QuiverX Newsletter - Are You Speaking My Language?

Parenting

One of the things I have realized as we have more children is that each of them is a truly unique individual. I know that seems obvious, and most people would say that they realize it. Yet many parents don't interact with their children as though they were unique. Many parents assume that their way of doing things is the right way, so their children should do things the same way. While this may be true in some areas, often it is not.

In my quest to raise my children and understand them, I have studied personality styles. As I've read more and more on the subject, I realized that I had been making that egocentric assumption that my way was the best way. For instance, I had assumed that my daughter couldn't do her schoolwork as well with music in the background because I don't work well that way. When I had this revelation, I tried letting her do her schoolwork with music in the background and she did very well. Even more importantly, she was happy (well, happier, anyway) to do her schoolwork.

Over the years as our family has grown, I have worked to understand the personality strengths and weaknesses of each of our children. There are many different ways to quantify personalities, and when you begin researching learning styles there are even more. I think this is such an important subject that I will write about it for several newsletters. Hopefully it will give you some tools to understand yourself, your spouse, your children and others.


Homeschooling

Let's start with a learning style category that is very important when you homeschool. Generally there are three ways for a person to learn something new - auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. Auditory involves hearing the information, perhaps from a lecture or book on tape. Visual involves what you see, perhaps from a book or movie, or watching a demonstration. Kinesthetic involves touching and moving, perhaps through doing an experiment or doing an action. Most people have one method that is stronger, and perhaps a second method. Some people are well balanced among all three.

Most classrooms expect a student to learn in a visual way, although an auditory learner would probably do fairly well. A kinesthetic learner would likely struggle because the traditional classroom doesn't provide very much kinesthetic learning opportunities. In a homeschooling environment, you have the flexibility to provide the learning opportunities that your child needs. One of my sons is very strongly kinesthetic. He learned phonics by running across the room to get the flashcard with the proper letter on it, and I still let him pace the floor while he is reciting his memory work. Both of my daughters are very auditory. They actually work better when they have music in the background. One of them learns her spelling by singing the letters while she studies them. I am a very visual learner. I remember somebody's name best when I see it written or when I write it down. Trying to learn while moving or listening to music distracts me. I have had to learn to see things through my child's eyes, and help them find the learning methods that work best for them.


Quick Tip
K.I.S.S. - Keep It Super Simple

Sports - If you have children who are involved in sports, you can identify with how crazy that can make your life. Our family does karate and it can be pretty overwhelming. There are uniforms and gear to keep track of, and the schedule for getting everyone to class each week is challenging. Here are a couple of tips that have helped us. I hope they will give you some ideas for handling the logistics of your family's extracurricular activities

- Each person has their own gearbag. All gear is kept in the bags except during use. Uniforms are kept in the bag unless they are in the laundry.
- Laundry pens are your friend! Mark those uniforms with an initial or some other designation so you know what belongs to whom. For dark colored items we use a silver sharpie.
- Dinner can be crazy when you are gone to classes or practices all night. Buying dinner out every week (or more than once each week) can break your budget. I make a simple dinner for us to eat in the car - sandwiches, string cheese, crackers, sliced apples, juice (in a jug with cups). I also do a larger lunch on days when we have class.
- Bring toys for the younger kids to play with during other people's classes. This will keep them busy so they won't be a distraction. We like Matchbox cars and dominos.


Bible Verse

Deut 6:7-9 (NKJV) "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."