Slow and Steady Wins the Race
I remember the panic, the feeling of failure. I had brought my daughter home from public school, and she was doing horrible in math. It seemed that as soon as I thought she was finally catching on, we would have a break, and she would backtrack weeks. Fear and desperation had me buying this and that to try. Surely some curricula would have the magic formula to help my math-challenged child. Flashcards? Teaching by stories? Drill and Kill until she melted down? Something HAD to work, right?
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| The dreaded math lessons |
If I could look at that new homeschooling mom, I would have reassured her that it would all be okay. My daughter has used at least five math programs to date, and at least a dozen "supplements." No... I am not kidding. The first one I purchased was too advanced for my coming from public school girl. The second one moved very quickly. The third one was the "popular" one that everyone swore by. The next one worked because the drill was unrelenting. My daughter hated it, but she did learn, and by that point, learning was my goal. I could have cared less about the love of learning because she had developed a "I hate all math" attitude, and I just wanted her to learn. I tried the ultra visual curriculum, thinking that if she "saw" it, she would get it. And... it helped a bit, but eventually it didn't review enough and she ended up forgetting what she had learned when the curriculum moved on to something else.
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| reading, reading, reading |
I'll never forget the textbook approach. It works for so many, so it should work for my daughter, right? The public schools use it. The strong math base of the Robinson curriculum used this curriculum. I had the book for her grade level. I had used it in school. Perfect... until my daughter cried daily for two weeks. It took her forever. It turns out that it wasn't really the work, but the constant copying of all the questions. She despised it.
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| using beans for manipulatives in math |
So, I needed something similar to that style, but where she didn't have to copy, copy, copy her day away. I found a spiral method workbook program, Christian based, with amazing explanations and review. It was advanced. My daughter literally started two grades below where she was. But, we worked a lesson a day, and she understood. When she struggled, I would sit with her and explain. We would practice. When she mastered the facts, I quit using the speed drills. In the end, the program was so good that when I started her on Teaching Textbooks Algebra this last year, she went right into it, although she had only completed level six in the curriculum. She finished Algebra with an A and is beginning Algebra 2 in the fall.
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| Math games on the computer. |
All my stress, all my worry, all my spending money in desperation, all the years of putting my daughter through torture, and I could have just relaxed and had a better attitude.
Was that curriculum that finally worked a magic curriculum? No. It had what met the needs of my daughter. It was spiral so she had lots of review. It explained things very well. She didn't feel like she was being killed by drill. It was workbook based, so she didn't have to copy endless problems. I had found Christian Light Publications math, and it was great. One lesson per day, slow and steady, and she gained a great math foundation. Math still isn't her favorite subject, but that is okay. Not every thing we are required to learn is going to be fun or easy or what we want to do. However, there is a lot to be said for tackling something that may not come easily, and being persistent and determined to learn.
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| One of the supplements I LOVED! |
I use this same math program for my youngest now. She doesn't love math either, but a lesson a day gets done. This summer I have been trying to get her to do half a lesson every other day or so, just to keep her math fresh in her head. We have a summer reading program we do that keeps her reading. I figured a few problems every day or two would keep her brain working in the math area. When she began to struggle in first grade with math, instead of panicking, I backed off. We spent a lot of time practicing facts, reviewing what she had learned. I had her do math games on the computer. Slowly, her struggle eased and I could pick up where we left off in the curriculum. At times now, when she encounters something tough, I may slow down to half a lesson, or take some time away from the curriculum to give extra practice on a certain concept. It works for us. Then, we can go back and pick up where we left off after a few days. Slow and steady, she learns.
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| I add Life of Fred now because it approaches math with stories and humor. |
I think this could be said about any subject, any skill. If reading is advancing too quickly, pull back. Read a lot of stuff at the level the child is at, reviewing what they have learned. Read to them more advanced material. They learn so much this way. Then, go back into the curriculum. Use a slower pace for a bit if they need to slow down. Most of all, don't put so much pressure on them that their brain shuts down or they feel inferior for some reason. So many children just need time for their brains to mature to the point that they can grasp certain concepts. If rushed and pressured, a child will not learn well.
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| When my youngest struggled, I quit regular stuff and did notebooking and review for awhile. |
There is a difference between being challenged and pressured. Being challenged is a motivation for students. It's a goal to see if they can learn a new skill or grasp a new concept. When a child is challenged, and encouraged, they will rise up to levels they didn't think they could. When a child is pressured, they could shut down.
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| Early Learning |
Homeschooling gives our children the benefit of learning at their own pace. In some instances, this means slowing down and keeping a steady pace. In other instances, the child may make leaps in learning, and the parent has to be ready to move forward so as not to hold them back. My daughter did this last year. After a summer of reading library books, I started the school year where we had ended in her phonics and reading. However, she had absorbed a lot of reading lessons on her own over the summer while she read those library books. I had let her pick, for the most part, things that interested her. She had devoured two or three books a week. Some of them were easy reading levels. Others were more advanced, but they were in areas that interested my daughter, or were stories that she liked. At the beginning of the school year, she was soaring through her lessons. I began handing her the books from farther in the lessons, and she soared through those in two weeks. Yes, she covered a year of phonics in two weeks. After that, I simply moved her into a literature program at the level where she was. Currently, she is reading material that is two grades above her current grade level.
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Again, slow and steady. She may have caught on quickly, but I keep a steady pace on her lessons, trying to challenge her, not advance her too quickly. I give her a wide variety of materials. She reads well, so I give her a lot to read while her writing and grammar catches up.
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| Keep moving forward, slow and steady |
The lesson I've learned in seven years of homeschooling is that children learn at different paces and in different ways, and we shouldn't panic if they don't immediately catch on. We shouldn't limit them if they catch on quickly. Learning, like growing in any area, can happen in spurts, or at a steady pace. Our job is to not panic and to be flexible. Slow and steady isn't a bad thing. That slow and steady can equal a lot of learning over the course of a year. If your child is behind in an area, relax. Keep plugging away. Review. Look for maybe a different way to approach the subject, but don't feel pressured to spend big money or feel you are failing. At times learning to persevere is the lesson, for the child and the parent.
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