Quote from Forum Archives on March 20, 2002, 12:11 pm

Posted by: homenews <homenews@...>

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THE HOPE CHEST:
Issue #48 part 3: "What Do You Think?"
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Part 3: MORE Thoughts from Virginia

• On Asking "WHY?"
• The Basics of Basis
• Thinking Skills Activities and Curriculum
• Left Brain / Right Brain
• The Spice of Life

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ON ASKING "WHY?"
by Virginia Knowles
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It's the most dreaded word in the English language, at least for mothers
of small children! "WHY?" After a while, the answers "BECAUSE I SAID SO!" or "JUST BECAUSE!" just don't cut it. Take heart, dear mothers. Since you are a home school mom, the question WHY can actually be your one of your very best friends. Why? Because it can be the most powerful motivator
your child has to learn!

• "Why does it rain?"
• "Why is the sky blue?"
• "Why did the accident victim go to the hospital in a helicopter instead
of an ambulance?"
• "Why is the bald eagle the U.S. national bird?"
• "Why do roses have thorns?"
• "Why did my goldfish die?"
• "Why did the pioneers go to California?"
• "Why did they have to dig holes in the ground and pour cement in them
before they built the new house down the street?"

To which you reply, "Let's find out!" Then you grab the encyclopedia or
log on to the Internet or hop in the car to go to the local library. This
could be the start of a whole unit study! Eureka!

These thought-filled study habits will pay off in the more advanced years
of your child's education. Instead of stoking away just names and dates,
he will learn to think through WHY something happened in history. "Why
did the German people let Hitler do all of those terrible things?"
Hmmm... Did it have something to do with a bitter defeat in World War I
that led to nationalism? How about the influence of Darwin's evolutionary
theory of "the survival of the fittest" that led many to believe that
entire groups of "inferior" people should be eliminated? What about
misinformation -- did they really know what was happening? And, while
we're thinking about it, isn't it a bit of a broad statement to say that
ALL German people let this happen? What about the underground resistance
movement? What about those who tried to do something, but were
intimidated, imprisoned or executed by the Gestapo? Hmmm... Can you see
how asking WHY is such a powerful educator? After all, why do we learn
history? So we can make decisions for the future! We can't make GOOD
decisions if we memorize facts but forget to ponder the principles and
reasons behind them.

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THE BASICS OF BASIS
by Virginia Knowles
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Many years ago, while we were on a long and boring car trip, I wrote out
a list of WHY people make the decisions that they do. I wish I could
still find that list. I know it's around here somewhere! I'll just have
to try to recreate it in my brain.

People have a BASIS for their choices, and these usually involve a
combination of the following factors:

• principle -- What is right? For a Christian, this means studying Scripture.
• God's guidance -- What do I think He wants me to do in this particular
situation? (This involves prayer.)
• peer pressure -- How are my friends and the world at large doing it?
(this is affected by advertising)
• research -- What factual things have I read or heard about it?
• authority -- What have those in charge of me told me to do?
• trusted counsel -- What do the people whom I respect say about this?
• other people -- How will this decision affect them, and how will they react?

• reputation -- What will people think of me?
• external reward -- What will people do FOR me if I do this?
• external punishment -- What will people do TO me if I do this?
• tradition -- How have people (especially my family) always done it?
• habit -- How do I usually do it?
• personal role -- Who am I? What are my assigned responsibilities and tasks?
• talents -- How does this use my gifts and abilities?
• interests -- Does this catch my attention?
• trial-and-error -- What happened when I have done this before?
• emotional response -- How do I feel about it? (Am I excited, angry, sad, afraid?)
• impulse -- What do I want to do at this very instant?
• self-respect -- How will I feel about myself?
• sense of adventure -- How motivated am I to break away from what I
would naturally do?
• comfort -- Does it feel good right now?
• aesthetics -- Does it look or taste or sound good?
• amusement -- Does this make me laugh? Is it fun?
• utility -- How useful is this?
• convenience -- How much effort will this take?
• time commitment -- How much time will this take?
• cost -- How much will I have to pay?
• cost efficiency -- Is this a good value for the cost?
• opportunity cost -- What else will I have to give up in order to do this?
• profit -- What will be the material benefits, over and above the costs?
• health -- How will this affect my body -- good or bad -- in the long run?

