I really resonated with Lexi’s post back in June when Dirk headed off to Kindergarten. Like Lexi, I was lucky enough to have a WAHM schedule to be able to be there for my daughter’s very first day of big kid school and my son’s very first day of preschool. I have also worked hard with both of my kids to, in my case, semi-homeschool them and get them enrolled in schools with smaller classes so they get more one-on-one time with their teachers. What’s made a big difference for me both in terms of helping new teachers get to know my kids and also in terms of me understanding how my kids learn best is keying into their individual temperaments…and continuing to think of myself as one of my kids’ most important teachers even after they’ve headed off to elementary school.
When I started getting my firstborn ready for school, I started teaching her in the ways I most liked to learn as a child. I thought this would be a great approach, considering I graduated both high school and college early and with honors. I knew that interests played a big role in making learning “click” for kids because I’d done my undergraduate thesis on multiple intelligences in college. But I didn’t realize until I started teaching one-on-one just how important it is to know your child’s learning personality type.
My eldest daughter has a very different personality type than I do, and until I started keying into those personality type differences, learning wasn’t as fun for her as it could be. Because my ultimate goal is to make sure my kids enjoy learning and turn into life-long learners, my original strategy of doing it the way I did as a kid just wasn’t working. I began doing a lot of research and started weaving in personality type based techniques into our work together and things started to change. She started to understand new concepts better and faster…and to enjoy learning more. I think one of my simultaneously best and worst moments came last year when we were working on homework together and she said, “I love the way you teach me, Mom. Why can’t my teachers teach me this way in school?” This is not to say we don’t have our moments—it’s certainly not all peaches and cream—but our time together is more effective and more enjoyable now that I’m tuned into her temperament. I wrote my book—A Parent’s Playbook for Learning—for other parents like me who want their kids to grow up to love learning and have yet to discover the magic that comes from honoring their kids’ natures in a learning context.
When I started getting my firstborn ready for school, I started teaching her in the ways I most liked to learn as a child. I thought this would be a great approach, considering I graduated both high school and college early and with honors. I knew that interests played a big role in making learning “click” for kids because I’d done my undergraduate thesis on multiple intelligences in college. But I didn’t realize until I started teaching one-on-one just how important it is to know your child’s learning personality type.
My eldest daughter has a very different personality type than I do, and until I started keying into those personality type differences, learning wasn’t as fun for her as it could be. Because my ultimate goal is to make sure my kids enjoy learning and turn into life-long learners, my original strategy of doing it the way I did as a kid just wasn’t working. I began doing a lot of research and started weaving in personality type based techniques into our work together and things started to change. She started to understand new concepts better and faster…and to enjoy learning more. I think one of my simultaneously best and worst moments came last year when we were working on homework together and she said, “I love the way you teach me, Mom. Why can’t my teachers teach me this way in school?” This is not to say we don’t have our moments—it’s certainly not all peaches and cream—but our time together is more effective and more enjoyable now that I’m tuned into her temperament. I wrote my book—A Parent’s Playbook for Learning—for other parents like me who want their kids to grow up to love learning and have yet to discover the magic that comes from honoring their kids’ natures in a learning context.
This is a guest post by Jen Lilienstein, founder of Kidzmet.com and author of the award-winning book, A Parent’s Playbook for Learning, which can be purchased in paperback or ebook formats on Amazon.com, BN.com, iTunes, and in bookstores around the world.
