The Weekly Mentor: You.

This post is an excerpt from our e-book, The 5 Habits of Highly Successful Homeschoolers >>

Habit 2: Brainstorm a Blank Page

“In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.”

—Albert Einstein

Get Specific

The First Habit is big, universal, overarching: Aim for Greatness! It’s hard to think much bigger than this.

In contrast, the Second Habit is detailed, specific, personalized, and individualized. It is different for each of your children. It is different this week for Johnny than it will be for him next week, different this month for Mary than it will be for her three months from now.

Habit 2 is all about figuring out what Johnny needs, right now, this week, and helping him get it. This is the heart of great personalized learning.

The process of this habit is simple. Once a week, take a few minutes and engage in a brainstorming session about your child. Open a notebook to a blank page, and write Johnny’s name at the top. Then ask yourself, what does Johnny need in his education right now? Write down all the thoughts that come to mind.

This usually takes about 15-30 minutes. Think of everything that you can that Johnny needs right now, and write it down. Of course, you’ll consider his educational needs; but also consider social, physical health, emotional well-being, etc.

Next week when you do this, it will go a little faster because you’ll have the benefit of your notes from this week. But still, every time you do this, take the time to be sure the things you write are what Johnny needs right now—don’t just copy last week’s list. Things will change for Johnny this week. Maybe not big changes—but any change matters.

Examples

This process of weekly brainstorming for your child is incredibly powerful. It is the most powerful form of educating. Period. It addresses each child and his or her needs, every week. This is true educational leadership.

Once you have listed Johnny’s needs this week, brainstorm a second question: What can I (as his parent, teacher, mentor) do to help Johnny get what he needs for his education this week? How can I support him?

These two questions are incredibly important:

1) What does Johnny need right now?
2) What can I do to help him get it this week?

Write down all the answers that come to mind. Put the answers to both questions on the same page, if possible, so you can see Johnny’s week plan all in one place.

It is important not to just write down things Johnny should do. It’s okay to list some assignments and studies for Johnny, but this isn’t the main point. The main focus is to list things YOU can do this week to help Johnny’s education.

The Power of Example

Here’s why. When Johnny is young, your interactions with him are going to teach him a lot more than any assignments you give him. Yes, he’ll do projects and other assignments, but these won’t be as important as the things you do with him—like talking about what he’s learning, setting an example of loving to learn, reading to him aloud, etc.

If you want him to be good at math as he grows and develops, set an example of YOU doing math while he’s young. Do it where he can watch you doing it. Share with him things that are age-relevant to him and inspiring to you. He’ll value it because he sees you doing it. The same is true with science. And reading. And every other topic.

If you want Johnny to really value a topic, show him. Don’t tell him until you’ve already shown him—for months, or better still, over the course of years.

You know that someday little three-year-old Johnny is going to need math, so show him that you study math, that you value it, and that it matters—right now. Get a fun book on math, like Math Doesn’t Suck by Danica McKellar or The Secrets of Mental Math by Arthur Benjamin, and start reading it. Show him it matters, by your example.

If he grows up seeing Mom or Dad reading a lot, he’ll assume that when he gets older he’ll read lots. If he sees Dad or Mom doing math projects, he’ll assume that as he grows he’ll do lots of math. It’s as simple as that. If you want your children to get a truly great education, set the example of it.

The converse is true as well. If Johnny sees his older brother or sister or cousin study math while in school, but then stop after graduating, and he never sees his parents doing math, what will he assume? The answer is clear: he’ll assume that math is something to be done for a little while in school (only when it’s an assignment), then ignored for the rest of your life.

In this case, he’s not going to value math very much. He’s likely to hate doing it, because he “knows” that it’s hard but not very important in life. Whatever he assumes, whatever example you set, it’s going to greatly influence how he feels about a given topic—from math and science, to reading and history, etc.

Plan to Succeed

In other words, when Johnny is young, your weekly brainstorm about what he needs should include a lot of things YOU need to do—especially things he needs to see you doing, or that you need to do with him. For example, you might write one week on your blank page:

Johnny

-Needs to grow in his love of math
-Needs me to watch him when he wants to show me something
-Needs me to take him to the animal auction
-Needs me to get him a cabinet for his rock and knife collections
-Needs me to sit with him at breakfast and just listen
-Needs small electronics to take apart and study
-Needs me to read aloud to him more
-Needs to get along better with his sister
-Needs me to tell him stories about when he was little
-Needs me to avoid interrupting when he’s working on a project
-Needs books he really enjoys for improving his reading fluency
-Needs to memorize his line for the upcoming kid’s church holiday program
-Needs less time watching TV
-Needs more time playing outside
-Needs to see me reading a lot, and really loving to read

These are the answers to your first question: What does Johnny need right now?

Then, when you ask the second question (How can I help him get it?), you might, for example, review the list, do a “gut check” and decide that a focus on his math need feels right for this week; so you proceed with a more focused brainstorm on math:

Johnny

-Needs to grow in his love of math
-Needs me to watch him when he wants to show me something
-Needs me to take him to the animal auction
-Needs me to get him a cabinet for his rock and knife collections
-Needs me to sit with him at breakfast and just listen
-Needs small electronics to take apart and study
-Needs me to read aloud to him more
-Needs to get along better with his sister
-Needs me to tell him stories about when he was little
-Needs me to avoid interrupting when he’s working on a project
-Needs books he really enjoys for practicing his reading
-Needs to memorize his line for the upcoming kid’s church holiday program
-Needs less time watching TV, more time playing outside
-Needs to see me reading a lot, and really loving to read

Math:

-I need to have fun with math with Johnny

-subscribe to fun math blogs for inspiration for ME
-learn one trick from Secrets of Mental Math to share
-math games like dominoes, tangrams, dice games, etc.
-stories using math, and about mathematicians as heroes
-manipulatives
-browse YouTube for fun/funny math videos
-sign up for Bedtime Math email
(Make this all really fun! Do at least one of these every day.)

-I need to set an example of using math. He needs to see me value it.

–Read Math Doesn’t Suck by Danica McKellar
-Have graph paper, calculator, and pen with me, and work the problems in McKellar’s book as I read it (where Johnny can see, at least part of the time)
(Do this every day! Finish the book in the next three or four months, so Johnny sees me really getting into math. It will be a good review for me! Make it fun!!!)
-Oh, and keep The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson in my stack next to McKellar’s book—if I get bored doing Keller any day, read a bit from Rithamitist (maybe share some fun items in the book with Johnny)

-Ask my husband to look for chances to share fun “mathy” things with Johnny—but no pressure. Just fun!

-When we’re reading each night as a family, look for chances in the reading to bring up anything related to math

This is just one example of the millions of ways to do this. This is why conveyor-belt education can never measure up to the individualized, personalized approach. A parent who plans and supports each child with this kind of weekly education plan—week after week—is going to help all the children and youth get a truly great education.

Just brainstorm a blank page or two for Johnny every week. Once you’ve made your plan for his math, like the sample above (but entirely personalized for Johnny), make a similar plan for his other personal needs and topics – focusing on the ones that “ping” for you, and dismissing, for now, the ones that don’t feel like their time is right for this week.

Sometimes Nothing is the Right Thing

You may find that some of them don’t need you to do anything other than put on a smile and be supportive. Some require a change in your attitude, the organization of his bedroom, the schedule for the week, or whatever.

Then, once you are done, do the same plan for each of his brothers and sisters. Do the same for Mary, for Jenny, and for everyone else in your homeschool. And implement as much, and in the way, that feels right.

This is great education! It takes about 10-40 minutes a week to plan this out for each child, and it really works.