The dark cold days are behind us. The sun shines longer each day. Spring Break has come and gone. It is time for the last 9 weeks of the school year...that grueling marathon for parents, teachers, and students!
It is also the time for assessing progress!
This week I remembered a wonderful memory trick that helped one of my sons jog his memory under stress.
I was sitting in the hall with a stressed student. He was one of the last to finish a written math test and needed a quieter place to work. I could tell his eyes were glazing over and he was beginning to shut down. He handed me his mostly blank paper and told me that was all he could do. I knew he could do more. I asked him if he would "read" the test to me before we went back to class.
As he "read" the test aloud, his memory of how to do the problems came back! He was able to complete quite a few more problems. All this student had to do was hear himself read it to be reminded of the process to complete it. I didn't have to say a word.
All of our senses are involved in learning. Students hear instruction but they practice problems and take tests in silence. Do try this at home! Listen to your young learner work through thinking processes out loud. Ask questions and listen!
The long slow marathon of educating our children involves them absorbing and making discoveries of information that we don't give much thought to how we came to know it in the beginning. It is a mighty work and a miracle that takes place daily all over the world.
Enjoy your daily miracles. I guarantee they are there.
LeAnne