Good morning! I am honored to be blog swapping with yet another talented blogger- Liz from Behind the Scenes. I’ve really enjoyed reading her blog for the last month or so. So without further ado, here is Liz!
psst… I am also blogging for her today– on the subject of waiting for the right man to marry. All you single ladies, head on over for some encouragement!
Hey there More Bang For Your Buck readers! You are all so lucky to have Miss Kelli as your author! She’s fun, isn’t she?
Since Kelli is homeschooling her little cutie, how fitting is it that I will be posting about teacher tips? I won’t bore you with details, but I was a 1st grade teacher and now I’m not. It was fun, exciting, hard, stressful, challenging, rewarding, and probably the best job ever!
Do any of you homeschooling mama’s ever feel like your little one(s) aren’t getting it? Yea? Well stop feeling bad! It’s not you.
Take comprehension for example. I don’t always understand what I’m reading and I’m an adult with a college degree! So how can we expect children to ALWAYS get it?
Re-reading is key. Reading slowly helps. Taking notes works too. Those don’t sound fun to me though.
Playing games is fun though! Disguise learning as a game and you’re in. If your game is enjoyable, you can get children to want to learn. Not only that, they will want to do well.
Here’s a great “game” (you’ve gotta do the air quotes too, it makes ya feel like you’re getting away with something!) you can use to help with comprehension.
Print these, cut them out, & glue them to popsicle sticks. Toss them in a decorated cup. (key word-decorated. We want to make it look fun, remember?)
As you are reading or after you finish, have your kiddos pull out a stick. Then they have to answer the question, either verbally or in writing. And if they need to look back in the story, LET THEM! Why are we always forcing them not to use the resources they have? You don’t like being told you can’t refer to different sources, do you? So don’t do it to your children.
I usually reward with stickers because I’m working with a lot of kids at a time, but you could reward in other ways. Now, don’t think I’m one of those that thinks children need a prize after everything they do. Believe me, they don’t. But I personally like motivation. I like working towards something and if that something is occasionally a sticker {or similar}, I work harder. Use your judgment, you know your “class”. Gradually, stop providing rewards every time.
The most effective way you can teach is through experience and hands ON learning. Kids like to touch, feel, and do. They will retain more if they physically do something. So if you are learning about volcanoes, build one!
Or if it’s money week, let them budget their money and provide ways for them to earn and spend their money.
What if it’s a pilgrim study, get those browns and blues out and play dress up. Act out the 1st Thanksgiving.
I promise you can make anything fun, it just takes some thinking outside the box. Isn’t that what we are trying to get kids to do anyways?
Thank you so much Kelli for having me over! You can all visit me here or here (for more teaching tips)
Thanks Liz! I am so excited to incorporate these ideas into my homeschooling. Happy weekend everyone!
About Kelli Hays
