Lesson 7: Problem Solving for Success
Pacing
While pacing is one of the most important aspects of lesson preparation, it is also one of the most difficult. Expect to make mistakes for a while. Only trial and error will teach you the best pacing for your child.
A lesson must not move too quickly or too slowly. It must not be too exciting or too dull. In other words, a good lesson and a good homeschooling day must be right in the middle. Some of your day will be dull and other parts will be fun.
Begin by planning an individual class. Suppose you are teaching single-digit addition to a hyperactive child. First you do a review to make sure he understands and remembers what was taught over the last few days. You do this by placing problems on the wipe-off board and asking him to solve them while explaining what he is doing. This is more stimulating than working alone on a worksheet, but is not overly active. Next you send him to his desk to do ten problems alone. This is quiet seat work and may be difficult. You know that when he finishes, he will need to move around. You still need more drill, so how can you liven up the drill? Active children learn best when they aren’t trying to force themselves to sit, so you play a game. Your child stands at one end of the hallway. A chalkboard is at the other end. You write a problem on the board and your child runs to the chalkboard, writes the answer and runs back. This gets his wiggles out, but continues the lesson time. However, you don’t want to continue this for long, or he will get so excited you won’t be able to settle him down. The next activity should be intermediate again, not too active and not too quiet. It is a transition back to quietness. You have him work with small objects to review the concept of addition. He is moving, but sitting still and being quiet. Then he can move on to some seat work again.
Once you have learned to pace a lesson, think about your day. A quiet math lesson might be followed by a science experiment. Don’t plan one long fun-filled day. If you play a rousing math game, follow it up with a science experiment, act out the Revolutionary War and make mud pies, you will have wired children who will not calm down and who will probably not learn. Move back and forth between fun and calm. Every lesson does not have to be fun, creative and active. Children need quiet time and they also need to learn that sometimes learning is just work. That’s life and all their lives they will need to do things that are dull. Spread out the fun so that it is memorable.
Learn to watch your children and be prepared to be flexible. If your children are getting restless or acting bored, be prepared to make a change. Try to anticipate when you need to slow down or speed up, changing just before it becomes necessary. It takes practice, and even the most experienced teachers can't get it right all the time. It's simply a goal to strive for.
