Summer Schooling? No Way!

It might seem early to start thinking about summer, but I have many parents enrolling and inquiring about my six week summer workshops. Even if you don't want to commit to summer workshops, consider how no school during the summer may be affecting your children.

One of the great blessings of homeschooling is flexibility in scheduling when we teach and learn. While many homeschool parents still operate on the "school year" schedule, I am finding that more and more of my students' families are schooling year round. Many families do this because allows them to take vacations at times other than in the summer, but there are definitely other reasons to do some schooling in the summer.

1. Loss of knowledge and skills - as a teacher, I see it every year. I don't need statistics, although there are plenty out there, to notice how many of my students return to class and need "refreshing" when it comes to skills. As a writing teacher, I have to review punctuation and grammar rules every September even for my returning students.If you view writing as a life skill rather than a subject, then you can imagine how important it is to use that skill regularly to keep it fresh.

2. Change in attitude - in particular, my reluctant readers and reluctant writers get out of the habit over the summer. For some of them, it takes a full quarter or about eight weeks to get back into reading and writing regularly. Since they don't enjoy it as much as other students, they're inclined not to retain the habit over summer. Often, Moms with this type of student will let them "just be kids" over the summer to avoid dealing with the complaining. I do understand, but in the big picture, consistency is vital for reluctant students to succeed.

Even if you don't want to officially "school" during the summer months, consider a few activities that could keep your children moving forward with writing or reading skills.

• Join or start a summer reading program/group. Most public libraries have reading programs which offer rewards and other incentives for reading regularly. If the library incentives don't appeal to your children, you could set up your own rewards system. Then make sure to schedule time regularly for reading, even if it's just a few days a week. If you read at the same time, you'll also model the importance of reading to your children.
• Visiting readers - sometimes it's nice to have someone else read to you. Periodically, consider having a special friend or family member come read with your children. Or have your children visit someone and read aloud to them. Children in hospitals and homeless shelters as well as the elderly in nursing homes enjoy being read to and it also provides an opportunity for an older child to serve.
• Throw in some creative writing activities - consider summer journaling, scrapbooking or notebooking different events, trips, etc. for the summer. The writing does not need to be lengthy or detailed to keep up skills. A paragraph written a few times a week could serve as a reminder of how to maintain those oh so important writing skills. For families with multiple children, a summer newsletter where each child contributes can be very fun. Add some photos and graphics, then share it with friends and family electronically or in print. A summer pen pal can provide practice in both writing and social skills. Plan a summer get together and have your child write up the invitation, create a shopping list, design a menu and more. This will also demonstrate how important writing skills are in everyday life.
• Enroll your child in a summer workshop - I offer all types of classes in the summer, from Author studies to creative writing to writing intensives, that I don't offer the rest of the year. With six week sessions, students can enjoy a variety of experiences or just spend part of the summer keeping up with reading and writing skills.

However you choose to spend your summer, maintaining consistent learning practices will help most children succeed all year round. A little bit of a schedule allows children to keep a routine but still feel the freedom so often associated with summer. 

God bless,

High School Study Skills and Learning Styles

Mid-year often presents a clear picture of a student's current abilities. Occasionally, in my classes, parents find themselves surprised at the mid-term report. This usually occurs because students lack study skills or choose not to study. The point of mid-year evaluation is to reveal students' strengths and weaknesses while there's still time for reparation and improvement. I've noticed more and more with homeschool high schoolers that they're challenged by study skills. This may be happening for a number of reasons:

      1.  Lack of practice – with some families, evidence of mastery is not determined through testing or other methods that require studying, so students haven't had to study in the past.
     2. Uniqueness of homeschool families – one of the beautiful blessings of teaching homeschool students is that they come from unique backgrounds with their families focusing on what they value most. Within that focus, study skills may not have previously seemed essential.
    3. Age and maturity level – more and more homeschool students start high school courses in 8^th grade. While I greatly support that students should move at a pace that challenges them and allows them to grow, it is not common for 8^th grade students to have already developed essential study skills.
    4. Study skills are not developmental, but learned – few students develop strong study skills without assistance. Bright students may ascertain how to study through trial and error, but typically students benefit from being taught how to study.

