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Connections
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| Posted: Oct 09 2009 at 9:20am | IP Logged
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I was rereading the Christopherus Waldorf resources recently and the Waldorf approach really seems to focus on slowing down (though one- me included- may disagree with many Waldorf ideas, it seems to be a slower pace).
This made me think of the "quality vs. quantity" debate.
That gave me pause. Would we be better off lingering with one book for a few days (using the 3, 4 or 5 day telling, recalling, creating idea) instead of reading several books from my list without much time to ponder them?
I am not suggesting that one cannot have quality and quantity. However, when I add too many things to our days we DO lose the quality and I begin to approach our learning like a checklist (which often leads me to think more on the list is better- with no end in sight).
How do you stay focused on the quality of your home learning instead of getting lost in a checklist mindset.
Please share.
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Tracey
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Bethany
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Interesting Tracey. I've been rethinking our plans already this year and maybe this is where I was going without even knowing. We were following MODG pretty true to the plans but I was feeling as there was no connection with any of it. One week it would one page out of a workbook and then nothing from that book for another week. It seemed disjointed. Plus, my girls usually want to read more than one page out of a book at a time. We recently read Paddle to the Sea and I saw on AO that they have it scheduled 1 ch per week which would never work here. We read it in about a week and that was only because I made them stop after a few chapters.
So I think I'm moving this way and changing some things. With my oldest (2nd grade) were focusing our seat time on reading, math and handwriting, which really doesn't take too much time and for everything else were just reading aloud books everyone will enjoy.
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Bethany
Wife to Mike, Mommy to Amelia (6/02), Sarah (10/03), Martha Grace (10/05), Rebecca Anne (12/07), Laura Catherine (3/10) and Reed Michael 7/4/14.
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stellamaris
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I was meditating on this very thing this week. It seems to me that I am so goal-oriented that I have the attitude, "Just get it done, check it off the list, do it adequately and you can move on to MORE!" The Lord is challenging me in this area. As I pondered the idea that our work can be our prayer, I realized that I pray while I work, but I don't pray IN my work. To pray IN our work means we must be intentional and focused on the work itself, not constantly striving to rush past the work to reach some elusive goal.
I think this applies to our homeschooling as well. It is better to be present to the work, to do it well, to recognize the work itself as a gift from God that we are privileged to offer back to Him.
I'm not sure this will make sense to anyone else...I am just struggling with this idea of serving God well in the present moment, and it seems to me to have something important to do with the way we teach our children.
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Caroline
Wife to  dh 30+ yrs,ds's 83,85,89,dd's 91,95,ds's 01,01,02,grammy to 4
Flowing Streams
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Sarah M
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| Posted: Oct 09 2009 at 4:04pm | IP Logged
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This has been at the forefront of my mind for the last couple of weeks. I see a booklist on any subject. Let's just say 'squirrels' as a little example. I could take out 8 or 10 books from the library on squirrels, and we could read-read-read all those books during the week. However, I am beginning to question that method (at least in our home!). We seem to learn more from DEEPER learning experiences, not MORE EXPERIENCES (it's right back to that "better to do a little well than a great deal badly" bit by Socrates).
And it seems to me that when we read through extensive booklists, we are playing at learning- you know, doing learning-ish stuff (and maybe making some "proof" like a lapbook or a written narration or whatever), but the real heart of learning is lost in the process.
So what I'm finding now is that I would prefer to choose one very good, carefully selected book on squirrels (or whatever topic it may be). Then we read it every day. Really get to know it. Make friends with the characters- immerse ourselves in the artwork. Savor it. And the depth of learning that happens there is far more precious to me than the learning that happens when we read a stack of books.
I've got a blog post half-hammered out on this exact topic- doing less, and doing it well. I just can't seem to articulate in the way that I want to, so I'm still working it around in my brain.
I guess what it boils down to is figuring out our long-term goals. If my goal is for my children to form relationships with book, then I have to allow plenty of time for that to happen- they need to spend lots of time with one particular book before moving on. At least, that's how we make relationships with people, right? But if my goal is to disseminate facts, then we can use big stacks of books, every day.
I'm looking forward to reading this thread!
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ekbell
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Between wanting to go through lots of resources and not wanting to overwhelm the children, I've decided on the following.
We have a few basic resources that we *will* use. You could call them spines.
I then make sure that all the other 'enrichment' material that I've found and like the thought of is available but it's the children who decide to pursue it or not (for example I took out the Little House books for a unit on the US as well as the Holling books and a history book -my dd decided to read the history book and some of the Holling books but not the Little House books)
And I adjust material depending on the children. We aren't much for rereading material several times in a row, but we do enjoy books where we could happily spend several minutes admiring a page.
And books get reread regularly (I just finished my fourth time rereading the complete Winnie the Pooh aloud, my third child was the nominal recipient this year but everyone listened in at times and took part in discussions).
if you are wondering I first read the book aloud to my youngest brother. Every couple of years seems to work well for such classics.
Last year I read from an anthology, going on to read the whole book when my daughter really liked the excerpt.
This worked well, I didn't overwhelm myself and my daughter by trying to read all the books which were excepted and we didn't just read bits and pieces of books all year.
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Oct 09 2009 at 9:21pm | IP Logged
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I follow the children's cues a lot on this. I'm definitely not motivated by checkboxes - we're motivated by experience and I really take my cues from the children. I do make plans and booklists, and enjoy doing that, but in the end these are just the plans and they're written FOR the children. I enjoy being attentive to them, following their cues, observing them and their needs.
