The Teach/Learn Blogging Carnival hosted by Science@home is for anyone, because we are all teachers and learners. This month our theme is “English”, including Speaking, Listening, Reading and Viewing. I think our bloggers have covered all of these and there are lots of resources and game ideas, plus a giveaway. Please read through to the end to find links to the other participating blogs.
Theme: English – this is before Literacy and Numeracy week, but English includes Speaking, Listening, Reading, Writing and Viewing.
Due: Wednesday 14th July
Date: Monday 19th July (live on Sunday 18th)
Learning English to Argue
My son and daughter get pelted with the same questions in the car when I pick them up. What did you do in school today? Who did you eat lunch with? Who did you play with. Sometimes I vary it so I can get a glimmer into what they’ve got up to the whole day.
One day, my son (8yo) pipes up that he learned how to develop a reasoned argument. Pardon me? What did you learn at your age? “A reasoned argument, daddy.” Alright, what were you taught?
He said that the teacher taught him using the acronym ‘OREO. ‘ Opinion, reason, explanation, and re-state the opnion. He then went on to give me a really great example of using ‘OREO’ to highlight why we need to save the environment. Wow!
This is the kind of training I never thought he’d get in school. Or at least it was never the kind of training I got in school. That’s a reason why I’ve tried to share with him things like mind-mapping, acronyms like STAR and following a logical reasoned process to develop story ideas. But few are as nice and as elegant as the OREO cookie acronym.
Opinion: English should teach ways of thinking logically
Reason: Grammar and vocabulary are basic level information and English can be inspired by reading good literature
Example: I’ve studied literature and can churn out good sentences, but can still stumble on a story if I can’t create a logical sequence of events that appeals to my reader
Opinion: Providing thinking skills plus language fundamentals is a great way to structure English classes
Using the OREO acronym, my son then demonstrates how we can save the environment by cutting down less trees. Isn’t that amazing?
The Teach/Learn Blogging Carnival hosted by @ScienceMum has come round again and submissions are due in tomorrow for publishing on July 18th 2010. I plan to submit something I learned from my son recently – he was taught how to perform a ‘reasoned argument’ as part of his English language studies. Can you believe an 8yo coming up with a beaufully constructed reasoned argument? I was blown away.
Look out for my submission beginning next week.
Cheers, Colin
ps. More importantly, there’s going to be an announcement tomorrow about a giveaway by Protect-A-Bed®. Check back with this blog at 6:45am tomorrow for details on how to qualify for the giveaway!!! Hope you get something.
This is a painting of Mt St Victoire by William Wee (Aged 8), done as part of his holiday school-at-home program.
My Art over Maths program is another way in which I try to integrate various different elements of the human condition in order for William to look at the world in a different way. As I was telling my wife, I want to do what his school can’t do for him – and that is to be able to pull something out of my arse and to just deconstruct it on-the-fly.
He had finished sketching the outline of the mountain, and was starting to work on the paints when I started this conversation with him.
Me: Did you know this guy painted this mountain over 60 times?
Wills: Really, why did he do that?
Me: You know, there was a guy who climbed Mt Everst, and when asked why he did it, he replied “Because it was there.” Some people are driven to do things because they had to. Cezanne was just obsessed with this mountain and just kept going back to it.
Wills: So it wasn’t a good obsession?
Me: It was neither good not bad, he just was drawn to it. And his work, through his simple need, placed him as one of the most important artists of the 20th century. So what is it that might drive you? That’s a good question to ask yourself.
In Primary School Maths – Should I Push My Child I talk about inspiring Wills8 mentally but know how important it is not to burn him out so young. I have however restarted my ’school holiday program’ for him, but with less focus on English and Maths as I did a year ago.
Today, I pulled out an art appreciation program focusing on the Post-Impressionistic artist Paul Cezanne (1839 – 1906). Here is the gist of what I’m doing:
Overview, humanize, and explore key techniques of the artist using writeup from Wikipedia [here]
Understand impressionism as textures of light being studied
Explore selected quotations to explore what Cezanne felt was important to his art [here]
Overview Cezanne’s poetry to understand his inner demons [here]
Replicate Cezanne’s art by providing an example of his work ‘Mt St Victoire’ [here] and a picture of the actual landscape [here]
Recount a story of the first time I looked at Mt St Victoire while driving out of Aix-en-provence, and not being able to recognise the mountain despite having studied so many of Cezanne’s pieces
Use software to pixellate family pictures to study light and textures
Choose a recipe from ‘Impressionist Picnics,’ prepare and cook it with the family
Cezzane's Mountain
Impressionism and Post-Impressionism is easy to talk about because I’ve superficially studied it before. Impressionism is accessible because many of the issues affecting those artists can be understood by a widely-travelled child – William had no problem. This evening, it was interesting to have represented the artists as lenses to an agrarian ‘reality’ which the everyday man was longing for; a the return to a more bountiful lifestyle. And more importantly, for my son to understand what on Earth I was talking about!
