hi all my daughter is working on a mammal scavenger hunt (found on A to Z teacher stuff) she is having a blast but she keeps going off on different tracks ie: she saw something about an elephant while looking at something else and decided she needed to know about that aminal and the differences between the african and asian now she has found a lion cam how important is it for me to try to keep her on track? laurie
I don't know. How important is it to YOU? Are YOU OK with her getting sidetracked like that? If so, then you mark it down to her learning what interests her and don't worry about it. If it bothers you, then you might tell her to bookmark that site and come back to it when she's finished the task at hand. There are NO "right" or "wrong" when it comes to homeschooling. If it works for you and yours, then go with it.
IMO, this is one of the greatest advantages of homeschooling: not having to stay on track. I'm not trying to say that your objective isn't important and should just be thrown out, but does this "tangent" still fit your objective? I'd rather let my son go off on a learning adventure until his curiosity is satisfied than squelch that curiosity because it's not what we're "supposed" to be learning today. You have to find a balance. So, what I do is to first determine how important what I am doing is right that moment. Is it something that can be revisited later (of course, the answer is almost always yes)? Or is the tangent just as relevant to my goal for that lesson (i.e. if the goal is to learn about animals, she's still doing that)? There are a great many days where I let him decide what he wants to explore that day. I'll follow his lead. He's still learning and it's more likely to stick (and not be a struggle) if he's going after information that he really wants to have.
I agree with the other ladies. Them being excited to explore further and deeper is a GOOD thing. If you can fit it in with what she started out doing by tweaking the assignment a little that might work. I like the way actressdancer said it: "I'd rather let my son go off on a learning adventure until his curiosity is satisfied than squelch that curiosity because it's not what we're "supposed" to be learning today." THAT is what school does, and what homeschoolers try to encourage is an active imagination and an excitement for learning and digging deeper! Once they're older, closer to highschool age, you'd want to make sure they can stay on task and follow a schedule. But until then, this kind of exploring could lead to greater knowledge and interest than you even imagined when you first gave her this assignment! Maybe you can let her go with this one, and assign some other task that is fairly easy to follow through with and accomplish, so she can learn that as well??? Best wishes!
Emma is exactly the same way. Once something catches her curiosity, she really wants to research it and learn more. She is a lot like me. Patty
boy you are all so awesome my first response was boy it is great to see her excited my second thought was here we go (i guess from hearing over and over at conferences about staying on track) i thought it may be a bad thing i am tring to relax more and i will let her lead as much as possible i just do not want to fail her laurie
Laurie, nine times out of ten, you should trust your instinct. If I'm all confused and messed up, it's usually because I've begun to second guess what I knew deep down was right all along. I see what OTHERS are doing, and begin wondering why my kids are NOT doing that. Well, what's right for others may not be right foir me.
I have done this so many times. Then I am reminded that my child learns different and I need to teach so she can learn, not so she can keep up with others. Patty
I've been homeschooling nine years, and STILL catch myself doing that!!! You'd think after this long I'd know better!
Me too Jackie, me too! Only I've been hsing 10 years. For you oldies....remember this song? "When will they ever learn?.......When will they e----ver learn!" BTW, Who did that song? (are those the right words? It's something like that!)
"Where have all the flowers gone? Long time passes Where have all the flowers gone? Long time ago......."
I agree, everyone learns different. I think if you are happy about it leave it be. I know I would be happy about it she is learning alot of other things too.
Well I think that's part of the joy of homeschooling, letting your student go with what they are interested in. We did a unit study earlier this year on the ocean and ocean life- from Learningpages.com. We studies all the animals they had on there just with what was on the website then I had dd pick one sea animal she would like to focus on. She picked sea turtles. So she ended up doing her own research on sea turtles and it turned into all the species of sea turtles, where they live/habitat, life cycle, you name it. So maybe let her go with what she's really interested in, and then suggest picking one animal to focus on. Just an idea.
thank you all so much i am going to relax if she want to go into depth on elephants fine i will try to keep her on task with housework or something else :wink: lol we are going to have some fun here laurie
You will have a lot of fun We did a lapbook for seaturtles and she learned more about different temps in different areas of the oceans, the different oceans, ect. And this was at the beginning of this schoolyear- 1st grade. Just go with it. If she's interested she's more apt to stay focused, and you can carry that over to things she's not as interested in. Make it fun!
