Identifying the Gaps In Your Child's Knowledge Base
No matter how efficient your child's school is, there will be areas of the curriculum that will be breezed over, sections your child misses on days he's absent and areas he just doesn't hear because he's having a bad day. This leads to "gaps" in your child's knowledge base.
How do you find the gaps in your child's knowledge when it isn't apparent? Even if the gaps are apparent, how do you pinpoint them?
1. First, at the teacher conference, ask the teacher specifically: "What areas does __ need to work on?" Keep in mind that if your child's teacher knew how to fill these gaps, she probably would; so don't press for solutions right away.
2. Talk with other teachers who work with your child. For example, our children's Tae Kwan Do teacher was able to point out a bilateral dexterity problem that was easily solved.
3. If you have an intuition, follow through with it. Spend a few minutes of your commute time or meal-prep time thinking about how your children are developing.
4. Talk with your child. I believe this is the most important step. Our children are amazingly adept at identifying their own weaknesses. You'll probably get an "All Clear" from your child at first, but if you communicate to your child that you really want to help, your child will open up and let you know what needs fixing.
To facilitate talking with your child, you might want to try the CMC (Child-Mom Conference). It's a tradition we started in our family that has proved our most helpful tool over the years. The CMC is a meeting held preferably at bedtime where the parent meets with the child one-on-one to discuss the child's development. The CMC covers all areas of development, not just the academic areas, but other areas such as spiritual knowledge and social abilities. The parent uses a special CMC journal to record the minutes of the meeting while the child is free to talk. In the journal, write:
Date: Physical: Social: Emotional: Academic: Spiritual:
The parent asks the child, "How do you think you are doing physically? Is there anything you want to improve?" Here's what the journal might look like after one successful CMC:
Date: Sept. 4 Physical: I really like Tae Kwan Do. I want to be a black belt before next May. I need to start practicing my forms every night for 5 or 10 minutes. I need to eat healthier. I always get a stomachache during afternoon recess. Maybe if I ate my lunch it'd help. I'll try it this week.
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