The Case for Learning About Strategies

My husband's latest creation--a trailer (not finished).

Here's the case for knowing about strategies--you can build useable stuff.  Take, for example, the trailer above.  My hubby had been putting this off for far too long.  After playing the Fluidity game on our Wii, he started to create it.  In one day, he had assembled most of this trailer together.  

Hubby stands over the pieces he eventually welded together.

I am very proud of my hubby.  I've seen him in action.  Before he begins any project, he either sees a manual (if it is provided) or he calculates a plan in his mind.  He puts his fingers around his chin and stares at the pieces before diving in.  In effect, he's just like a little kid with a bunch of Legos in his hands.

Hubby used the right combination for leveling the trailer.

There are real life applications to strategizing.

What do you do when you need money?  You make a trailer.  Why?  Well, to transport metal that you find in your home.  When we are in a financial bind, my hubby knows how to make a little money.  That's strategy at work.

My husband builds trailers that he can sell when we are low in cash.

You can see the goal--we needed money.  You see the plan--my hubby planned how to make money.  He built a trailer, which can someday transport metal.  The salvage yard pays good money for scrap metal.  Presto!  We have potential to make money (more than once) after he finishes building it.

Mini-strategy is how to add safety lights to trailer.

Please understand this: my husband is in his late forties.  He is like a kid in many ways.  He likes playing games of all kinds.  He doesn't always have time for it, but he is willing to play with our children.  He has played Connect 4, Monopoly, and other Wii games with the children.

Our children need to be equipped for life.

For this week, I have been concentrating on talking about strategy.  I think it's important to think about this topic.  I have seen too many teens who go floundering about, not knowing what to do in life.  Questions about how to solve life problems come up very often in life.  It's not always easy making decisions.

I thank you for indulging me in this topic.  It's too important not to address.  I think our children need to learn the what-if-this-then-that game in life.  As my sister has mentioned in recent conversations, we need to have a firm foundation to build upon. Providing opportunities to strategize, during play, is a wonderful way for our children to learn about how to create a plan to achieve goals later in life.

Thanks so much for reading this entry about my case for learning about strategies.

If you enjoyed this entry, please share it with others.
I would appreciate that very much.

How about you, my readers?  Have you witnessed successful evidence of strategy at work?  If so, would you use those episodes for inspiration and/or lessons to teach about strategy? I would encourage allowing children to create buildings with Legos.  It could be a wonderful chance for children to showcase their strategic skills.

May God bless you all with His wisdom and peace.

This entry is part of the Family Fun Fridays series.

Teaching Strategy With Board Games

Board games are great for strategies.

What is strategy?  Why should we know about the concept of strategies?  Who benefits from strategies?  Why should one know how to strategize?  These are important questions.  

According to Wikipedia, strategy is defined as: 

"a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal."

It is important for children to learn about strategies.  It is one of the most crucial of thinking skills necessary for our children to handle day to day problems.  I think being able to use plans to reach goals is a skill that can be taught indirectly.  That's why parents and teachers should provide materials, including games, for children to learn "while on the job."

This Tuesday, I blogged about Fluidity for the Wii gaming system.  Simple games like Connect 4 are easy enough for a six year-old.  Even using blocks and Legos allow a young child to figure out how to construct a house; the child gets to use their brain to accomplish a goal.

  

I believe board games are beneficial.

There is the Monopoly board game.  In the game, the player has to figure out how to buy all properties of one given color.  There are different levels of goals in Monopoly.  One always goes for the gold--the blue--because it yields the most money.  The possible plans to achieve the goal are endless.

How should one go about it?  Shall she buy all the properties she comes across?  Or shall she hold onto the money until she lands on the desired colors?  No matter what the plan, the goal is the same--to end up with the most money over all the opponents.

The implications are big!

Taking the time to provide games and other materials for our children is essential.  If a child can succeed at play, then he/she can succeed in other areas of life; that is what Steve Jobs, the creative genius of Apple products, used to say.  This child is better able to manage real money.  He can reach goals related to careers and jobs.  In short, he is equipped to handle the difficult, challenging situations in life, and that is what I desire for my own children.

