the end of this month, I’m back to school (literally) for some continuing education. I do this to maintain my certification as a part-time snowboard instructor at Mt. Hood Meadows. There’s a lot of similarity between the methods I use when teaching/tutoring here at Basic Skills and the way I instruct on the mountain. …
When my dad saw that I was interested in playing golf, he gave me a book to read written by Ben Hogan. Ben was one of the all-time greats in professional golf in the 1940’s and ‘50’s. Critics attributed his success to two things: a repeatable swing and an unstoppable work ethic. That would support…
In this current time of “educational enlightenment,” the use of repetition as a learning strategy is sometimes scoffed at. We’re led to believe that technology has replaced archaic practices such as memorizing, drilling, and reciting. This idea couldn’t be more wrong. My thinking on this subject was challenged a few years ago at a continuing…