I used to find myself taunted by checkboxes, and there was a lot of angst in our day - the lesson plans dictated the day more or less. I thought because it was written down on the plans it had to be done...and then move on. And there was always a lot written there, so it seemed we were always cramming-cramming. The children loathed learning. I loathed approaching it. It was forced and felt artificial - probably because it was both because my heart wasn't in the right place. I'm not sure how or when exactly the evolution took place, but it did somewhere along the way. I finally relaxed into my own shoes. I finally felt comfortable with who I was with my children and let go of everything else. It began to be about the children. I began to have a sense of the philosophies that resonated within me. The plans became a tool and nothing more. I eliminated checkboxes and came up with a check something off and circle something that slides to next week method.
One of the things that helps me not get into checklist mode is that I make a skeleton plan (which usually includes a booklist) for subjects at the beginning of the year, but I flesh out details and pace on a week by week basis. This allows me to reflect and look at our pace on a regular basis. I don't mind reflecting and saying, "hmmm...that isn't working there...we're so enjoying reading and projects in history that adding in anything else right now would be an obstacle - so I won't" - those sorts of conversations take place in my head weekly. 
I suspect our house is a lot like ekbell's description. We do sometimes re-read a book over and over, this happens especially with my preschooler for whom a picture book becomes an idea and an experience. We also enjoy re-reading books on a regular basis - Holling C. Holling comes to mind.
The children and I dialogue constantly. I watch carefully in the quiet moments. I pay attention when they express interest or a desire to move along. I love lingering and slowly developing a fondness for a book or an idea and all the little rabbit trails it generates, but there are also times that my kids are ready to move on to the next book without much ado. Here's where a little discernment takes place - do I compel them to linger out of a desire to slow down and really marinate in an idea even if they don't want to...or do I just say, ok, we'll move on? I suppose it depends on the situation and their motivations to move on and my motivation for slowing down.
I love the idea of a wide and rich variety, but I also really enjoy the idea of a slower, gentler pace, Tracey. In fact, it's probably one of my undergirding philosophies, but like all the educational philosophies that I find myself connecting with, they would be nothing without the child. I think in the end I'm motivated by the children, and enjoying the journey of learning with them. That alone keeps me balanced and out of checkbox mode. That motivation allows for a happy co-mingling of educational philosophies.
I do find myself being challenged a bit in this with my older child for whom time management is now a skill to be learned so I find I'm frequently considering Compulsion and Excellence which I just see as an extension of the earlier years of observation, reflection, dialogue and motivation with the child in mind.
Hope some of these ramblings were helpful!
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Jen Mackintosh
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Maggie
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| Posted: Oct 09 2009 at 10:43pm | IP Logged
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Sarah M wrote:
So what I'm finding now is that I would prefer to choose one very good, carefully selected book on squirrels (or whatever topic it may be). Then we read it every day. Really get to know it. Make friends with the characters- immerse ourselves in the artwork. Savor it. And the depth of learning that happens there is far more precious to me than the learning that happens when we read a stack of books.
I guess what it boils down to is figuring out our long-term goals. If my goal is for my children to form relationships with book, then I have to allow plenty of time for that to happen- they need to spend lots of time with one particular book before moving on. At least, that's how we make relationships with people, right? But if my goal is to disseminate facts, then we can use big stacks of books, every day.
I'm looking forward to reading this thread!
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Sounds like Five in a Row to me!! :) I feel like FIAR is really allowing me to savor books with my children, to get to know the characters and places more intimately...and my dd just proves this to me in our daily conversations...
So...I guess the principle (not the technicalities, of course) of FIAR could almost be applied to anything?
Very interesting, indeed...
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Wife to dh (12 years) Mama to dd (10) ds (8), dd (1), ds (nb) and to Philip Mary (5/26/09), Lucy Joy (12/6/09), and Margaret Mary (3/6/10) who entered Heaven before we had a chance to hold them.
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Alcat
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| Posted: Oct 10 2009 at 7:56am | IP Logged
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My boys like to "keep 'em movin'" They really want to devour a good book and if I'm reading it to them they want me just to read all-day-long (can't say I blame them  )
My 9yrold dd likes things slow and steady. She really wants to get into the material and will allow me to re-read things to her like FIAR (though none of my dc have ever liked me reading the same book 5 days in a row- it really gave me a complex when they were little lol!)
Bethany, I want to make a suggestion. I recently read in one of my MODG syllabus that you should feel free to take the assignments that are "scattered" throughout the year and compile them into a more cohesive unit. For example Religion- I made an outline of all the bible history for 3rd grade (4th was to advance for dd) and we do 3 stories each week and do narrations once a week. We keep to the MODG schedule for the Baltimore Catechism so it doesn't get overwhelming. You could do the same for history. MODG leaves a LOT of room for you to do your own thing in the earlier grades and becomes more intense and connected in the upper grades.
God Bless,
Alison
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Paula in MN
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Great topic! I'm definitely a check-it-off-the-list-and-move-on kind of person, and I am really working on taking the time to dig deeper. Thanks for the great ideas!
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Paula
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Shari in NY
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I don't think this has to be "either/or". Some books beg to be rushed through, Harry Potter, for instance. One chapter just isn't enough. But we have found that if we take a really good book, The Wind in the Willows perhaps, and just read one chapter a week no matter the temptation to hurry to find out what happens next we really get to know those characters and they become family friends. "What would Ratty think of that?" or "He's acting just like Toad!!" And these are the books my kids remember from year to year when what we rushed through is hardly a distant memory 
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LucyP
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I am sooooo goal-orientated and really really struggle with not making completion the goal of our learning. I can't cope with a time table or a plan not being followed - it makes me feel ill. So for us, a waldor"ish", with emphasis on the "ishyness" of it, feel to our days is so helpful. I guess I am learning similar lessons - and the sleeping on it element from Steiner is so helpful to me and mine.
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: slowing down/ quality of learning
