My principal used to call me a controlled chaos teacher. That’s not a technical term for a teaching style but he used it to describe the sense that my classroom was always noisy, always busy, students were always up sharpening pencils and talking. . .but everyone was on task. I was very comfortable with noise, and group activities, and kids up and I taught much better that way. In fact, even as a home schooling mom, I don’t do workbooks (except for math), and there is a certain level of controlled chaos in my home. But that’s just me.
Teaching Style vs. Learning Style
Perhaps if you have just one child or maybe even two, it’s possible to cater every single thing that you do towards that child’s learning style. If you have a child with special needs you’ll find that you really have to cater towards that child’s learning style. But I think in the home schooling world, homeschoolers have forgotten about the importance of teaching style.
In fact, (and I know people who disagree with me) I say that teaching style is significantly more important than learning style. Your best teaching style is how you communicate information most effectively. Using your teaching style will help you teach the information clearly and often, it can help you communicate the information in your child’s learning style. Also, if you have more than one or two children that your home schooling, and they all have different learning styles, defining your teaching style can help you focus your lessons. Remember, your teaching style is the way that you communicate information the most effectively.
For homeschoolers, identifying your teaching style is the first step in making your curriculum work for you rather than you being its slave. For example, my kids’ math curriculum comes with workbooks and manipulative. I have mentioned before that I hate workbooks. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with them it’s just not my style. Anyways, I use the famed Saxon math that is known for being boring, and unexciting. So we use the workbook sparingly, and my children still get the practice they need and they understand the concepts.
Check back soon to see what your learning style might be.
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