Re: [Unschooling-dotcom] Thinking styles was Re: ritalin (everyone's probably sick of this) (long...
Bronwen
> So having said that, does anyone have any great ideas for supporting adivergent thinker? I find that even homeschooling field trips and workshops
are very convergent/sequential in nature and as such we do not enjoy them,
especially my son Joseph (11).
A great book is "How your Child IS Smart" about thinking styles- for adults
"The Open MInd" (markova or something is the author)
Bronwen
[email protected]
In a message dated 4/19/03 10:45:16 AM, 24hrmom@... writes:
<< Maybe there are some shows, magazines, or products/activities out there
that are a natural fit for a divergent thinker? >>
Well...
The world itself?
If he has ANY magazine, he will read it and connect it in his mind to other
things he knows, or an article will make him remember something he has in his
closet, but he might have to call a friend to ask something.
I think trying to narrow it to a show or magazine or product is, again,
trying to focus an all-directions flow.
With learning styles and thinking styles in mind, what I've always tried to
do is rather than try to analyze any one child, I just provide and keep
swirling through lots of means of input and experience for them--sound,
sight, smell, texture, taste.
Their knowledge gathering is all internal anyway. What they need is access
to stuff and ideas and input.
Sandra
<< Maybe there are some shows, magazines, or products/activities out there
that are a natural fit for a divergent thinker? >>
Well...
The world itself?
If he has ANY magazine, he will read it and connect it in his mind to other
things he knows, or an article will make him remember something he has in his
closet, but he might have to call a friend to ask something.
I think trying to narrow it to a show or magazine or product is, again,
trying to focus an all-directions flow.
With learning styles and thinking styles in mind, what I've always tried to
do is rather than try to analyze any one child, I just provide and keep
swirling through lots of means of input and experience for them--sound,
sight, smell, texture, taste.
Their knowledge gathering is all internal anyway. What they need is access
to stuff and ideas and input.
Sandra
Sorcha
When I was in school we took a test to determine our thinking styles.
It said mine was "synthetic". What this means in practical terms is
that if a kid asks, "What's for dinner?" if the answer is tuna
casserole, I'm likely to think about how much I liked tuna casserole
when I was that age and that's the year we were living in Pittsburgh and
my parents bought me that little potholder weaving loom and I'd spend
hours and hours making potholders. So I might answer "What's for
dinner?" with "Would you like a weaving loom for your birthday? It's a
lot of fun." If I had to go to public school again, I'm sure there'd be
a drug for that.
Sorcha
It said mine was "synthetic". What this means in practical terms is
that if a kid asks, "What's for dinner?" if the answer is tuna
casserole, I'm likely to think about how much I liked tuna casserole
when I was that age and that's the year we were living in Pittsburgh and
my parents bought me that little potholder weaving loom and I'd spend
hours and hours making potholders. So I might answer "What's for
dinner?" with "Would you like a weaving loom for your birthday? It's a
lot of fun." If I had to go to public school again, I'm sure there'd be
a drug for that.
Sorcha
zenmomma2kids
>> One of the things I prize most about unschooling is that thedivergent thinker is not penalized, not made to feel unsuccessful or
frustrated just because they don't think the way the "teacher" wants
them to. He/she can take the time to understand how they best learn
and think, and then have the time to naturally gravitate to
jobs/careers that support and prize these styles, not spend their
time being frustrated as they try to fit into the convergent thinking
world of school and "typical jobs". There are lots of jobs out there
where skills such as being able to "think outside the box", "see the
big picture", "jump quickly between tasks", "process lots of
different input quickly" etc. are prized, and being able to spend the
day at your desk replying to email and filling out paperwork (at
whatever corporate level) are not necessary requirements.>>
YES!! That's what I was thinking about. Thanks for puting it into
words.
>> So having said that, does anyone have any great ideas forsupporting a divergent thinker?>>
I was about to answer when I read on further...
>>We'll hit the places on our own so the kids can go at their ownpace and style. And stuff we have at home he uses in his own style,
forget the step-by-step instructions, just see the end product and
get there.>>
...this all sounds great to me.
