Learning as we go <3

First off, I just have to share this piece of good news. A while back I shared that the shamrock Russ bought me our first St. Patrick’s Day in our new house seven years ago had taken a nose dive. We had one brave little soldier still leaning to the sun, but I had to trim back all the other stems as they were beyond hope. I ended up transplanting the root system and prayed for the best. 

The best has come.

This morning I gasped as I opened our blinds to let what little sunlight we are getting lately in to our home and behold! These little guys have been sneaking in under the radar and this is the first I have noticed them. 

I am beyond thrilled. 

Now for a quick thought to end our week. 

Yesterday I was in the wrong place at the right time and thus the one to look over Emmett’s math and then walk him through the corrections needed based on the answer key.

Oh yes, I rely on the answer key because when it comes to math, and a few other topics, I am definitely not smarter than a fifth grader. 

While I actually managed to graduate from high school with high honors in Math and Science, I never had a clue what I was doing in either subject. I did my homework and studied/memorized what was needed for the exams, but comprehension and application tests would have revealed I was basically clueless. 

So as we looked at the problems he needed to correct, I rested heavily on the hope that he had just hurried and made simple errors. For the most part this was the case until we got to a story problem about time and Nan bagging groceries and I was floundering. 

But when it comes to helping children, I believe honesty and transparency trump knowledge. So as we read the problem, I told him I had no idea how to get him to the answer but I was sure it was in the chapter he had been taught to complete the assignment. 

Emmett, in all his Emmett-ness, looked me square in the eye and said that he was pretty sure that was something they would learn in 7th grade. I countered that it seemed unlikely that the book would be asking him to answer a problem that he wouldn’t be taught to solve for two more years. 

This resonated and he suddenly recalled that in tiny print under each problem’s number there is an associated lesson number to turn back to and review. So we did this and as we stumbled through the examples and teachings, I once again admitted I had not a clue how to help him but I knew it involved addition from the answer key. 

While my disclosure proved humbling for me, it gave him a boost of confidence as he took charge of reviewing the material. With a cry of understanding, he whipped back to the original problem, did the calculations and came up with the correct answer. 

And once again I will throw out there that part of learning is figuring out how to find the means to discovering the answer.

So often as I watch the four grands tackle a tough assignment, I see them discouraged because they don’t automatically know the answer. I do this myself. 

It is so important of us to constantly be learners. Life learners have to tackle the hard work of learning how to learn, day after day. Part of learning is doing the searching and making attempts that may fail, and asking a lot of questions. There is a skill to learning how to find the answer and it must be applied often.

We are all works in progress.

And how fine it is to have each other to keep us company as we Journey Onward.