While my typical 9 to 5 day remains insanely busy (but I'm sure it is the same for everyone else!), being productive and efficient contribute a great deal to my happiness!
I love to be able to acknowledge the fact that, at the end of the day, I have spent my time wisely. It is such a fabulous feeling, which in itself, serves as an adrenaline booster.
As a family, I am pleased that we are juggling our routine really well, despite the fact that I teach 10 hours every weekend. Perhaps because of that, E and I have made extra effort to ensure there is quality family time on weekends to do family activities and outings. Whatever else that I can get done during the week is fitted in nicely, be it kids' play dates, housework, my class preparation and finding time for my own social life.
It helps that my 3.5 yrs old doesn't attend any enrichment programmes, other than his regular 3-hr daily nursery and the weekly half-hr swim class with his brother. Even though my 5.5 yrs old also attends a piano class (30 min) and art class (60 min) on top of my lapbooking class, there is minimal ferrying to and fro.
On a weekly basis, I spend a cumulative time of 1 to 2 hours with each boy on home-learning tasks.
So how does it work?
For most weeks, Chip sits with me for 1 to 3 sessions per week, each between 20 to 45 min. Sometimes, we may chock up only 60 to 75 min of home-learning a week. Much of this time is spent on the trans-disciplinary thematic activities and lapbooking, similar to what I teach my students (in the lapbooking classes). Some days, we just spend the whole time playing 'special games' which I have designed with specific learning objectives.
Above: During our learning sessions. I love the way he concentrates on his tasks.
Marcus has 3 to 4 sessions per week, of 20 to 40 min each time with me, during which he works on whatever that I have set aside for him.
And that's it. They are done for the week!
The rest of the time is spent on free-play, drawings, Lego and art/craft; the latter may be initiated by me or the kids. Whenever the kids request to be read to during the day, I oblige and we read for as long as they like.
The boys still spend an average of 5 to 7 hours on unstructured play everyday, which sometimes include heading outdoor for walks, leisure swim, sand play and visits to playgrounds etc.
One thing that I avoid doing is to overplan! I don't start off with a master plan or a weekly list. Some people like that, but it doesn't work for me at home.
For my boys, I adopt a macro-view of learning outcomes to achieve within a certain time-frame (usually 6-months period) and learn to manage with flexibility, while always keeping an eye on the final goal.
It is not about whether they can read a book or not, or whether they are primary one-ready!
It is always about raising inquisitive children who are inspired to learn and capable of learning independently.
It is no brainer that kids who have the passion to learn will be more effective learners. And that is provided, of course, that our coaching methods are effective. Then, even if the child spends just 1.5 hrs (cumulative time) a week, you will see results. Results that will boost his confidence enough, for him to want to learn more.
Which child doesn't want to feel good about himself?
This routine of home-learning has worked beautifully for us so far. We shall keep to it for another few months.
4 comments:
Very inspiring post! I fully agree that homelearning should be managed on a bite-sized basis...where the sum of all parts make up an incredibly inquisitive child through short sessions of learning a day. I also cannot agree more on the positive effects of unstructured play to enhance our children's creativity! However, unlike you, I do depend on a master plan each month, probably because I only have about 2-3 hours each day to spend with my girls during weekdays when I work.
Actually when I said I don't have a master plan, I don't mean no plans at all. I just don't plan nitty gritty stuff like a daily To-Do list or have a time-table to follow.
As my boys are doing the same lapbooking activities as my lapbooking students and I always have a very detailed lesson plan for each lapbook that we make in classes, I just use the same lesson plan with my boys and top up with more activities when we have more time.
If I were to homeschool my boys, I would want a stricter routine and have them follow a daily time-table to instill the discipline.
Hi,
I do lapbook with my 4yo son ocassionaly.I notice that he couldn't remember the contents very well. Perhaps he could remember 30-50% of it. I read to him few books daily.
May i know what is your view or suggestion to help kids like my son who is not easy to retain information learnt?
He could read some words now but needs lots of repetitions and quite forgetful thought.
May i know how do you teach your kids chinese and math?
Do you think those mental mathematic enrichment classes eg:CMA would benefit the child?
Appreciate your comments.
Thank you.
Hi rabbitlaughing, how well a child can remember what's learnt depends on the effectiveness of the teaching method, the types of activities introduced, the child's ability to focus during lessons, categorize and recall the details learnt, amongst other factors.
In my classes, the lapbook is only a collection of materials that help to reinforce the learning.
The KEY element to EFFECTIVE learning lies in the trans-disciplinary thematic activities that are introduced in every lesson and the way the lessons are carried out.
These activities are specially designed to help students learn concepts in self-exploratory and interactive manner. Learning is most effective when a child is actively involved in the learning process. In addition, there are lots of activities every week that aid a child to train and develop his memory skills. So over time, our students learn to categorize knowledge into meaningful groups and recall them easily.
My children learn Maths and Chinese as part of their lapbooking activities. For Chinese, I also try to read widely to them and encourage their efforts to speak good Mandarin. It is the same approach that I have used to lay a good foundation on their English.
Hope this helps.
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