Breaking Up the Learning Process

3 situations came up this week that made me think about breaking up learning processes into parts.

Our eldest child is doing an online Driver's Ed class, and soon will start driver's ed driving instruction, both with her parents and through a certified school.

We've talked a LOT about driving.  The reality is that many young drivers are bad drivers.  Partly it is inexperience, partly it is a foolish belief that nothing bad can happen, partly it is sheer recklessness.

Naomi isn't experienced, of course, but I'm not worried about the other 2 issues.  She has a healthy respect for driving and cars.

One thing that is true is that driving a car requires learning many skills.  So one needs to learn what the signs mean, and how to steer, and how to hold down the accelerator, and how to brake well, and how to check the gas tank, and what to do if mysterious lights turn on, and how to handle the other million cars out there.  There are many skills.

I thoroughly believe that most people do better if they can practice skills individually, and then integrate them.   So I'm guessing that when Naomi gets her temps, we'll do some practicing in deserted areas so she can focus on driving without worrying about other vehicles.  Kevin and I both are amazed that we started driver's ed by being tossed into driving in public immediately. In retrospect, it is surprising there aren't more accidents by totally new drivers.

At the other end of the age spectrum is potty training, currently part of Daniel's life.  This too requires separate skills. He has to figure out underwear, and potty seats, and flushing, and washing his hands.  With our older kids, I sometimes tried to combine all the skills immediately. I'm now more laid back and willing to let the children practice one skill at a time.

The last situation isn't ours. We have a friend whose young son is struggling in the public school setting, and she is considering homeschooling him.  His "roadblock" is reading. Public schools tend to be very reading intensive.  Even math requires reading to understand what needs to be done.  Math also requires being able to write down numbers quickly, which would have been impossible for our older boys when they were younger as they have a handwriting glitch.

So this boy is miserable at school, and has been burdened with literally HOURS of nightly homework because he reads poorly, hates the whole process, and can't get through his work in a timely manner.  His entire life is consumed by school, and he is very unhappy.

I much prefer separating the skills in a reasonable way.  If a child has trouble reading, but is great at math, focus on math!  Let him proceed quickly and well in math.  Accommodate for the bottlenecks. Don't hold him back in math because he can't read well or because he can't write down numbers quickly.

If a child has a reading glitch, he can do many things orally.  We have history programs that are on CD, and many books can be borrowed from our library that are on audio. He can learn and delight IN learning, without making him swim through the bottleneck of an area in which he struggles.

I think one reason I was successful in school is that I am a SUPER visual person, and reading came easily.  My auditory memory is really bad though, and I had to accommodate by taking copious notes when I attended lectures. I was able to accommodate, but I think kids who struggle with visual learning (either reading or just because of eyesight problems) can struggle mightily in our culture.

I sometimes think about how I would have done in an oral culture. I suspect people would have thought me slow and stupid.

Just food for thought...