Now that my spring schedule has changed a bit, I’m taking the time to look at our subjects differently and am trying to think of more creative ways to present various topics.
I’ll give you an example.
My oldest son will say that he hates math. Is that because he simply is not fond of mathematical concepts, or is that I’m not presenting math in a way that he finds stimulating and exciting? So today, after we had covered the core lessons to be understood regarding multiplying decimals and working through a few of those drill-type problems, I came up with a word problem involving a battle with gold coins and space enemies. The battle scene had a decimal concept in it, but he was excited to read about the battle and didn’t seem to mind working through the math problem because it was related to the story line. I found that interesting that he was into the math problem simply because of the way that I had presented the material. Many math curricula are full of repetitious problems that will suck the energy out of a child’s curiosity, and even their word problems are written with boring themes. So, I guess the key here is tailoring whatever subject you are teaching to the child’s baseline interests and learning style. Being able to customize the academics is a huge plus for homeschoolers, even if it means more work. Of course, I won’t always be able to do that because of time or sheer energy, but it’s a worthy enough goal to at least give the concept some attention.