As I knew he would, Wills jumped on the activity to sketch out the mountain, and was very excited to manipulate photo images to understand how an impressionistic artist saw the light play on everyday objects.
I’d like to leave you with a quotation from Cezanne, which I hope will also help Will see the human condition behind any media.
A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art.
When you were born, we registered you a place in a reputable private school here in Perth for entry in year four. Time has whizzed by, and walking through their campus leaves me excited about your future. Private school has much to offer someone with your ability. A wide variety of sports and interest groups. Lots of peers; more than a few from a similar background and culture to your own. And what appears to be a strong focus on academic progress.
Your current school however, has not dropped the ball. As a Montessori institution, they promise a nurturing environment and a holistic approach to education. Their one-on-one approach to growth is fantastic for one as curious, as capable, and as driven as you are. Time and time again I have been impressed with their system and their passion.
I am encouraging you to stay with Montessori. You have prospered with their generosity of spirit, and I foresee you flourishing intellectually whilst enjoying your childhood. I am advising you to enjoy your youth – which other Asian parent will tell you the same thing?
Whether private school or Montessori, whether now or later, it is your decision. We will support you.
Welcome to the May Teach/Learn Blogging Carnival, ‘Kids and Learning.’
The Teach/Learn Blogging Carnival hosted by Science@home is for anyone, because we are all teachers and learners. This month our bloggers have come up with some wonderful suggestions for fun things to do with your kids, ways to help them learn and thoughts on what learning is. Please read to the end to find links to other blogs, you might find a wonderful new blog to follow.
Overview This post is an article submission for the ‘Kids and Learning’ themed Science@home Teach/Learn Blogging Carnival, with working title ‘How to Study Like a Black Belt.’ The article explores issues of learning and recall during challenging situations. The objective is to help parents think about the processing of studying or learning and the need for clear recall. While it can be used to hone up test taking skills, good learning processes can be applied in all other areas of life. A follow up to this article is available at A Child’s Perspective on Support Needed for Sport.
The Challenge of My Life In 1991, I found myself speeding down a long road on a mountain somewhere in the south of France and near the Italian border. The wind whipped at my face. I was alive with the rush. As the road was coming up fast ahead, I stayed focused on keeping control of the bike. Suddenly, something very wrong started occurring. The handlebars of my bicycle were taking on a life of their own, wobbling and vibrating. At that speed, I was hoping I was imagining it.
An Accident About to Happen
I was still going in a straight line, but it was clear that I couldn’t hold the handlebar steady. With increasing dread, I realised the front wheel must have blown. Pretty soon I’d lose control of the bike, and without having any protection on, I’d have nothing between my skin and at least 20 metres of road. Head injuries were a big possibility too, given I wasn’t issued any proper head protection.
Aside from massive abrasions, I might also sustain head injury … It was bleak.
The decision not to go down with the bike and to take control of my own fall was made very quickly (see The Single Most Important Lesson in Martial Arts). With no time to lose I jammed the handlebars to the left, tucked into the most perfect forward roll of my life. The first two rolls were perfect, huge forward turns with pressure displaced all along my body. I started barreling on the third cycle. The last two were left in the hands of fate. On what was to be the sixth rotation, I found myself sitting on the bitumen upright.
Surviving and Walking Away Unscathed
In disbelief I stood up and patted myself down. My hands were numb from the cold and couldn’t feel much through the adrenaline, but there were no broken bones nor head injuries. I had some light abrasions on my left elbow, right shoulder and left hip. But I had done the unthinkable, I literally took my life in my own hands, jumped off abike travelling around 60kmh without protective equipment and walked away on my own two feet.
The amazing thing is that in that split second, I accessed skills that I had acquired in only about a month of practice during my early teen years, and had only rehearsed them infrequently since. Whilst I was then already a black belt, those skills were in no way a major part of our focus. Basically I pitted beginner level rolling skills against a life threatening situation and performed them perfectly.
How to Study Like a Black Belt
The black belt however, is not the end of a person’s martial arts journey. It is really only the beginning. The young black belt has a good overview of the basics and is ready to start looking at the martial arts in earnest. Black belts however, are equipped to think on their feet and to string together basic skills. In this way, the black belt becomes more than the sum of his individual training. This approach is what I am dissecting for those parents interested in further developing their child beyond what he gets at school and those who might want to improve on children asking you ‘how to study.’
… the black belt becomes more than the sum of his individual training.
Tomorrow is the first ever Teach/Learn Blogging Carnival hosted by Science@home.
My entry ‘Black Belt Learning Skills 101′ talks about the role of parents and how it is important to incrementally prepare your child for the challenges they face later in life. Taking lessons from my 26+ years in the martial arts, I attempt to summarise key features of black belt training.
