The following two TED talks are the best I have ever heard regarding education.
This is not intended to be a debate between home schooling and public schooling. The ideas set forth in the lectures are applicable to any form of education.
Every child learns differently. It is a fact. No two brains are alike.
To use a personal example, I was a child who struggled with math from the first day of school. It never became any easier. The numbers scrambled on the page. Frustration and tears were present at some point during every math lesson. Every. Single. One.
As time went on, however, I realized that although numbers and mathematical concepts exploded and did back-flips in my brain, words did not. Letters and words made perfect sense. Writing stories, spelling tests, diagramming sentences; it was such a sense of relief to discover something I could understand without a monumental struggle.
I would have more than likely been labeled learning disabled had I been in a regular school setting.
Instead, I was given unlimited access to books. I was reading 250-page World War II history books by the time I was nine years old. I still struggled with math and wondered why I could not understand like everyone else; but my teacher did not let the struggle define me or my education.
Now, this is where most people say, "Well, I was bad in math, too.", or "I don't like numbers, either."
Let me just say, it is one thing for math to not have been your favorite subject in school. It is another matter entirely when your brain views math as a foreign language; a language that no matter how many hours you practice or how many tutors you hire, you will never reach any semblance of fluency or competency.
I've never been tested to find out if I have a diagnosable learning disorder in math. I suspect the result would be affirmative, due in part to making a perfect score on the English and reading portions of the ACT, while my math score hovered pitifully in the single digits. I'm fairly certain that in the womb, the word portion of my brain received a double dose--what was intended for the math side ended up over there in the wrong section.
As an adult, numbers still do not make sense to my brain. I can look at a page of math problems and all I see are numbers, lines, and symbols--no order, no recognition, not even the remotest idea of how to reach the answer.
Yet, I love to learn. I was blessed to receive an education where creativity and imagination were encouraged. Curiosity is the order of my day. The world is a fascinating, pulsing, diverse place.
I say all that to give background information for why I love Ken Robinson's lectures so very much.
This is not intended to be a debate between home schooling and public schooling. The ideas set forth in the lectures are applicable to any form of education.
Every child learns differently. It is a fact. No two brains are alike.
To use a personal example, I was a child who struggled with math from the first day of school. It never became any easier. The numbers scrambled on the page. Frustration and tears were present at some point during every math lesson. Every. Single. One.
As time went on, however, I realized that although numbers and mathematical concepts exploded and did back-flips in my brain, words did not. Letters and words made perfect sense. Writing stories, spelling tests, diagramming sentences; it was such a sense of relief to discover something I could understand without a monumental struggle.
I would have more than likely been labeled learning disabled had I been in a regular school setting.
Instead, I was given unlimited access to books. I was reading 250-page World War II history books by the time I was nine years old. I still struggled with math and wondered why I could not understand like everyone else; but my teacher did not let the struggle define me or my education.
Now, this is where most people say, "Well, I was bad in math, too.", or "I don't like numbers, either."
Let me just say, it is one thing for math to not have been your favorite subject in school. It is another matter entirely when your brain views math as a foreign language; a language that no matter how many hours you practice or how many tutors you hire, you will never reach any semblance of fluency or competency.
I've never been tested to find out if I have a diagnosable learning disorder in math. I suspect the result would be affirmative, due in part to making a perfect score on the English and reading portions of the ACT, while my math score hovered pitifully in the single digits. I'm fairly certain that in the womb, the word portion of my brain received a double dose--what was intended for the math side ended up over there in the wrong section.
As an adult, numbers still do not make sense to my brain. I can look at a page of math problems and all I see are numbers, lines, and symbols--no order, no recognition, not even the remotest idea of how to reach the answer.
Yet, I love to learn. I was blessed to receive an education where creativity and imagination were encouraged. Curiosity is the order of my day. The world is a fascinating, pulsing, diverse place.
I say all that to give background information for why I love Ken Robinson's lectures so very much.
1 comment:
Hi Holly~ I had never heard of Ken, or TED for that matter. I enjoyed his lectures immensely! Thanks for sharing!
Love,
Mrs. Debbie
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