Learning and Paper Trails

Learning is often measured in paper. Thirty-problem speed drills. Handwriting practice sheets. Standardized tests. Lab reports. In and of themselves, these items aren't terrible. They have their place. However, valuable learning also takes place when there is no visible, tangible trace.

We have had one of those weeks, weeks where most learning will not be measured in paper. Stellar, life-impacting learning occurred, but we didn't have sheets and sheets of paper to prove our efforts. During the course of the week, we had the opportunity to:

• learn number recognition while playing BINGO with Great-grandma
• counted and rolled coins (collected in the family change jar)
• played Pizza Fraction Fun 
• weighed produce with a kitchen scale
• made figures with tangrams
• wrote letters on the driveway with sidewalk chalk
• retold a story we heard someone else tell and then discussed how point of view and experiences determine potential bias
• read a recipe, followed directions, and measured ingredients
• listened to Jim Weiss stories on CD

• spelled three- and four-letter short vowel words on a white board
• listened to The Tale of Two Cities and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (books on tape)
• reviewed state abbreviations while driving to Grandma's house
• assembled a floor puzzle of the United States
• listened to mom read Meet the Pilgrim Fathers by Elizabeth Payne
• learned body systems and their functions while listening to Lyrical life Science: Human Body
• listened to the Biology audio text while creating pencil drawings
• discussed the nutritional content of three types of cereal
• cared for the neighbor's dogs

Children were engaged. Learning occurred. No paper trace for these activities. The evidence resided in the minds of the young learners. How did we document our learning? We kept a resource list and took pictures of the white board, tangram creations, and completed puzzle. The rest...you will have to ask the children. I am sure they would be more than willing to share their adventures!

AWEsome Story Site

A friend passed along this story site. What an amazing resource! Enjoy!

http://www.short-story-time.com/index.html

Warning: You'll be there all day.

The Power of a Story

This past weekend Mike and I hosted a small group leader gathering in our home. Many of us had not met before the evening so Mike, in an effort to help us get to know one another better, offered a question for thought and discussion. “If you could have dinner with any person, dead or alive, who would that person be?” Interestingly, one-third of the people chose to have dinner with a parent or a grandparent they had lost prematurely. Each person explained why they chose that particular person.

At the end of the evening, I chatted with one of the leaders about the power of stories, stories shared in the written word and in the spoken word. We agreed the motivation behind choosing a family member was the desire to hear the stories, the stories of the family heritage, the stories which contributed one’s being, the stories that contributed to the lives of others.

My grandmother will celebrate her 91st birthday tomorrow. She has lived through the Great Depression, WWII, the Kennedy Era, the invention of many modern conveniences and more. She remembers events well, better than most of us on any given day. She holds within her, a living history, of our world and of our family.

Several months ago, my seven-year-old daughter questioned the age of her great-grandmother and made an insightful comment as we studied the Great Depression. “We must ask Grammy about her experiences during the Great Depression. She might be the only person left alive that we can talk to about living during that time.” Ah, yes, child, you understand the importance of passing down stories.

We are all story tellers, story bearers, regardless of our age. Stories are the connection to generations, the stories we long to hear, the stories our hearts need to hear. Today I will purpose to tell at least one personal story to my children, one with which they might better understand their heritage and their world.