Be Careful What You Research

It May or May Not Pay Off

As part of our yearly activities, I have had the kids do a project on an animal of their choice. The first year, the kids made dioramas to incorporate what they learned. The second year, one of the kids wrote a comic strip full of facts they had learned. This year, the younger one filled in a traditional report (habitat, diet, etc.), while the older one made a presentation on all that she researched about hedgehogs. We had discussed the possibility of allowing her to get her own hedgehog, but that we needed more information. She researched everything from how to purchase one, how to feed one, to how much it might cost per month to care for one. What a great way to end this assignment with the purchase (she used her own money) of Blizzard, the newest family member.

This process definitely proved the correlation between interest and motivation and how we all learn.


(written March 20, 2015)

What can I expect from my children?

Have *I* Learned Anything?

Depends on what time of the day you ask me. I feel that I am learning daily on what works and what doesn't work for my family. My daughter just completed her biography report. There were many times where we walked the fine line of "critique, criticism, constructive suggestions, brainstorming". Sometimes it went well, other times we fought to where we would come to a creative stand still (that's code for "lots of tears".)

How high can I set the expectations?

I still am not sure how to gauge the quality and level of work to expect from my children. What is age appropriate? I didn't pay much attention to how her past teacher's taught language arts. For example, how many 45 minute sessions did it take the class to write one project? How many minutes were spent on introducing the project, first draft, second draft, final draft, presentation, etc. How often did my daughter complete her daily goal and was just waiting around for the rest of the class to be finished? I have very high expectations, I want them to have attention to details and have pride in their work. However, if I expect too much, will it cause them to feel less than adequate, set up to fail, resistant to doing the project at all? I am still trying to figure this issue, no answers yet.

Our Writing Class

Getting down with grammar:

I have been very concerned with my ability to teach language arts. I did ok in school, but it has never been my strongest subject. In fact, it was my weakest. So, how am I supposed to school my kids in this area? At my children's ages (currently 6 and 9), I think I can get by with some workbooks and making sure they read or are read to every day. But how far can I go on like this? How do I make sure that by the time they are college age, they are ready to write their thesis?

Take a step back:

I know, don't panic. But I can't help but worry about making sure they get all that they need in this area. I feel fortunate to have come across someone who's teaching a writing course for kids my daughter's age (9). There was an opening and we were able to jump in (a little late). The course very vigorous and I'm not sure how we're going to keep up with the time demands, but I'm finding it very helpful in many ways. Not only is my daughter getting exposed to thought processes, research methods, ideas and more, but I am able to talk with the parents of the other students at the end of class. This part has been a wonderful benefit as I hear what other parents are doing that work and what didn't work for them. I'm an introvert by nature, but am finding that I have missed talking to other parents on a daily basis (I used to do this at pick up time in the hallways.) I get to ask a lot of "newbie" questions and everyone seems more than willing to share their advice and experiences.

Here's my daughter giving her first presentation in the class.