>>Maybe there are some shows, magazines, or products/activities outthere that are a natural fit for a divergent thinker?>>
We just pick and choose. Haven't found any magic supplies.
Life is good.
~Mary
Susan Fuerst
My 8 yo dd must be this "synthetic" type....she so often comes up with
responses that seem to be out of some far off space that I am not privy
to. I must have it at least sometimes, but I suppose (hope) I've
learned to temper it some by expounding on my "train of thought" and
how it went from one station to another to arrive at some off-topic
thing.
Susan
-----Original Message-----
From: Sorcha [mailto:sorcha-aisling@...]
Sent: Saturday, April 19, 2003 1:20 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: [Unschooling-dotcom] Thinking styles
When I was in school we took a test to determine our thinking styles.
It said mine was "synthetic". What this means in practical terms is
that if a kid asks, "What's for dinner?" if the answer is tuna
casserole, I'm likely to think about how much I liked tuna casserole
when I was that age and that's the year we were living in Pittsburgh and
my parents bought me that little potholder weaving loom and I'd spend
hours and hours making potholders. So I might answer "What's for
dinner?" with "Would you like a weaving loom for your birthday? It's a
lot of fun." If I had to go to public school again, I'm sure there'd be
a drug for that.
Sorcha
~~~~ Don't forget! If you change topics, change the subject line! ~~~~
If you have questions, concerns or problems with this list, please email
the moderator, Joyce Fetteroll (fetteroll@...), or the list
owner, Helen Hegener (HEM-Editor@...).
To unsubscribe from this group, click on the following link or address
an email to:
[email protected]
Visit the Unschooling website: http://www.unschooling.com
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
responses that seem to be out of some far off space that I am not privy
to. I must have it at least sometimes, but I suppose (hope) I've
learned to temper it some by expounding on my "train of thought" and
how it went from one station to another to arrive at some off-topic
thing.
Susan
-----Original Message-----
From: Sorcha [mailto:sorcha-aisling@...]
Sent: Saturday, April 19, 2003 1:20 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: [Unschooling-dotcom] Thinking styles
When I was in school we took a test to determine our thinking styles.
It said mine was "synthetic". What this means in practical terms is
that if a kid asks, "What's for dinner?" if the answer is tuna
casserole, I'm likely to think about how much I liked tuna casserole
when I was that age and that's the year we were living in Pittsburgh and
my parents bought me that little potholder weaving loom and I'd spend
hours and hours making potholders. So I might answer "What's for
dinner?" with "Would you like a weaving loom for your birthday? It's a
lot of fun." If I had to go to public school again, I'm sure there'd be
a drug for that.
Sorcha
~~~~ Don't forget! If you change topics, change the subject line! ~~~~
If you have questions, concerns or problems with this list, please email
the moderator, Joyce Fetteroll (fetteroll@...), or the list
owner, Helen Hegener (HEM-Editor@...).
To unsubscribe from this group, click on the following link or address
an email to:
[email protected]
Visit the Unschooling website: http://www.unschooling.com
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
24hrmom
<<zenmomma2kids wrote:
I wonder what a child with these traits would be like as a teen if
they were always allowed to learn and do at their own pace. If they
were never exposed to the concept of there being one right way to pay
attention or gather information. Maybe their brains would grow and
adapt to itself so that they wouldn't feel frustrated with their
inability to pay attention. They would have just learned a completely
different (from the norm) way of getting and retaining the info they
needed.
I know I've seen some of this in my own kids. Just throwing an idea
out there for discussion.>>
That's an interesting idea!
It seems to me that just as there are various "learning styles", there are also various "thinking styles" that lay on a continuum from "left-brained"/convergent/part-to-whole thinking to "right-brained"/divergent/whole-to-part thinking. And although children/adults are able to move along the spectrum depending on the "task", there are some for which one style of thinking is clearly dominant, just as although children can use various learning styles depending on the environment, they are likely to have one or two dominant, or preferable, learning styles.