Think about how each of these factors affect the choices you need to be
making soon, such as:

• What curriculum should I buy?
• Should we enroll in group classes this year?
• What can I cut out of my schedule?
• How should I deal with back talking?
• What should I serve for lunch?
• How can I improve my marriage?
• Where should we go to church?
• To which organizations should I donate money?

Now, think of how your children might apply the concept of basis. Which
factors will help them make these kinds of decisions, either consciously
or unconsciously:

• What topic should I choose for my science report?
• What kind of music should I listen to when Mom isn't home?
• What new hobby should I try?
• Should I take out the trash like Mom told me to?
• What book should I read next?
• Should I take the time to do my work neatly, or run outside and play?
• How should I treat my little sister when she bothers me?
• Should I take this piece of candy without paying for it?

This concept should prove to be a fruitful one for your discussions!

 

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THINKING SKILLS
ACTIVITIES AND CURRICULUM
by Virginia Knowles
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ACTIVITIES

These are just a sampling of Thinking Skills activities. I'm sure you can
THINK of a lot more!

• Talk about what you are doing in daily life. Why did you choose to buy
this instead of that, or go here instead of there? How are you going to
accomplish a certain goal? How should you respond to this situation?
• Incorporate open-ended discussion into every school subject as much as
possible. Ask "How?" and "Why?" and "What does this really MEAN?"
• Learn to evaluate statements and statistics for truth and logic. This
includes how to spot a fallacy.
• Make lists -- things to do, things to buy at the grocery store,
pro/con.
• Match items (socks, pairs of pictures, etc.)
• Compare and/or rank real life items -- size, weight, price, quality,
quantity, etc.
• Put things in sequence by chronology, mathematical, logical, or visual
pattern.
• Recreate a visual pattern from memory.
• Categorize items by various characteristics (shape, color, texture, or
purpose, etc.). Categorize by two characteristics (such as shape AND
color) using a grid.
• Tell what each item in the group has in common. (Wood, brick, and
cement are all used as building materials.)
• Select which item does not fit the same category as others in a group.
(book, paper, ruler, grapefruit, tape -- grapefruit is not a school
supply.)
• Name as many items as you can for a given category, or name as many
categories as you can for a given item.
• Do a Venn diagram to compare sets of information. A Venn diagram has
two or more circles around sets which may or may not overlap. For
example, if you are in a room filled with people, a circle containing
people born in January will probably overlap the one containing those who
have blonde hair, but it will not overlap with the one containing people
born in June. The circle containing human children would be entirely
surrounded by the one containing human people.
• Practice doing analogies: man is to woman as father is to mother, cow
is to mammal as snake is to reptile, foot is to toe as hand is to finger.

CURRICULUM

Building Thinking Skills workbooks or other materials from Critical Thinking Press: http://www.criticalthinking.com/homeschool/index.html

Pattern blocks, the book Exploring with Pattern Blocks, and other
materials from Cuisenaire.  http://www.etacuisenaire.com/

Reading and Reasoning workbook series by Educators Publishing Service.
http://www.epsbooks.com/

On the Internet, you can find lots of information and even free
worksheets for teaching Thinking Skills. Please be aware that most of the
sites are geared towards public school educators. Thus, they are usually
full of techno-jargon and "values" which are inconsistent with those held
by the majority of home educators. You'll have to use your own Thinking
Skills (namely discernment) as you surf!

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LEFT BRAIN / RIGHT BRAIN
by Virginia Knowles
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I'm not psychology expert, but the concept of left brain / right brain
dominance has been occupying MY brain for the past couple of weeks. I
recently picked up a book at Leedy's, my favorite used bookstore, called
something like "Organization for Creative People." I had an AHA moment or
two while reading it, as I started realizing why I am like I am!

