The same Hebrew word means to learn and to teach. Do you realize the significance of that? We can’t separate teaching from learning … Teaching is what the teacher does in the student.
Seven Laws of the Learner by Bruce Wilkerson
Seven Laws of the Learner changed my outlook. I had taught at two universities and homeschooled my sons over a decade before I read Wilkerson’s book and watched his DVD series. I more clearly saw my ultimate responsibility with both parenting and homeschooling and made immediate changes.
I had expected too much maturity and independence from my teenagers. If they weren’t learning, whether academically or non-academically, then I wasn’t teaching.
Regarding homeschooling, I took ownership of their weekly literature and biology vocabulary. Tiddlywinks were the markers and M&Ms the reward for Bingo vocabulary games. (My youngest claims he would have learned the words faster if I had let him fill up on M&Ms before Bingo started.) I looked for hands-on activities as I had done in earlier years. I stopped assuming that my guidance and creativity were less needed.
Another excellent parenting /teaching resource is Summarization in Any Subject: 50 Techniques to Improve Student Learning by Rick Wormeli.
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