Not a Cheesy Sticker (Gabrielle)
April 16, 2009 by sharppointythings
I’d recently taken up the task of teaching Noah and Justice their letters, colors, numbers and parts of their bodies. We made up flashcards and we got into a routine. Then I decided that it would be a lot of fun to teach a short course on the basics of how a human body works. So I asked Crystal if I could teach the big kids and she thought this was an awesome idea so we did a unit study on the human body. And it was a lot of fun.
It was just the basics so I never felt overwhelmed with trying to explain something I barely understood. We would have a short lesson, just one body part or concept at a time, and a bunch of review so I never got bored and I never lost the children’s interest. I got to translate bodily functions and bits into a language I thought the children would understand and had to find examples and illustrations they would resonate with. We talked about bones and joints and muscles and I discovered that I really like teaching.
When I took the Strengths Finder test way back when one of my top five strengths was Developer. This means that I am good at and enjoy seeing people take get better at things in small steps and increments. At the time the made sense to me and I was cool with it, but I wasn’t really sure what to do with this strength. Short of turning into a cheesy inspirational sticker (Great Job! You Can Do It! I Believe In You!!) around people who were working on a project I didn’t see the practical application of this strength. And since I’m really not that big on getting punched in the face repeatedly when other people are working on a project I tried to make sure I didn’t consciously practice this strength.
But I’m figuring out that it’s not something I necessarily have to go out and do. It’s something I like and I’m good at; I’ll just do it naturally. Which brings us back to teaching. When I first started flashcards with the little boys they didn’t know one letter from another. They didn’t really know their colors or what their heel was. And now they do. We blitz through the alphabet and I’ve started introducing sound combinations. The older children and I finished our study of the body and we’ve moved on to the animal kingdoms. After that is plants. They’re learning about this spinning earth bit by bit and I get to watch them do it. All I need is popcorn and it would make for a great evening.
That right there is the bestest part of homeschooling. If we sent our kids to school then they’d come home and tell us what they learned, but we’d miss out on the actual learning process. I love being there for those “Aha!” moments when something finally clicks and the kid has learned a new skill. It makes all the hard work and frustration worth it.