Teaching and Learning

We have just finished our year of homeschooling our 3-turned-4-year-old last week. By homeschooling, I mean working with Teacher Mira of Smile and Shine Tutorial Center. She helped me by translating (converting?) her face-to-face school readiness program for 2- to 6-year-olds to a homeschooling one, with a twice-a-week session of online learning.

It was challenging, but I learned a lot! I’m not a teacher myself, so it really made me appreciate the work that teachers do, from making lesson plans to carrying them out—and then checking to see if the lessons hit their mark. Many times, we would adjust the activity on the fly to get the student to work, and it helped a lot that Teacher would include the learning targets in her plan. Teachers also get to know the kids and their habits, which helps them adjust their strategy to succeed.

Learnings from teaching

So, what have I learned in one year of homeschooling? The things I share here are just some of my thoughts that parents might find useful, whether they are homeschooling or not.

1. Teach kids not to fear correction. Many children these days are crippled by the fear of making a mistake. One of my girls, for instance, took too long to answer an essay homework, and when I asked her why, I realized she was waiting for me to be exasperated enough to answer it myself. (She took forever but answered it herself eventually.) Many children are afraid that their own answer does not cut it! We should remind our little ones that one of the ways in which to learn is to make a mistake. In fact, sometimes, making a mistake is a better teacher than not erring at all. So, while I was directly teaching my son, one of the things I would tell him is, “If you are not sure, it’s okay to make a guess. And if you are wrong, I will correct you.” Correction isn’t something to be afraid of but something to be grateful for!

2. If communication is impossible, try whispering. I do not have a teacher’s patience so throughout the year I found myself losing my cool, especially when my son would cut off communication lines. (He would give me the silent treatment!) From Teacher Mira, I learned this tip. When I tried whispering to him, he was all ears. It’s a good strategy to fall back on, especially when tempers have gone out the window; whispering is being deliberately quiet, so physically it quiets down the parent’s mood as well.

3. Name the virtues you want them to learn. In Teacher Mira’s class, we had a virtue every month. I realized that the virtues chants and songs that we would repeat every day was a good way to get my son to be aware of the behavior that is being asked of him. If he can name them, then he can do them better. It also helps me to correct him whenever he is not practicing a virtue; I just remind him the chants—or just an excerpt—and he remembers.

These are just three of the many things I learned from the last school year—I distilled it to what I think other people can benefit from, as the many other things I learned are particularly for myself as a person and a parent. I told Teacher Mira that I took advantage of her virtues lessons for my own growth as well. I examined myself at the end of the day on how I lived the particular virtue that I was teaching my child.

I guess this is one way schooling (not homeschooling in particular—but general education and learning) is so good for families. Learning together and growing together just, well... go together!

"We should remind our little ones that one of the ways in which to learn is to make a mistake. In fact, sometimes, making a mistake is a better teacher than not erring at all."