Most schools and school-at-home curriculums certainly prize left-brained/sequential thinking and try hard to "train" all kids to think in that style; in fact, they are penalized if they don't. Think "show your work", "don't ask that now, I'll get to it later" etc. Even when they try to adapt to different learning styles, say visual or kinesthetic, they still present the material in a sequential fashion which a whole-to-part thinker often finds very frustrating. They want the big picture, then time to contemplate the different parts and the patterns that arise.
One of the things I prize most about unschooling is that the divergent thinker is not penalized, not made to feel unsuccessful or frustrated just because they don't think the way the "teacher" wants them to. He/she can take the time to understand how they best learn and think, and then have the time to naturally gravitate to jobs/careers that support and prize these styles, not spend their time being frustrated as they try to fit into the convergent thinking world of school and "typical jobs". There are lots of jobs out there where skills such as being able to "think outside the box", "see the big picture", "jump quickly between tasks", "process lots of different input quickly" etc. are prized, and being able to spend the day at your desk replying to email and filling out paperwork (at whatever corporate level) are not necessary requirements.
So having said that, does anyone have any great ideas for supporting a divergent thinker? I find that even homeschooling field trips and workshops are very convergent/sequential in nature and as such we do not enjoy them, especially my son Joseph (11). We'll hit the places on our own so the kids can go at their own pace and style. And stuff we have at home he uses in his own style, forget the step-by-step instructions, just see the end product and get there. Maybe there are some shows, magazines, or products/activities out there that are a natural fit for a divergent thinker?
Pam L.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I wonder what a child with these traits would be like as a teen if
they were always allowed to learn and do at their own pace. If they
were never exposed to the concept of there being one right way to pay
attention or gather information. Maybe their brains would grow and
adapt to itself so that they wouldn't feel frustrated with their
inability to pay attention. They would have just learned a completely
different (from the norm) way of getting and retaining the info they
needed.
I know I've seen some of this in my own kids. Just throwing an idea
out there for discussion.>>
That's an interesting idea!
It seems to me that just as there are various "learning styles", there are also various "thinking styles" that lay on a continuum from "left-brained"/convergent/part-to-whole thinking to "right-brained"/divergent/whole-to-part thinking. And although children/adults are able to move along the spectrum depending on the "task", there are some for which one style of thinking is clearly dominant, just as although children can use various learning styles depending on the environment, they are likely to have one or two dominant, or preferable, learning styles.
Most schools and school-at-home curriculums certainly prize left-brained/sequential thinking and try hard to "train" all kids to think in that style; in fact, they are penalized if they don't. Think "show your work", "don't ask that now, I'll get to it later" etc. Even when they try to adapt to different learning styles, say visual or kinesthetic, they still present the material in a sequential fashion which a whole-to-part thinker often finds very frustrating. They want the big picture, then time to contemplate the different parts and the patterns that arise.
One of the things I prize most about unschooling is that the divergent thinker is not penalized, not made to feel unsuccessful or frustrated just because they don't think the way the "teacher" wants them to. He/she can take the time to understand how they best learn and think, and then have the time to naturally gravitate to jobs/careers that support and prize these styles, not spend their time being frustrated as they try to fit into the convergent thinking world of school and "typical jobs". There are lots of jobs out there where skills such as being able to "think outside the box", "see the big picture", "jump quickly between tasks", "process lots of different input quickly" etc. are prized, and being able to spend the day at your desk replying to email and filling out paperwork (at whatever corporate level) are not necessary requirements.
So having said that, does anyone have any great ideas for supporting a divergent thinker? I find that even homeschooling field trips and workshops are very convergent/sequential in nature and as such we do not enjoy them, especially my son Joseph (11). We'll hit the places on our own so the kids can go at their own pace and style. And stuff we have at home he uses in his own style, forget the step-by-step instructions, just see the end product and get there. Maybe there are some shows, magazines, or products/activities out there that are a natural fit for a divergent thinker?
Pam L.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]