Homeschooling Resources

Welcome.

In this area, I've gathered some of my favorite educational and parenting resources, as well as my general thoughts on how various resources fit into the lives of homeschooling families. On this page, you'll find:

People have many different ideas about how children learn. Lots of books discuss educational methods and philosophies. Sifting through this theory to find ideas that work for you and your family is one of the more challenging parts of homeschooling.

I've read a great many books on education. This section covers some of the books I've liked most.

I've written reviews for some of these books. A book with a review is not better than a book that has no review. If a book has a review,it only means that, at some point, I was motivated to write a review.

I've been getting a lot out of Dawna Markova's book How Your Child Is Smart_ which discusses how different children learn and organize information.

Markova's main thrust is that each of us has one of the major senses (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) plumbed to one each of the channels (she calls them conscious, subconscious, and unconscious; I find that a little vague from a biological point of view, but it works well enough that I let it be).

The conscious channel governs how a child best absorbs information. Auditory children learn best by being told, visual children by being shown, and kinesthetic children by doing or motion. It's really helped me realize that I can't get through to Mati by jawing at her; I have to use gestures and motion, to touch her when I speak to her, to connect kinesthetically. When I coach, I need to bring all three types of communication into play.

The subconscious channel governs how a child organizes information. We kinesthetic subconscious sorts are great pile-makers. Organization is spatial; we need to move to think about a problem. Visual subconscious types make lists and draw charts (these are no doubt the people who find flow charts useful). Auditory subconscious sorts like to talk things through, to invent songs and jingles, to use little ditties to incorporate things.

The unconscious channel governs our most sensitive areas. Input on the unconscious channels easily overload a person. Criticism or appreciation on the unconscious channel has the greatest emotional impact on a person. The unconscious channel was the greatest revelation to me; it covers the child's undefended fortresses, the areas where she's least able to cope with input.

An auditory-unconscious child zones out when you talk at her but is most deeply moved when you tell you love her or verbally criticize her. This is not the child you want to lecture or call names. Use words sparingly with this type of child and choose them carefully.

A visual-unconscious person fails to see the chaos around her but is paradoxically greatly irritated by visual clutter. She's easily overwhelmed by visual input. A dirty look or a nasty note upsets this type greatly. An appreciative note, a smile, a warm and welcoming gesture all mean a lot to this type.

The kinesthetic-unconscious child overloads on too much motion or physical contact. Touch means a lot to her, but a little goes a long way. Sports like basketball may be more than this sort can stand; too much motion causes her to zone out.