TLP 209: Teach Your Children to Learn, Part 3 | no studying allowed

Truth.Love.Parent.

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:05

This is why traditional schooling requires so much intense review. If students truly learn the information the first time, they wouldn't need to be constantly retaught it.

00:15

Welcome to Truth. Love. Parents. Where we use God's Word to become intentional, premeditated parents.

00:24

Here's your host, AM Brewster. I created today's discussion about 10 years ago, and I've delivered it to hundreds and hundreds of students from across the

00:32

United States. Today's episode won't be too long, but unfortunately, there won't be too much scripture.

00:37

Here's why. Two episodes ago, we learned to see learning from God's perspective. Last time, we discovered what learning is all about and what makes

00:45

Christian learning unique. Part of that last discussion was that we learned that acquiring knowledge without putting it to use to glorify

00:52

God is pointless, and that's what today is all about. We're going to discuss some practical applications specifically designed to help us and our kids in an academic setting.

01:01

Now, it's not really wisdom until your kids put it into practice, but this should give them something into which they can sink their teeth.

01:08

But like I said, these practical principles aren't specifically enumerated in scripture, but I believe you'll see that they're all logically based in biblical truth.

01:16

So I hope your kids are with us today. I have a special guest with me today. Say hi, Ivy. Hi. She's sitting in the studio with me today, and she's working on Stack the

01:25

States. But I hope your kids are also with us. And if they're not though, just remember that these podcasts were created to help you teach your kids to learn.

01:34

Of course, I need to say something really important before we get started. You can't lead your children where you're not going, and you can't teach your kids to do something you don't understand.

01:44

Here's my point. You personally need to be cycling through the circle of learning yourself before you can expect to model it for your kids.

01:51

Now, that doesn't mean you can't teach it to them before you're super good at it. I just want us to not be hypocritical.

01:57

It's super easy to demand that our children be good students when, let's be honest, we stink at it. Next time,

02:03

I look forward to interviewing my mother about how to teach our kids to think. We won't be able to do that well, though, if our thinking isn't what it should be.

02:11

Anyway, most of the students to whom I've imparted this information really liked it, in part because it's called

02:16

No Studying Allowed, how to graduate from school without ever studying. But before we jump in, will you please just take a moment to leave a star review?

02:24

That would be really, really awesome. OK, here we go. I always like to start by defining my terms.

02:30

So let's do that. I found this really weird dictionary. It's called the Students' Dictionary of Words They Often Misdefine.

02:37

And this is how they define studying intensive, often last minute preparation for tests and quizzes, including short term memorization.

02:46

And one of the included synonyms is cramming. OK, so that's not really a real dictionary, nor is that the correct definition of studying.

02:53

But I found that most students believe that's exactly what studying is. It's intense, often last minute preparation for tests and quizzes, including and often limited to just short term memorization.

03:05

Now let's consider a slightly more legitimate dictionary, shall we? Dictionary .com defines studying as application of the mind to the acquisition of knowledge as by reading, investigation, or reflection.

03:17

And one of the synonyms is learning. So I checked out the definition of learning and found that the definition is exactly what we saw earlier, to acquire knowledge by study, instruction, or experience.

03:28

So studying and learning are actually identical concepts. So I suppose that calling this course

03:34

No Studying Allowed is a little misleading. I probably should have called it No Cramming Allowed. You see, cramming is just short term quote unquote memorization.

03:42

It retains the information in the short term memory for as long as possible, which normally isn't very long.

03:48

But true memorization moves information to the long term memory. Cramming causes us to forget most, if not all of the information immediately after we take the quiz or test, and that doesn't benefit the student at all.

04:01

This is why traditional schooling requires so much intense review. If students truly learned the information the first time, they wouldn't need to be constantly retaught it.

04:10

Small reviews would be all that was necessary to help the brain recall the information from the long term memory. But when the school system is preoccupied with students cramming in as much information as possible so they can pass their tests, they're going to create a culture of low -level learning where students view information as a shallow means to an end.

04:29

As long as they can remember the information long enough to regurgitate it on a test, it will be okay for them to forget it later.

04:35

Because what child believes that the information they're learning in school now will actually be important in the future?

04:41

Of course, all this thinking is immature and incorrect. God created us to study, He requires us to study, and He empowers us to study.

04:50

And true study means we're acquiring knowledge, understanding that knowledge, and then putting that knowledge to work through wise living that glorifies

04:56

God. But this kind of studying is nothing like what our kids do in preparation for tests.

05:02

So now it's time to use some wisdom to apply what we've learned about learning to a school environment.

05:08

For all the children listening to me, regardless of what type of school you go to—home school, public school, private school—I want you to answer three questions for me.

05:17

What do you think it takes to learn in school? How can you avoid having multi -hour, weekend -long cram sessions?

05:25

In answer to that question, I have six main points. Number one, stay healthy. And do this all of the time.

05:32

Now this is a huge topic to which we could dedicate an entire podcast, or season of podcasts, really.

