Do I explain it again? Should we practice this more?
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Hey Reader, Your child gives an answer. It's wrong. What happens next? Well, if you're anything like most homeschool moms, you probably have a few possibilities running through your head. Do I explain it again? Should we practice this more? Did I teach it clearly enough? Do we need to go back and review something? Those are reasonable questions. Sometimes our kids really do need another explanation or some additional practice. But before we decide what to do next, there's something else worth noticing. What happened in their thinking? Let's say your child is trying to predict what will happen in a story. They make a prediction based on what they know so far. Then something new happens. Suddenly they say, "Oh! I thought that was going to happen, but now I think..." There's some wonderful thinking happening there. Your child made a prediction. They received new information. They reconsidered their original idea. And they adjusted their thinking. That's not failure. That's reasoning! Now imagine a similar thing happens during a math lesson. Your child reaches an incorrect answer, notices something doesn't make sense, and goes back to try a different method. There may still be a skill that needs attention. But the fact that they're recognizing a problem and reconsidering their approach is useful information, too. It helps you understand more than whether the final answer was correct. That's important because sometimes we're so focused on the outcome that we miss the thinking that led there. Here's something to notice today. When your child changes an answer, adjusts an idea, or tries a different strategy, pay attention to what prompted the change.
You don't have to manufacture an opportunity for this. Just notice it if it happens. We're not pretending mistakes automatically equal learning. We're recognizing that understanding how our kids arrive at an answer can tell us more than checking whether the answer is correct. And when we understand the thinking, we can make better decisions about what to do next. Sometimes that's additional instruction. Sometimes it's giving them room to try again. And sometimes it's celebrating that they recognized something wasn't working and made an adjustment. There's no wrong way to homeschool, and there isn't one perfect way for kids to learn. âď¸Christy's Cornerâď¸ Take 10 minutes to journal or hit reply and share your thoughts with me, because when you give yourself room to grow, your homeschool grows with you. When was the last time one of your kids changed their mind after getting new information? What helped them reconsider their original idea?
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