PrincipledMom™

(my apologies in advance for this long post. It was impossible to shorten it.)

At our Bible principles group we had a question about notebooks and excellence and what exactly should be required. I liked the response so much I asked permission to post it.
Question:

I have a question about notebooking... how much do we insist that this be their
very best work? I am almost certain one would not find messy notebooks from our
founding fathers! Do you require first drafts?

Answer:
I'm going to preface this by saying I am probably the least qualified to answer a specific question about notebooking as I am just at the very beginning of this journey myself and have never notebooked in my life. Your question raised some more general thoughts about educating children in general, however, that I think are relevant.

First off, I believe you do well to look to yourself first and examine whether your expectations are fair and appropriate. The one question in this study guide that gave me pause was, "can you set aside perfectionism for excellence?" My husband has a standard of perfection with the children, and I see what that does to them...what he sees as laziness, I interpret as a reaction to an expectation they know they cannot reach anyway. I would suggest asking yourself more questions along this line. Do you enjoy what you are doing? Are you enthusiastic about notebooking (or do you grumble in your spirit about what your child may or may not be able to accomplish)?

Second, a thought that may only be tangential, but I have been contemplating since reading this first lesson : )

What is a standard? Essentially, it is a military term, and even when not used as such, I believe that is the basic sense behind the word. Our dear 1828 dictionary defines it such (first entry only):

The image I have is the standard-bearer holding his colors high so that all on the battlefield can see it, despite the smoke, dust and general confusion of war. It comforts the troops, lets them know the battle is not lost and tells them which way to go. The standard-bearer has a most important task, for if his standard falls, the troops will disperse. He also has a most dangerous task, for he has marked himself and made himself a visible and desirable target for the enemy (all kinds of thoughts I could draw from that, but I will attempt to stay focused).

When we desire to raise the standards for our children, we must first be sure of what that standard is, or it will not be clear through the confusion. Of course, that standard is Christ, but we must be sure we are communicating that effectively and that we too are remaining focused and not inadvertantly changing standards in the middle of the battle. We must remain motivated in order to have a motivating influence on our children.

Then we can look at some of the specific challenges. A child who is interested and engaged in learning typically puts forth their best work without prompting. They see the work as interesting, relevant and applicable to life. This motivation comes either extrinsically from rewards, punishments or just the infectious enthusiasm of a good teacher, or intrinsically when the child connects privately with the information.

Perhaps it would do you well to think honestly about what positive and negative attention your child gets for different tasks associated with learning (and remember that even negative attention can serve as a reinforcer of certain behaviors in a child if they desire to keep you engaged with them). She may need more praise for what she is doing correctly, and more general encouragement. You may need to look at her individual interests and see if you can incorporate that into some of her work. My daughter fights reading tooth and nail, but she is quite the little performer. So we bought her a tape deck and she will read and listen to herself read all day and now that we are making a tape for grandma, she will even practice beforehand without a single complaint. That is why it is important to keep your focus on your end goal and determine what will work best to get you there. If your focus drops to the handwriting in a single assignment, the standard(flag) drops as well, and no one really knows where the real battle is anymore, or even who is winning. (posted by Dana)

Good job, Dana. Sounds like a veteran, even if you're not. I tell my Princess G to "do to the best of your ability." Of course, the principle of individuality says this will result in a variety of expressions. But you have to learn what your student is capable of and require that in a way that you both are happy with. And you may have to modify your idea of a notebook. Children with unique needs require thinking in a unique way. They can demonstrate excellence in a variety of ways. And the point is the "spirit", not the" letter". I know I struggled with this much of last year.

I felt compelled to create voluminous notebooks for my 7dd. We did not have much fun. School was a trying time and not an environment conducive to learning at all, I must say. So I had to make some decisions. We homeschool and I must do what I think is best as her teacher. So we did some things on the computer that she could print out. We drew more pictures. We did more things orally and things got a lot better. My goal was to make sure she was actually learning something and I wasn't just filling a notebook to satisfy a need I had. I can inspire her with my own notebooks and those of her peers. She can develop into a student who loves to learn, whether or not her notebook is museum-worthy.

So this year we will continue to work on excellence in our notebooks but I've come to see that as a process and an individual result. We will do more artistic things because that is her gift and passion. God is helping me on my notebooking journey and together we are teaching Princess G an excellent spirit. And as she learns I believe her notebook will demonstrate that.

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