05:38

In fact, one day I hope to have a whole section of TruthLoveParent .com dedicated to family health and wellness.

05:44

But for now, I want to focus on two main areas when it comes to student health. The first is sleeping, and the second is eating.

05:51

Children simply do not sleep enough. Eight hours isn't enough, especially if your child is lying down at eleven and waking up at seven.

05:59

Sure, that's eight hours in bed, but that's not eight hours sleeping. Did you know that once you finally fall asleep, your body cycles through various levels of sleep, including times of being awake?

06:09

We all actually wake up many times throughout the night and don't even know it. In fact, sleep studies reveal that this light sleep and wake times can add up to about 25 % of our sleep.

06:19

For every eight hours we spend asleep, we're awake two of those. That means that if your child is going to bed at ten and waking up at six, they're not getting anywhere near eight hours of sleep.

06:29

This is one of the reasons experts will say children need ten to twelve hours of sleep. Ten to twelve hours in bed equates to eight to nine hours of sleep on average.

06:38

In addition, the sleep we get before midnight is far better than the sleep we get after twelve AM. Staying up late to cram is never a good idea.

06:47

You'll be tired and you'll probably won't remember most of what you crammed. When I went to college, I promised myself that I would not stay up late or get too few hours of sleep, and I was able to achieve that most of the time.

06:58

And while my friends were dragging like zombies, hyped up on coffee, I felt great most of the time. And speaking of coffee,

07:05

God designed our bodies to run on the right fuel. When you pour into your body processed foods, acidifying foods, and inappropriate amounts of certain foods, it's like pouring

07:13

Mountain Dew into your car and wondering why it won't work. Again, this is a massive topic of which we can't even scratch the surface, but I want to encourage you to study the importance of a

07:23

Christ -honoring diet. First Corinthians 1031 tells us that God must be glorified in the things we eat and drink, and sugar, processed foods, milk, tons of bread, and carbonated beverages are poisoning our bodies and will affect our ability to learn.

07:39

By the way, if you happen to be a professional in natural health and wellness and would be interested in partnering with TLP to educate our families about how they can be intentional, premeditated healthy families, then please contact us at TeamTLP at TruthLoveParent .com.

07:55

Okay, that's the first point. You cannot learn the way God commanded you to learn if you're pumping garbage into your system and taxing it beyond its capability.

08:03

You need to be healthy if you're going to learn well. Number two, focus. And we do this before school and during school.

08:11

Part of focusing is understanding that you are in school to learn. You're not there to see friends. You're not there to play.

08:17

You're not there to waste time. God has called you to being a student. Learning should be your most important focus.

08:22

Another part of learning to focus is to do the heartbeat step. You can do this before class, but you can also do it anytime your minds begin to wander.

08:31

The heartbeat step is very simple. In fact, I'd like you to try it while I'm talking. Close your eyes. Put your hand on your chest like you're about to say the

08:38

Pledge of Allegiance. And focus all of your attention on feeling your heart beating in your chest.

08:44

You can feel it. Just pay close attention. In fact, if you focus hard enough, you can feel your heart beating in your chest without using your hand at all.

08:53

And when you get really good at focusing, you'll be able to feel your blood pumping through every part of your body, even all the way out to your fingers and your toes.

09:01

But in order to do this well, you need to learn to block out the distractions and focus. Now the heartbeat step will not help you learn.

09:09

In fact, it will distract you from learning. But the step is designed to help you focus on a concrete object. And then the purpose is to transfer that deep focus to something else like your teacher or your assignment.

09:20

If you find your mind wandering, focus on feeling your heartbeat. And then take that laser focus and put it to the task at hand.

09:28

And speaking of tasks, another part of staying focused is to stay on task. Listen when it's time to listen, read when it's time to read, practice when it's time to practice, answer when it's time to answer, and assess when it's time to assess.

09:41

Here are a couple of other helpful reminders when it comes to focusing in school. It was Jim Elliott who said, quote, wherever you are, be all there.

09:49

Also, remember that anything less than your best is, in fact, a sin. And the most important motivation we can have for our obedience and study is the fear of the

09:58

Lord. Remember 1 Corinthians 10 31, whether therefore you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.

10:06

All right, step one, stay healthy. Step two, focus. Step three, take notes. And obviously we do this during school.

10:13

I know that note taking is a dying art, but people learn best when they see, that's the visual, hear, the auditory, and do, that's the kinesthetic learning.

10:22

Taking notes is the closest thing we have to doing information. I can't take the time to teach you how to take notes now, but you can start simply copying down anything your teacher says that seems important.

10:33

Even if you never go back and read those notes, which by the way would be a bad idea, but even if you didn't, the process of note taking is going to help you learn.

10:42

Number four, ask questions. And of course we do this during school. You should never leave class if there's something you don't understand.

10:51

If that happens, then you're not learning. You won't be able to use the information if you don't understand it.

10:56

And listen, you're not going to look stupid when you ask a question. You're the smart one for asking in the first place.

11:02

And I guarantee there are other people in class who are wondering the same thing. And most quote unquote dumb questions just don't get asked if you're paying attention in the first place.

