You are Your Child's First and Most Important Teacher

Teaching your child and watching them grow is such a magical experience! Because every child learns differently, finding strategies that fit your unique learner is essential. Our My Learning Circle team is made up of parents, teachers, and former teachers and we believe that these are the core principles behind impactful, joyful teaching and learning. These practices will help you create learning experiences where both you and your child learn, have fun, and thrive, while laying the groundwork for future learning.

There are many wonderful educational researchers that are discussed in more depth in one of the blogs and much more information in our research section under Insights. I’ve enjoyed reading and learning about best practices in teaching and learning and wrote a very long dissertation on this subject. Many of our blogs will be focused on learning styles and best practices.However, in my opinion, Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development (ZPD) is a framework that is at the core of best teaching practices.ZPD is the space between what your child can do alone and what they can't do yet on their own. Learning happens when tasks are challenging but doable with your guidance and support. As they improve, you gradually reduce support until they can continue independently. This helps their confidence and future learning.

Remember that you are your child’s first and most important teacher. Be proud of all that you do. I know as a parent, a teacher and a professor in charge of teaching future teachers, that parenting and teaching are two of the most rewarding experiences that anyone can experience. Give yourself grace.I know and you know that raising children is a busy, hectic experience. You’ve got this!!

It is important to have a growth mindset as your foundation. This is believing that children learn differently and that each has the capacity to use their intelligence and ability to grow through practice, effort and resiliency. Challenges are opportunities to grow, and mistakes are a part of learning on the way to mastering a new skill or knowledge. Learning is a lifelong journey.

Understanding how children acquire new skills and new pieces of information is important. Understanding that the pace changes for every lesson and the child should be at the center of their learning experience. They want to contribute to their learning as an active member of the team, not only as the receiver of information

Active learning builds curiosity and a love of learning in every child. Foster independence by giving your child space to try things on their own, make mistakes, and develop self-help skills. Resist the urge to hover, stepping back is one of the most powerful ways you can support their growth. Doing their work for them, or taking over to get something finished quicker, does not help them learn.It helps them to feel that they are not capable. Patience truly is a virtue.

Play-based, hands-on, and project-based learning is proven to support the child’s intake of knowledge rather than drills, worksheets, and teacher dominated instruction. When they are involved in their own learning, helping to create experiences and share their interests they build an experience that they will love and want to come back to everyday. They learn curiously and they think critically.

Establish a welcoming, well-organized learning environment with consistent schedules and designated spaces that can help set a positive tone for learning. I know that when I was teaching in grade school I used to drop off my sons at childcare and arrive at school about 10-15 minutes before students. I had to be organized, or learning would never have been able to start on time. Simply having baskets or crates, journals, writing utensils and books ready for lessons or daily homeschooling helps you to begin in a calm way with a smile on your face. Designate learning spaces in your home where materials and books are easy to access.This helps your child and you.

Research shows that children learn best from people they feel connected to. When your child feels emotionally calm, their brain is in a state that allows for learning to happen more freely. When they feel criticized, judged, or disconnected, their brain goes into defensive mode and learning shuts down. Sometimes teaching can be difficult, however keeping this concept in mind is so important.Feeling capable supports engaged learning and even helps to extend what children can do. Try to always speak calmly to your child.Sometimes they truly do not understand a new concept. Step back and try to find new ways to explain in a different way. We as adults learned basic knowledge many years ago, the child is just beginning their learning journey.

Establish a welcoming, well-organized learning environment with consistent schedules and designated spaces that can help set a positive tone for learning. I know that when I was teaching in grade school I used to drop off my sons at childcare and arrive at school about 10-15 minutes before students. I had to be organized, or learning would never have been able to start on time. Simply having baskets or crates, journals, writing utensils and books ready for lessons or daily homeschooling helps you to begin in a calm way with a smile on your face. Designate learning spaces in your home where materials and books are easy to access.This helps your child and you.

Social emotional skills are so important to learning and should be taught in tandem with content. Self-awareness and self-regulation make learning happen more smoothly for your child.Resiliency allows them to know that they can fail, start over, and do it right the next time. Practicing how to calm your child, helping them to be cooperative and open-minded, will make for a much more inviting learning experience.If often helps to ask them to explain to you what the understand or what they do not understand and find complicated. When allowed to put it into their own words they become more invested.

Play the long game.The right answer is always important. However, the process is also very important. Take a math problem, if you only see an incorrect answer and don’t take time to review their process you might miss what step they didn’t complete or understand. I often would go back into the calculations/the process of completing a problem and find one tiny mistake that made the answer incorrect. Bringing that little mistake to their attention, teaching about it and then giving them another chance teaches a better lesson that they will recall the next time.

Teaching and coaching are an art.Neither are naturally easy for most people. The future ready skills gained in this Guided Practice often come from how you model collaboration and teamwork. Our children often mimic us and learn how to deal with others based on our interactions with them. Collaboration and teamwork are future ready skills that we want our children to have as they get older. We also want them to understand the importance of helping others and being supportive.