I've known for years that people -- namely my husband and I -- are so
different in how they THINK. This is GOOD! We balance each other out, but
I must admit, we perplex each other mightily at the same time.

Thad is a strong left brain guy. He thinks in terms of logical sequences
and straight lines. He's tidy, and wants others to be tidy too. He makes
a budget and checks it constantly. He lives by his to-do list. It bothers
him when he says other people spending their time unproductively.

I, on the other hand, am decidedly RIGHT BRAIN! Even though I was a
computer database programmer for many years (and you would think that is
for technical folks only), I am really more the creative sort. I live for
good books, interesting conversations, and a steady dose of hugs and
kisses. (I'll take cuddling from any age level in my family, but my three
preschoolers are always ready for it!) My brain is usually flying in
about ten different directions. It's a challenge for me to stay
organized. For some reason, I have the unique capability of being able to
tune-out clutter when I don't want to deal with it. I LIKE things tidy,
and try to keep them that way, but it's really not my most burning desire
in life. I get so involved in what's happening at the moment that I often
forget about the "little" details -- like where I put the camera battery
that I just bought for Mary, or that there is rice cooking on the stove,
or that I left a load of wet towels in the washer last night. Yes, I try
to be very productive in life. I run a home school household for 10
people and do a lot of writing on the side. But I do get a bit scattered.

 

I'm working on this! I know that I must make the effort to "get with it"
for my family's sake. But I have to do it in my own style. For example,
when I was reading the book on organizing, I realized why I detest using
a file cabinet to hold papers. It's a left-brain invention! Right-brain
folks need different methods!

I would just about die without a computer. It is the main way I can keep
my brain organized. I can store my schedule pages, phone lists, grocery
lists, school plans, writing projects, correspondence and so much more in
the depths of my hard drive. It's easy to click and put something in a
logical folder, and I know I can always do a file search or even a text
search to find something. The computer is a Godsend for people like me!

Also, I depend heavily on three ring binders because they are easy to set
on my lap and flip through. After I read the organizing book, I spent two
days furiously tearing through my accumulated papers. I tossed out about
100 pounds of papers and old magazines. I organized papers into my
existing set of notebooks, and made new notebooks for additional topics.
For example, I sorted teaching ideas into school subjects and made a
separate notebook for each one. I had to rearrange things in our computer
room to accomodate rows of about 25 binders total! Ahh! Much better!

Lastly, I think in terms of "kits" of related items or ideas. In household organization, I use lots and lots of plastic bins -- one for Cuisenaire pattern blocks, another for game pieces in plastic zip-lock bags, another for hair stuff, another for the miscellaneous stuff that collects on top of the microwave, etc. This concept is also why I loved unit studies for so many years! I would assemble all of our learning activities and reading assignments around a single theme. I liked the Reading Rainbow PBS show for the same reason. Even each issue of the Hope Chest is a "kit" on a certain theme -- a little of this, and a little of that, somehow loosely related.

I hope that maybe this has enlightened you a little bit about the way you
and your family think!

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THE SPICE OF LIFE
by Virginia Knowles
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One of the "kits" I have set up in my kitchen is a section of my cupboard
for bulk spices. I got tired of spending exhorbitant prices per ounce to
buy spices in little packets that flopped around in the cabinet and
couldn't be adequately resealed if I only wanted to use a little bit.
Fortunately, I found that I can buy large plastic jars containing 23 or
24 ounces of spices at Sam's Club and even our local Winn-Dixie grocery
store. We don't buy in bulk for all of our spices, just the ones we use
frequently: cinnamon, garlic salt, brown gravy mix, taco seasoning and
ranch dressing mix. This last one I also use to sprinkle on chicken or
buttered french bread before baking.

Since this issue of the Hope Chest is about Thinking Skills, let's talk
about what factors went into this decision. For me, it was mainly cost
effectiveness and convenience. Other families might value gourmet spices,
or health food seasonings. They might not have storage space for larger
containers. We each make choices on the basis of the factors which are
important to us!