Successful Learning

The spiral learning model, first described by Jerome Bruner, promises that by revisiting topics again and again, students can retain more information and build upon what they already know as they seek deeper knowledge. Homeschool parents and teachers alike often struggle with how to make new knowledge stick in young minds. Can students really be expected to retain information from one year to the next? From one month to the next? Spiral learning aims to solve the “forgetting curve” dilemma. So, what is a spiral learning curriculum and how can it help homeschooling families?

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If you have shopped around for homeschool curriculum, you have probably encountered the term mastery learning. Some homeschool parents are very passionate about teaching for mastery, and homeschooling provides an ideal environment to do so. But is mastery-based learning best for your homeschool? How can you take advantage of some of its strengths? Here are some things to consider before making the switch to mastery learning.
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Multiplication and division are challenging subjects to second, third, and fourth graders. They have a lot of facts to memorize, and some children will struggle to understand the concepts. You can use different strategies outlined in this post (from concrete to abstract) to make multiplication and division fun rather than a drudgery. As a homeschool parent, you can pick and choose which multiplication or division strategy works best for your elementary-age child.

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Are you a kinesthetic learner or teaching a kinesthetic learner? If your child prefers the kinesthetic learning style, then teaching with kinesthetic learning strategies may improve your child’s comprehension. Even if kinesthetic learning isn’t a preference, some activities for the kinesthetic learning style can help you improve as a learner or as an educator. As you explore kinesthetic learning, look for ways you can use these characteristics and activities to improve your learning or teaching strategies.

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When looking for a homeschool math curriculum, you’ve likely seen recommendations for spiral review in math or a mastery learning approach. Homeschool families often discuss and compare these two topics to each other as if they’re mutually exclusive. However, mastery learning describes how a teacher chooses to teach and at what pace they progress through the material. Spiral review describes how to review material previously covered. Before searching for programs that use one method, look at what each of these concepts mean and how they work.

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