Teaching Methods

Back when he was very young, EM was diagnosed with an auditory processing disorder. This past year, he went for a re-evaluation at the university clinic, and they determined he has more than likely outgrown that deficiency. I'm still not sure I agree with their interpretation of the results of his testing. Since there isn't another place to have him tested in our area, for now it is what it is.

Because he had been diagnosed with this disorder, I had structured his learning in recommended ways to help him compensate. I assumed the best learning styles for him would not involve lectures of any kind. When we worked together, if I read things aloud, we would stop regularly and discuss what had been covered to be sure he was absorbing the information. He doesn't really like reading non-fiction, so I would give very short reading assignments when textbook learning was a necessity. The best results for his learning usually came when we did hands on activities.

Then we had to figure out what to do about the fact that this year EM is completing a half credit in music to meet the requirements for both the PHAA diploma program and the PA homeschool regs. While JT has always excelled in anything music related, EM was not very interested. He did take piano lessons for a bit, but dropped the lessons after a year. Because he seemed to not want much to do with it, I was trying to come up with a good plan that would make this year's music instruction as painless as possible for all of us. Just checking off the boxes we need to fill.

I remembered I still had the Great Courses Fundamentals of Music series of DVDs. Realizing that video lectures were probably the worst idea, but not wanting to spend a ton of effort preparing something for someone who seemed uninterested, I figured we'd watch a little at a time, then discuss. I didn't have high expectations for him to learn much, just thought I'd do what I could to help him pick something up along the way. What a surprise it was when after the first lecture he could recall almost everything from the lesson.

I am breaking the lessons down this way:
Day 1: watch half of a lecture together
Day 2: review contents together
Day 3: watch second half of the lecture
Day 4: review contents together
Day 5: quiz on contents; supplemental activity
repeat until all 16 lectures completed

Each lecture is about 45 minutes long. Breaking it down into two 20 minute chunks seems to be just enough to hold his interest. The first lecture is titled The Language of Music. The first half focused on music appreciation, gave some vocabulary, and covered types of instruments and instrument groupings. The second half goes into great detail about the string instruments. During the second day of viewing, we pulled out my violin and tried some of the different methods of playing he discussed; pizzicato, sul ponticello, sul tasto, and col legno battuto. The day after, when we reviewed these terms, I was very surprised that he remembered all of these foreign terms and even came up with an example of col legno battuto in music he knew! He said, "The Piano Guys use that at the beginning of Cello Wars." Sure enough, we looked it up and he was right!

So what have I learned from all of this? I may be completely wrong about his  best method of learning. He hasn't been getting the best opportunity to learn. I knew that he wasn't picking much up when I'd give him those reading assignments, but when I took the time to review what he read, he'd do better. What I realize now is that he probably picked nothing up from the reading, instead only learning the things I was reviewing with him. The 'lecture' I gave after the reading was where the learning was really happening. When I was too busy to take the time to do that with him, he was getting almost nothing from it.

I could spend a long time beating myself up over this lack of insight. I could also make many excuses; 

"The testers told me he would not learn well from auditory methods."

"They wouldn't have customized his education in public school."

"I'm not an expert; it's not my fault I didn't recognize this."

After a couple days of guilt, I'm ready to move forward and correct the problem. I can comfort myself with the fact that I still have 3 1/2 years of time left to work with him. I also know that he has consistently tested above grade level, so even with my mistake, he is doing better than his peers. Most importantly, as homeschoolers, we have the flexibility to change the way he is receiving his learning. I am going to start searching for DVD courses to fill his subject requirements for next year. For the subjects that need textbook learning, I will be working to create my own lectures for him. A friend suggested seeing if he comprehends more of the material he must read if he reads it aloud. She also suggested that just moving his lips while reading may do the trick. We will be testing those ideas out as well.

Homeschooling these boys has taught me that mistakes are going to happen. But it has also taught me that when we find the mistakes, we can make the changes, and move on to success. 

 

Burned Out

Some of the Hiking Loot

We're nearing the end of our Christmas break. My plan going into the holiday was that I would take a break until after Christmas, then I would organize portfolio materials from the first half of the year, and do a large amount of planning for the rest of the year. I did manage to get portfolios organized, but then things changed.

JT and I have been planning our 100 mile Appalachian Trip for a couple years now, never doing more than occasionally taking a day hike and talking about our plan. That changed in the last few weeks when I discovered three things, an AT section hikers Facebook group, the REI website, and the Homemade Wanderlust blog and videos. I started reading about other people's adventures, spending money on equipment, even taking a trip to the closest REI, 2 1/2 hours from our home to try on a pack. As I was doing research on things related to hiking, I realized that my old obsession with homeschool curriculum research has been replaced with my new love of all things hiking related. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how burned out I have become when it comes to anything homeschool related and how much that was contributing to my procrastination.

Now that I have recognized what was going on, I feel I can use the hiking planning to give me a break and allow me to get the energy I need for the rest of this year. I don't have much to do for EM's school plan to get him to the end of the year. A lot of what he's doing now is structured enough to allow me to just look ahead a bit for each subject and make a game plan for the week. The one place I need to invest a little more time will be his half credit of music instruction we will be starting on Monday. He will be using a Great Courses series Understanding the Fundamentals of Music as a framework for his study with additional instruction and activities for each video lecture. I will need to plan the supplemental material for him, but that shouldn't be too time consuming. Other than music, he will be continuing his Earth science, algebra 2, health, world geography, literature, and writing instruction for the remainder of the school year.

Once JT graduates this May, I feel like I will need to buckle down and really focus on EM for his last three years of his schooling. For now, we are going to get the work done, but spend more time doing the things that will recharge our batteries for that final push.