Few other areas drive and challenge a person as hard as the martial arts, and the approach of martial training could help a child prepare for difficulties faced, for e.g. tests, exams, public speaking, music concerts, etc. Parents – why don’t you share some inspiration and tell me how you help your kids prepare for the challenges they face?
In my post, I
talk about a true-life incident where I nearly lost my life and how basic skills learned when I was a young teenager literally saved my hide,
include a slideshow of what I do when I’m not masquerading as The Original SuperParent, and
share my Top 5 Tips of how to prepare for challanges like a Black Belt.
My post Black Belt Learning Skills for Children will be available here from 6:30am Perth time.
The NAPLAN test came under scrutiny in the West Australian, with one ‘top school’ claiming that there are other schools that cross the ‘ethical line.’
The article describes the NAPLAN process rife with problems, claiming that Principals receiving NAPLAN test kits a week before the test can nudge students to getting bettter grades. Teachers too apparently were on it too, able to help students doing the NAPLAN test with answers or providing extra time to complete the test. (See Herald Sun’s Warnings that schools can cheat their way to success in NAPLAN).
Why wouldn’t a school cross the ethical line with the NAPLAN test? The NAPLAN test may not correlate with the syllabus used to teach students nor the learning process (see So Now What? The Smart State) , but poses a problem because results are hugely significant to the ranking of the school, and thus the intake of new students in the following year.
The problem is no one is around to audit the test process; the NAPLAN is independently administered by each school and no one is the wiser if some fraud occurs. Just like the another recent academic facility the ‘My School Website,’ NAPLAN is a “blunt and inadequate instrument.” Mostly, parents are in the dark and have little opinion about the NAPLAN.
As a resident in WA, I’d like to see a more applicable test being used to judge the merit of schools, but not for purely academic-oriented indices. Quality of environment, one-to-one focus, teaching, community support, sport, extracurricular activities and size of school should all be factors that help improve the ranking of schools. Academic markers for the Year 3s and Year 5s are not the best indicators of educational quality.
One educator I respect highly spoked with me recently and said “let’s get this testing out of the way, and some real learning happening.”
In my post November of last year Primary School Maths, I was looking into Wills(8) and how he didn’t seemed to be stimulated sufficiently in school. Since that post, I’ve researched primary school maths syllabus, done two series of holiday ‘home schooling’ or ‘catch up,’ and have chatted with his teacher twice regarding this situation.
Primary School Mathematics ... and Excel?
The teacher in-confidence told us that Wills was extremely gifted, and was in fact challenging her as a teacher. This mirrors my appraisal of his ability to learn material way beyond his school grade. It’s a pleasure to teach him and I’ve enjoyed the intellectual relationship we form during the holidays. I am frankly amazed at how easily he grasps primary school maths even beyond grade 5 with no problem.
But my opinion is that he is now in grade 3; he doesn’t need to do grade 5 primary school maths just because he can, he should just expand his exposure to other aspects of learning. He can do grade 5 primary school maths when he is in grade 5. Why burn him out? Whatever test or exam he’s going to face isn’t going to change because he’s covered material earlier on. Wills should just take it in his stride and enjoy life a little more at this stage – I like what the Learning Queen quotes that there should be a 4th ‘R’ to the usual 3 Rs, and that is ‘Recess’. I certainly don’t want him to lose interest at this early stage.
So I’ve told his teacher that it isn’t important to push him too hard to cover material that he will eventually cover. At this point in time, it is more important for him to broaden his experiences. Learn geography, sculpture, even coffee making for goodness sake. In fact, because his ability and rate of progress is quite foreign to me, I’d really appreciate advice of how to engage and develop a young gifted child. What thoughts do you have to help a child of that age explore the world?
The Original SuperParent Colin Wee held court with school children in his daughter’s class recently.
The session to present Chinese New Year to the children was part of a parent-inspired initiative to share various cultures and their festivals throughout the year. Parent guests are invited to come in and speak for 20-25 minutes, and to interact with children.
Original SuperParent Holds Court with School Children Feb 2010
The Original SuperParent read a story about Chinese New Year, and discussed some of the more child-oriented aspects as practiced in South East Asia. Chinese New Year for children is remembered as a time for receiving red packets filled with money, and eating lots of good foods and dessert throughout the two weeks it is celebrated. In Perth’s Western Suburbs, however, this might be reduced to receiving red packets over a couple of days, and organising a reunion dinner before Chinese New Year, and possibly a lunch the day of.
Talking about culture within the family is an opportunity to share intimate glimpses of our own unique place in our culture. Children, as they grow, find solace in the understanding of race, ethnicity, nationality and heritage. We should then balance the discussion of cultural sameness with a backdrop of individual uniqueness – which provides a healthy and respectful outlook for our children.
