This post goes to, and is filed with tags related to focus, attention, frustration, and the simple concept that unless we begin to condition our youngest ones from the very beginning to be willing to comply with the forced parameters we tend to identify with conventional schooling, it seems attempting to integrate even a small amount of such convention before the child decides to integrate that for and within themselves, is a set up for failure -at least from the perspective where Lily is concerned.
Today we worked on continuing to expose and explore the value of being able to express portions of a whole in various different forms, whether it be percentage, fraction (reduced & expanded), or decimal representation. Lily doesn’t care a twit about this/these concepts, and so it’s challenging to keep her focus.
It’s a topic that hasn’t found its time just yet and I need to back off… Not to mention, my creativity is rather failing me of late (which has happened before, but for different reasons), and I find myself resorting to “schooling” because, alas, that is from where I’ve come and will slip back into if I don’t remain vigilant. My energy being so limited MAY have something to do with this situation. So, for the time being and the future of this concept (and plenty of others, I’m sure), I’m returning to seeking out angles that do not include forcing it down her throat, but instead rely on simple exposure and natural drawn connections-as these have consistently generated success for her in the past. I’m considering whether introduction of this concept at this point (in whole, and maybe even in part) is valuable to her, or simply creating a block and point of negative reference for the future.
I’d like to continue at least the exposure aspect, without expectation of specific comprehension at this point, simply because of its necessity as a foundational building block for so much to come. Yet, this is also the precise reason I am sitting on the fence with this: that very aspect being so foundational and integral to future comprehension and calculation, that I most assuredly do not want a negative association to imprint for her. I have plenty of these negative imprints, all associated with either math or science as a result of the methods and approaches used by educators from my own childhood, and they remain a persistent, unwanted aspect of my mental processing.
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Lily has the ability to maintain focus on something of interest for hours or days even, if she’s inclined. Honestly, a topic of interest (presently vampires, for instance) can be explored for months; we’re at 15 straight months of goth and vamp at this point. Over the years, and when we look back on past photos, we can determine exactly how old she is given her outfit and what she is doing/has in hand because, with each subsequent year, a new theme of interest emerged and was cultivated over an extended period of time. I’ve contemplated her struggling with focus on this topic (trying to figure out decimals, and maybe one or two other topics in the last year) and it being an actual clinical concern, but then when I really zero-in at what it looks like when she’s into (has a relevant, organic connection with) something, I realize that she has absolutely no issue focusing on whatever, and for any amount of time she wants.
So….
From experience, I know that in order to flow with her, I sometimes have to move out and beyond my own boulder that has trapped me in a whirlpool on the shore. Here’s to mind widening and perspective broadening.
…and away we go
This was today –
…and the mama learned how to spell pomegranate today
Here, we grabbed the calculator, because she gets a kick out of using it for calculations. I aligned the numbers for her, and will continue to do so while we progress until she grabs the concept solidly. We will begin a Kahn segment on place values for decimals this week. We have explored place value on both sides of the decimal frequently over the last year, and it is evident that some aspects of the concept have taken root because of how, as well as how fast and accurate her mental math computing is demonstrated. I just need to remember to wait for her to connect, instead of trying to connect this for her.
http://www.waldorfresearchinstitute.org/pdf/BAAttnRelDisorders.pdf – A reminder that she does not have a problem, nor does the difficulty lie with her, but it is in the expectation and in the shape that we let ourselves get boxed into, that causes the limitation, frustration, and restriction.
Also notice something else… in the summer, when she spends most of her time climbing trees and such, she gains the most obvious amounts and complexity of neurological/academic advance. In the winter, when she is stuck inside and all she has is couches to jump on, which also happens to be when we (as a society) conventionally “school”, she struggles to build, but she’s more open to new concepts, yet not new activities/habits.
I wonder if we shouldn’t simply accept this natural rhythm, which is a direct result of our climate/region, and roll with it. Instead of bending to the pressure of academia, which expects a “school year” to be not summer based, but around summer, we simply don’t even acknowledge there being a “school year” any more than we acknowledge her being “in a grade”. Our focus can then be to move and flow with her, as she moves and flows with the seasons, and her activity and activities shift to match.
Time for some more deschooling for me, I think.
Also notice something else… in the summer, when she spends most of her time climbing trees and such, she gains the most obvious amounts and complexity of neurological/academic advance. In the winter, when she is stuck inside and all she has is couches to jump on, which also happens to be when we (as a society) conventionally “school”, she struggles to build, but she’s more open to new concepts, yet not new activities/habits.
I wonder if we shouldn’t simply accept this natural rhythm, which is a direct result of our climate/region, and roll with it. Instead of bending to the pressure of academia, which expects a “school year” to be not summer based, but around summer, we simply don’t even acknowledge there being a “school year” any more than we acknowledge her being “in a grade”. Our focus can then be to move and flow with her, as she moves and flows with the seasons, and her activity and activities shift to match.
Time for some more deschooling for me, I think.
I love how her teacher is able to learn and adapt to suit the needs of the pupil. She will make these connections naturally the way her brain needs to, which is by far the best way to learn. She’s clearly grasping the concepts very well.
I love how her teacher is able to learn and adapt to suit the needs of the pupil. She will make these connections naturally the way her brain needs to, which is by far the best way to learn. She’s clearly grasping the concepts very well.