Secrets of Grade-A Parents
A. When Carey Graham started Grade One, he got a very special teacher. "She recognized my passion for learning," says the now 20-year-old. "Every morning we"d sit down with workbooks and do writing and math exercises. And any time during the day, she could always be counted on to read to me. She always encouraged me to learn all I could about everything." This extraordinary teacher was his morn, Jeanne Lambert, who homeschooled Graham until high school. He"s now in his second year in the University of Toronto"s Peace and Conflict Studies program, having received a provincial "Aiming for the Top" scholarship. Graham is considering a law degree or a master"s in political science down the road. He attributes his academic success to the foundation laid by his parents.
B. "You can"t be a parent without being a teacher," says Bruce Arai, a professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. "Perhaps the most important teaching in a child"s life is done by his parents, not by some professional with certificates," he says. Homeschooling isn"t about sitting your kids down in the kitchen and teaching them in the formal sense, says Arai, but about "making sure the resources and opportunities for learning are available to them." And that, any parent can do. Here, then, are some methods that parents who would never consider homeschooling can pick up from those who do.
Lesson 1 Think Outside the Classroom
C. When homeschooler Kerri Paquette, a mother of six, was building a house in Lansdowne, she saw it as a learning opportunity. "They learned math as we measured, about soil as we dug the foundation, about water while we did the plumbing, and about electricity when we did the electrical work. My children make the subjects come alive as much I do," says Paquette. Her kids, aged three to 13, continue to view the world as their classroom. They study food and plant growth through their organic garden. They learn about cows by talking to the neighboring farmers. And they learn math, measuring and science while helping Paquette cook. "The other day my nine-year-old, Maddison, started learning a new educational computer program. The section on fractions was all new, but she knew it from when we bake." Every activity, says Paquette, can include a lesson.
Lesson 2 Eliminate Learning Limits
D. A teacher with a class of 25 students can"t continue a unit on, say, the body just because one child is still keen—but you can. "We don"t have a time frame that restricts our investigations, and we don"t have a daily schedule," says Linda Clement, who homeschools her two daughters in Victoria. When her 14-year-old showed an interest in the human body, the curious student read dozens of relevant books and surfed web sites. Janet"s curiosity took her in all sorts of directions: a dictionary of poisons and antidotes, an encyclopedia of medicine, books about human personality and much more.
E. The benefit to your child goes beyond a thorough knowledge of a subject. Studying deeply a topic builds independent research skills and a love of learning. "If my children are interested in a subject," says Clement, "we can go as far into the subject, answering as many questions as they have, for as long as is necessary. This freedom encourages their investigations."
Lesson 3 Teach Your Kids Their Way
F. Some children are visual learners (they absorb best when they see something), some are auditory (they need to hear it), some are kinesthetic (they need hands-on experience) and some are a combination. Uncovering how your child learns best will increase your effectiveness in helping him or her with schoolwork. Unsure of your child"s learning style Ask his teacher.
G. The way Melissa Cowl"s six children, aged three to 15, pick up on math highlights the great differences in learning styles. "Our ten-year-old, Matthew, needs everything in black and white: Tell him what to do and how to do it, and it"s done," says the mother. "He had a math text that was too colorful, with a layout that was difficult to follow. I switched to a text that was more step-by-step, more concrete. Now he does math tests with no trouble. Our eight-year-old, Ryan, however, is very hands-on. For math, he uses a variety of colorful pens to figure out things like addition and fractions. He needs to see it and feel it. Not one of my kids learns the same way as the others."
Lesson 4 Let Them See You Learn
H. One of the best parts of homeschooling is that you can continue your own education—and your kids can see you doing it and pick up on your love of learning. The same principle can be applied by any parent. "Learning never ends," says Julia Goforth, a homeschooling mother of four. "We try new things all the time, whether I"m reading something new or we"re all tasting foods we"d never normally eat." Reversing the roles also has benefits, giving kids a sense of pride in their own newfound knowledge. "Today my 12-year-old daughter, Denise, explained to me how she figured out a math problem. She"d wound up with the right answer, but I didn"t understand how she managed it," says homeschooler Gina Rozon of La Ronge, Sask. "Our kids are teaching us all the time."
I. Learning doesn"t always go smoothly, for kids and adults alike, which is why it"s important for children to see their parents struggle with something new. "My children watched me turn my life around by trying new things," says Goforth. "I went from being a fearful, stay-at-home mom to an adventurous artist"s model and public speaker. Learning belly dance and play the violin is on my to-do list this year."
Lesson 5 "Own" Your Children"s Education
J. "Helping them isn"t about showing your kids how to do the work. It"s about being genuinely interested and having regular conversations about what they"re learning," says J. Gary Knowles, a professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Rozon has many suggestions for how to get more involved. "Get to know the teacher. Discuss ways to design the assignments to your child"s learning style. Spend time in the classroom. Ask for outlines of unit studies so you can find additional materials at the library or through videos. Read your child"s textbooks: If you work a few pages ahead, you"ll be able to help them with problems they encounter."
K. Reading is another must, says Rozon. "Even after your children can read themselves, hearing somebody else read aloud is important. We nearly always bring a book wherever we go; we read for at least a half hour before bedtime." The more engaged a parent is, the more the child benefits, adds Bruce Arai. "The evidence is clear. Parental involvement is one of the most important factors in school success. The hours children spend in class are but one element of their education."While providing homeschooling for children, parents can also continue their own education.