Last night was the last of ten homeschool mentoring classes that I have had the joy of attending. You may be wondering why I would take a homeschool class….. in my eleventh year of homeschooling. Well, believe it or not, I still don’t have it all figured out. Our church has a homeschool support group that offered this class and since I don’t know too many homeschool moms outside of my safe little bubble, I decided to join the class. It was WELL worth my time! Many quality friendships were made.
Every homeschool mom NEEDS a support group and/or co-op buddies in order to make it through this educational journey and not pull out all the hair on the sides of your head. When I first started teaching my kids at home, I remember being in awe of moms who had been at the task for ten years or more. Then I turned into one…. almost overnight. How in the world did that happen?
Last night in our last mentoring class, we went around the circle and spoke of those ideas/books/charts/theories that inspired us the most during our time together. For years, and I mean YEARS, like 24 years, I have known of learning styles and the benefits of figuring out how each kid ticks… so as to teach him so he understands. However, I haven’t looked at learning styles since sweet Nora has graced our homeschooling haven. There is a chart in our mentoring manual explaining each of the four styles and how to best help them. I looked at it again last night and realized that I have one kid of each style. Perfect! I always like to get one of everything! Like at Panda Express… how can you choose just two entrées?
Anywhooo… last night was the first time I read the little captions under each of the styles. It made me laugh out loud. For your personal enjoyment and mine, here they are:
- The Structured Learner (Inside the box) – My eldest daughter
- The Moving Learner (Outside the box) – My eldest son (In my mind, this one could also be PLAYS with the box!)
- The Analytical Learner (Stares at the box) – My younger son
- The Community Learner (Talks to the box) – My younger daughter
For those homeschool readers who are curious about the course, here is the link… the manual is FABULOUS! http://www.thebalancedhomeschooler.com/
Onto more important homeschooling news, Nora’s math books arrived yesterday and she FINALLY feels like she is doing school now. :o) I originally tried to start her in grade two math, but I discovered too many holes in her learning…. and we are re-starting with kindergarten. I predict she’ll be done by Christmas. She did a week’s worth of lessons in less than an hour. Makes this mother’s heart glad.
Tags: home education, home school, homeschool, homeschool mom, homeschooling, learning styles, math, mom, peas in a pod, teacher, teaching, The Balanced Homeschooler
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