I no longer have a nightstand. When I did, the drawer was full of stuff. We all have our version of “stuff,” but for me it was books, paper, pens, paper clips, envelopes, calculators, reading glasses, small batteries, golf balls, screwdrivers, CDs, magazines, keys, all kinds of change and bits. of paper with “important notes” to remind me of things I had to do. And then one day my drawer was full and couldn’t hold any more. I could barely close it. After that, I looked for it from time to time, but because it was so messy. I decided to stop playing with it. After all, my life was fine without its content.

Maybe it was six months or a year after I filled my drawer to the max when the decision was made to buy new bedroom furniture. This meant that the nightstands would be gone, never to return. I finally had to go through the drawer to decide what important things were worth keeping. And, as you might guess, there really wasn’t much of real value.

Are we filling our children’s minds with useless facts? I’m not talking about facts that you, as a parent, know they will need to have available to them and that they will find useful in the future. Most homeschooled teens can smell heavy lifting quicker than the rest of the population, but frankly, they don’t have its life experience. Sometimes they just have to trust you. All this to say then that some facts that we ask our children to memorize do not have to be useful immediately, but they should be in the long run.

However, information, such as the contents of my nightstand drawer, is not useful unless it is understood. And too much of this kind of information just clutters your mind, like stockpiling building materials now for a project that won’t start for many years.

One way to check your children’s understanding of information presented is to ask them to restate it in their own words.

Examples of this:

“Tell me in your own words what you learned from the chapter you just finished.”

“Tell me your own definition of patience.”

“What would the opposite of patience look like?”

Another way to check your children’s understanding is to ask them to give an example of the concept or principle being learned.

Examples of this:

“Describe a character in a book you’ve read or a movie you’ve seen who has shown this kind of patience?”

“When did you show this kind of patience with your brother (or sister) at home?”

“In what areas do you need to be more patient?”

Regardless of the type of questions you choose, their goal is the same: to probe and get a sense of the depth of your understanding.

In light of the above, you can check your understanding of what I have presented by answering the question below. Once you choose an answer, click to see if you are correct.

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It’s time for a health test. The editor suggests different ways to score your student’s answers. Which of the following approaches will best reveal how well your child understood the content?

A. Give full credit for word-for-word answers only.

B. Require the student to give the answer in their own words.

C. Count the misspelled words.

D. Deduct points for bad handwriting.

See their answers below

__________________________

A. You think you “give full credit for ‘word-for-word’ answers only.”

Possibly anal retentive behavior at work here. Keywords, sure, but all the words? Perhaps whoever wants this kind of answer has never heard of a synonym before. Think of all the great Scripture translations we have to choose from (unless you belong to the KJV-only clan). Please try another answer that is not so rigid.

B. You thing “Require the student to give the answer in their own words.”

You are right! When your child stops being able to remember and parrots the answer to use his own words, the more likely he is to understand that information and be able to use it to make decisions, solve problems, and be creative.

C. Your “It has the misspelled words” thing.

If this were an English class, I might concede this, but it’s not. Just so you know, I’m not denying the notion of theme integration either, but this is a test. Try another response that requires the student to demonstrate their understanding of the concept.

D. You chose “Remove points for bad handwriting.”

Unreadable, yes. If you can’t read it, how can you evaluate it? But poor as careless? No. Some of us are lazy when it comes to legible writing. Some of us are in a rush to pursue activities that are more relevant and useful. Try another answer that emphasizes the relevance and usefulness of the content.

Thank you for reading!

Please feel free to forward this to any homeschoolers you think would benefit. Additionally, you have permission to copy this article on your blogs, forums, social media pages, or other websites. We only ask that you provide the live link at the bottom of the article that takes you to our website, http://www.basicskills.net

Curt Bucrot, M.R.E.

Director, Basic Skills Assessment and Educational Services