 

Thanks for viewing this entry about using board games to teach strategy.  I hope I've given an idea of what can be used in the home school to teach strategy.

How about you, my readers?  For those of you who home school, what are you using to teach strategies?  Do you use board games?  I would recommend providing a pile of board games.  Children can learn how to plan for goals on their own.  We, as parents and teachers, don't always have to teach everything, including making goals, directly.  

 

I pray that God helps us all, whether we are homeschooling or are thinking of home schooling.  May God bless us all with His wisdom and peace, as we teach our children.

This has been an entry for Thorough Thursdays.  If you liked it, please consider sharing it with your friends and family.

SQ3R Study Method for 9th Grade Science

A Beka 9th grade science student textbook

My oldest son is finishing up his 8th grade school material.  He has begun some of his 9th grade studies.  I don't even think he wants to take a summer break, to be honest.  He just wants to plow forward.  He doesn't want to forget what he's learned.  That's why I knew that I'd want him to really get the most out of his studies, without rushing through it.

Reading comprehension is very important for any student, especially as he/she learns independently.  One of the best ways is to introduce a study skill.  A teenager becoming more independent in his studies must know how to extract important facts in his required reading subjects.  The SQ3R method is a reading strategy to help retain information that a student has to learn.

Questions that can be answered by the student

Above are some questions at the beginning of a chapter in my son's science textbook.  I realized that my son could simply answer the questions and move on to the next chapter quickly.  I did not want that.  I wanted my son to get the full understanding of what he was reading.  That's why I introduced him to the SQ3R method of study.

SQ3R stands for: 

Survey--scan the chapter, looking at all of the pictures, graphs, and titles to form an idea of what the chapter will cover.  The idea here is to look at all the visuals first so that you will later read through the text without distraction.

Question--turn the titles into questions.  If the title is "Science and Mathematics," one can turn that to: What is science and mathematics?  It's that simple.  A student might answer the question or it might have needed a better question.  The point is to raise curiosity to predict what might be read afterward.

3--these are the 3 R's  (read, recite, and review) that follow

Read--read the content of the chapter to look for the answers to the questions.  Here, the student actively reads the material, looking for the answers to the questions that are posed.

Recite--actually write down the answers to the questions. 

Review--look at these notes again as the important material of each chapter is written down.  This will work wonderfully when a test is administered.

Questions I created for the first chapter

When I was in 8th grade, my Earth Science teacher taught us how to use this method to read our textbook.  I hated it because it was so much work.  I think, though, that it really helped me understand the material.  This method of study helps the student slow down in the reading.  The student digests the information much better.

The way my teacher taught me is to create an outline of the chapter, like this, with the questions written out:

I. What is science and mathematics?

  A. What is the language of science under mathematics?

     

    1. What are the descriptions?

   

    2. What are the equations?

  B. What are the limitations?

    

    1. What are the proper uses?

  

    2. What is truth and error?

The student fills in the answers underneath each question.  My outline gives you an idea of how to take notes. 

Title of section turned into a question to be answered

Simple "What is...?" around title

Well, I hope this helps someone.  Any child who is struggling with understanding what they read can use this method.  It is helpful to retain the subject material.  I know that I learned my material.  I had good grades in that subject.

For more elaboration, you can visit these websites about the SQ3R method of study:

 

SQ3R

The SQ3R Method

SQ3R at Wikipedia

SQ3R Reading Method

SQ3R: A Great Way to Improve Reading and Studying Technique

SQ3R - A Reading and Study Skill System

Thanks for reading this entry and viewing these pictures.  I hope I've given you an idea for instructing teens on reading their subject material.

How about you, my readers?  Have you ever used the SQ3R method of study or something similar?  Have you given some thought to how your children are reading and retaining their material?  Your children can benefit from using study strategies to learn their subjects.  Remember: Our teens still need our guidance.  Equipping our teens with reading strategies can take them a long way.  Study strategies helped me in my university days.

May God bless you all with His wisdom and peace, as you teach your children.

This has been an entry for Thorough Thursdays.  Hope you liked it.