All posts by Tresta Neil
Are they getting it?
I
have wondered if my children were understanding what I was teaching
them. This week while studying the colonial time period and ready Johnny
Terrmain. I would stop and ask my children if they understood what I
was teaching them. I specifically was observing the learning of my six
year old. He often could not tell me anything about what we had read and
I’d have to retell it or have one of the older children tell him what
we read.
This
bothered me so I talked to him about it. I’d tell him, “I’m going to
read this small section and have you tell me what we read.” I would read
and stop to ask him. He would almost verbatim tell me what we read. The
first few times this satisfied me. He told me the same words I read.
Then it occurred to me he was only memorizing the words and not really
understanding them. “Now what?” I remembered asking myself.
One day
while reading Johnny Terrmain I stopped and asked everyone what
“desertion” meant. They didn’t really know, so I defined it. Then their
older college age brother came in and defined it even better and we
talked about examples. When I felt everyone understood I went back to
reading. The story about Pumpkin, Johnny’s friend getting caught and
tried for desertion continued. Tirzaan, my 6 year old got up from the
floor and sat next to me and asked, “What does desertion mean?”
I
was shocked. Wait, how in the world could he not have gotten anything
from the discussion we just had? I explained it to him again trying not
to sound frustrated and a little disgusted.
I pondered on this incident for some time. I have concluded – children must have a question and seek the answer before true understanding can happen. This is a life changing principle for me. I’m so glad I discovered it and will now be a better teacher for my children.
How to Prepare to Teach Principles
After
learning what principles are, why they are important and how to
identify and apply them. Let’s look at how you prepare to teach these to
your children.
Understand that many teaching experiences will not
have much preparation time, however, if you do have or take the time to
prepare here are three questions to ask yourself to help you know what
to teach:
- What did I learn? Choose a portion of a book, a picture or painting, art and ask yourself, “Why did the author (painter/creator) write (create) that particular thing? Why was it important to him/her? What did the spirit teach you? Why was it important?”
- What are the converting principles? Be on high alert for portions that contain converting principles, those that lead our children to Christ or to understand the Atonement. Our goal is to encourage them to find the principle and apply it in their own lives. “A converting principle is one that leads to obedience to the will of God.” (handbook 2 page 54 by President Eyring) If the principle will help you or your child experience conversion, that’s the one to consider. Highlight or write out the principles you discovered and those you want to them to discover.
- What do I need to teach my children? With the spirit’s help discern what your children need to learn. There may be things that are more relevant than others. Remember Heavenly Father know your children individually and he will guide you to what they need to learn and what the Lord wants you to teach. Write out your impressions of what principle to teach, perhaps a different principle per child.
While teaching your
prepared lesson remember that the spirit is the teacher. You want them
to discover the principles on their own. You don’t need to tell or point
the principle out for them. Allow the spirit to direct them and lead
them to discover it. This may be different principles than the ones you
pointed out, allow it, go with their flow of thought. Once a child
discovers the principle he will naturally relate it to something he
already knows. Often, when it is a new idea, it becomes a
transformational and gives him greater confidence in his abilities and
in the Lord.
Happy Teaching,