11:11

So you shouldn't have to worry about that. And yes, there are such things as dumb questions. They're the ones the teacher just answered, but you weren't paying enough attention to catch it.

11:19

For example, the teacher says to open to page 27 and the genius in the back row raises his hand 27 seconds later wondering on what page he's supposed to be.

11:27

That my friends is a dumb question. Number one, stay healthy all the time. Two, focus.

11:33

Three, take notes in class. Four, ask questions in class or after class. And number five, complete your homework and do this as soon as possible.

11:42

Now you should never do homework when you've been given another task in school, but it is best to complete homework at school during activity periods and study halls.

11:50

When you work on your assignments during those times, you can generally go back to the teacher if you're struggling and it's the way the time was designed to be used.

11:58

Remember, if you attend a private school, your parents aren't paying for you to waste your time. God hates all forms of waste.

12:05

And consider this, why do you homework at home if you can complete it at school? I encourage the boys in my house at Victory Academy to get as much homework done at school as they can.

12:15

Home should be a place the family can grow together and spend time together, not go their separate ways as dad does work on the computer and the kids continue their school in their rooms.

12:24

Also, when it comes to completing homework, don't guess or make up answers just to fly through it and quote, get it done.

12:30

Use your book, notes, and memory to complete all homework at least the night before it's due.

12:36

The earlier you complete it, the better chances you'll have of getting it done and the better you'll remember the information. Now, let's be honest,

12:44

I haven't told you anything you haven't heard before. And I know I started with a huge promise.

12:49

I was going to teach you how to graduate from school without ever having to have multi -hour long cram sessions.

12:56

Those five steps are the groundwork. If you're not going to do those things, I can't help you. And if you only do those things, you'll be amazed how your grades will change.

13:05

But I do have one more point, and this one is the key. This step should enable you to organically and intelligently learn the information you're being taught.

13:13

And once you've learned it, you won't need to cram because you already know the information, understand it, and hopefully know how to use it to the glory of God.

13:23

Number six, review all material. And we do this after school on a daily basis.

13:29

Here's how it works. Take a few minutes per subject to review the previous lessons. Not just the lesson of the day, but the ones before it.

13:37

For example, for those of you with a more traditional class load, review your spelling every night. Scan through your

13:43

English and math notes every night. You can even reread most sections of your textbooks each evening with only a little extra investment.

13:51

Most chapters in your textbook are only 10 to 15 pages long. You could reread your history and science chapters every night and not spend more than half an hour doing it.

13:59

Remember that repetition aids learning. That means that the more you interact with something, the easier it will be to remember it.

14:07

By the time you've read the chapter the third or fourth time, most of the information will be very familiar. I did this all through college.

14:14

I would take every day to review what I had just learned in class and what I had learned classes before. I would review my notes and skim through my textbook.

14:21

And while my peers were staying up late the night before the test and spending multiple hours cramming only to forget the information hours later,

14:28

I was enjoying my life. Now, everyone's different. I understand that. And some of you will need to work much harder to make these steps a regular part of your learning.

14:37

But what I've outlined for you is the way that you've learned to do everything you love, from walking to beating your favorite video game.

14:44

You play your best when you're well rested and healthy. You play your best when you're completely focused on nothing but the game.

14:51

You play your best when you put what you're learning in the game into practice. You play your best when you do extra reading about strategy and special codes, or you watch walkthroughs.

15:01

You do your best when you play more often, and you do your best when you play consistently, even just a little every day.

15:08

Again, these six steps are how you've learned everything that's important to you. And you can use the same six steps to learn the way

15:16

God created, requires, and empowers you to learn. Because if you stay healthy, do your best in every task you have, listen to the teacher, take good notes, work diligently on your homework, and review every night, you will never have to cram for a test again, and your grades will improve dramatically.

15:34

Most importantly, you will have actually learned the information. Believe it or not, simply doing your best to learn will help make you a more mature and Christ -honoring individual.

15:44

The discipline it takes to be a good student will help you become a good friend, worker, spouse, parent, and leader.

15:51

A person who recognizes that they were created to learn, who accepts the God -given responsibility to learn, and who taps into the almighty power of the universe in order to learn, will change the world.

16:03

And that's what we want for you. Please share this show, and don't forget about our free notes linked in the description of this episode.

16:10

And moms and dads, you totally need to join us for our next episode when I talk to my mom about teaching your kids to think.

16:16

I know that this whole parenting thing is likely bigger than you ever thought it would be. I mean, what expectant parent is cognizant of the fact that they will have to teach their child how to think?

16:26

But in the same way that God created, requires, and empowers us to learn, if you have kids, then you can know that God created you to parent, requires you to parent as His ambassador, and will empower you to parent.

16:38

So, to that end, I'll see you next time. Say bye, Ivy. Bye! Truth. Love.

16:46

Parents. Is part of the Evermind Ministries family and is dedicated to helping you become an intentional, premeditated parent.

16:55

Join us next time as we search God's Word for the truth your family needs today.