Less Stress for Parents & Children, Teachers & Learners

Where's Your "Sweet Spot"?

As parents we seem to naturally find "sweet spots" for learning when our children are little. We sing the ABC song as we push them on the swing, we teach colors as we admire flowers on a walk ,and we teach opposites - such a hot or cold, more or less and wet or dry - as our little ones splash in the tub.

Somewhere along the way as our children grow, our teaching spots tend to shrink. We tend to think school work or homework should be done at a desk or table. Often, when writing is involved, a surface is necessary but I learned the hard yet rewarding way to find sweet spots for learning.

Last year as we began learning multiplication tables (sitting at a desk) my daughter became frustrated. Math concepts usually came to her easily but this time despite all of the hands on activities I provided, there was little progress. She wasn't the only one frustrated. I was starting to feel frustrated too. My husband even noticed it. We both needed "to relax" he said. At the moment his comment wasn't helpful but after I "processed" it (also known as "stewed" over it), it lead to a helpful idea.

How could we be relaxed as we worked on this new and challenging math? Well, I asked myself, what do we do to relax in general? The hot tub! I asked my daughter what she thought about the idea of taking a week and only working on multiplication while relaxing in the hot tub with no paper and pencils and no manipulatives; just us talking and soaking. Her big smile was followed by a resounding yes! That's just what we did and with great success.

Everyone may not have a hot tub on their porch but everyone has a "sweet spot" where they can learn and relax at the same time. Whether it's in front porch rockers, a blanket under a tree, a pillow pallet in the living room or a park bench, search out your own "sweet spots" for learning.

Now we regularly "talk" about parts of speech as we make laps at the park, write spelling words in the sand box and review states and capitals while sipping hot chocolate on the front porch. We sketch out book reports, not by the computer, but by the campfire. We recently tackled economics not crammed in a book but snuggled up in sleeping bags.