How Do You Learn?

How do you learn?  I have been drawn lately to Jewish culture and history.  It began with my re-reading the book, Heart of Wisdom by Robin Sampson.  In this book Robin discusses the differences between a Hebrew education and a Greek education... and how it all compares to homeschooling versus public schooling today.  It was very enlightening.  Then I read the book Breaking the Jewish Code by Perry Stone.  I have recently begun reading the book The Bible Jesus Read by Philip Yancey. 

Books alone haven't been enough though.  I have read some internet articles.  I have watched some movies on Netflix.  While by no means an in-depth education, I realized that this seems to be my pattern for learning.  When I want to know something about a subject, I begin researching.  I know how to find information.  I look up material.  I read about the topic.  I watch movies and documentaries about the topic.  I tend to try to absorb info from more than one angle.  I take notes even if I feel it will help satisfy the interest.  Eventually the interest may diminish a bit, but I usually have learned a lot in the process.

This is how I learn, but I know others learn differently.  Some learn by doing.  My husband learns best by doing.  He's the kind that learns by first hand experience.  When something interests him, he will learn a lot about the topic.  However, it has to interest him. 

I am still learning how my children learn.  As they grow, it seems to change.  Laura learns by a mixture of reading and projects.  She likes the visual aspect of movies, but only in limited amounts.  She loves certain workbooks, but detests others.  It's always up in the air with Laura on what is going to interest her and what isn't .  I figured a book like Heidi would not be interesting to her.  She loves it! As she has grown, her interests have changed and developed.  As a mom, I'm just trying to keep up.

With Megan, she's four.  She likes to be read to.  She likes to have projects and hands-on things.   She's easy, at four, to amuse.  Her learning is fun.  However, I have noticed that she's developed a certain attitude about "school" already that I don't like.  She's not been around a lot of other children that are negative about school.  I can only assume that her attitude is due to some boredom on her part.  So, I've been thinking it's time to spice things up a little.

How our children learn is a priority for me as a homeschooling mom.  I'm trying to give them a quality education.  I worry, even though I don't want to, that I might fail them in some way.  I try to trust God with our schooling, then find myself questioning the different paths He leads us down.

For now, I am continuing on with my current interest in Jewish culture and history.  I am also continuing studying how my children learn and how to manage our little homeschool.