Most students find that once they utilize study skills on a consistent basis, their stress level decreases and their confidence increases. They discover that some time and effort can bring amazing results! A student's learning style directly affects which study skills are most effective.

AUDITORY LEARNERS learn best from listening. Their study environment should be quiet without multiple interruptions so that they can focus on what they're hearing. Headphones often positively impact this type of learner. With online classes, headphones may help an auditory learner to better focus. Study skills that support this type of learner include:

•   Books on CD – For history and literature courses, many materials are available on CD. Auditory learners tend to comprehend content better when it is read to them.
•  Reading aloud – Some students can achieve the same purposes by reading the material aloud to themselves. The oral reading helps imbed the content into long term memory. For other students, they do best when it's another voice reading aloud to them.
•  Oral practices – reciting vital material aloud often works well for this type of learner. For example, grouping material into fact packages (such as info about a particular person or event) and reading the notes aloud for a few minutes a day can make a huge difference. Another example might be vocabulary definitions – looking at the word on a notecard and reading the definition on the back aloud often works for auditory learners.
•  Put it to music – any information put to music, even just using basic familiar tunes, can help an auditory learner remember important facts and information.

VISUAL LEARNERS find that learning is easier when they have graphics and other visual aids. One important point to remember is that visual learners study best in an area where there is less visual stimulation to distract them. They often want to study in front of the television but may struggle to do so. To help your visual learner get more out of study time:

•  Use checklists or homework assignment sheets – visual learners tend to work well with graphic organizers such as checklists and charts.
•  Color coding notes – highlighters and colored pens often assist visual learners. Different colored highlighters used to organize different material (vocabulary, important facts, etc.) can be very effective. Colored note cards can also help visual learners when studying.
•  Visualization – I am a visual learner and I can often remember information based on where I specifically saw it. I struggle with people's names, but if a person has a name tag or some other form of visual connection, I can recall names by visualizing. At one time, I worked with middle school students who had serious spelling problems. A strategy that I used very successfully was a combination of flashcards and hand movement visualization. If you'd like the specific steps for this strategy, comment on this post with your email address. When studying, photographs, maps and other graphics may be used to recall events and information more readily.
•   Rewriting, typing and redrawing –  I had a roommate in college who retyped every note she ever took because seeing the word printed on the page created a visual image she could remember. Having students copy material, rewrite notes and create charts or other graphic organizers can be beneficial.
•  Class seating – visual learners tend to remember content better when they can see the person presenting the information and the white board or other source of notes. In a physical classroom, sitting in the front can be beneficial. For online classes, a visual learner will generally remember more if he can see video of the teacher and the material being covered.
•   Lapbooks, notebooking, Powerpoint creation, etc. ­– I have started using notebooking in my history classes because it allows for both visual and kinesthetic learners to excel.  The importance here lies in the fact that the students must create the materials, including Powerpoint presentations, rather than having the material created for them.

KINESTHETIC LEARNERS are the most unique of learners. I have met very few truly kinesthetic learners. Most learners of this type combine audio or visual learning as well.

•   Audio + kinesthetic – this type of learner hears best when physically manipulating something while listening. Boys more often have this learning style from my experience. Drawing or manipulating a ball of clay or rubber band while listening to recorded information can help this person study. For some parents, this is a real struggle because they feel their child is playing, but with this type of learner, it is very apparent that the movement connects with the learning process.
•  Visual + kinesthetic – many math programs have been developed with this type of learner in mind. Using manipulatives while learning concepts works well with this learning style. Memorization of math facts may seem impossible until the student begins moving around counting chips! Electronic readers can be beneficial for assisting this type of learner with reading and comprehension. The manipulation of the electronic device, particularly with touch screens, can make learning more interesting and appealing to kinesthetic learners. Lapbooks, notebooking and other graphic organizers may also benefit this learning style when studying.

Most people are a combination of learning types. For many of us, we don't discover how we learn or study best without much trial and error.  For younger children, simply paying attention to how they respond to different activities can often reveal their learning styles. If you have an older child, you'll need to look more closely at how successful they are when studying. If you find that your older child does well with daily work but struggles with tests and other evaluation formats requiring studying, it may be that your child simply doesn't know how best to study.

If you have questions about learning styles or study skills, please feel free to ask as a comment. This will allow other parents to benefit from your question as well.

Blessings,