Asking questions

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Parents new to homeschooling may find this page useful. 

"Child" also means "children".

This is a big topic.  Plenty of coffee breaks!

On decimal referencing.

Contents

1     Education is based on questions

2     Homeschooling brings about even more questions

3     Diversity - a general statement

4     Making Learning Meaningful and Lasting

5     Two main types of questions 

6     Questions that encourage thinking and reasoning

7     Problem-posing questions 

8     Measuring and counting

9     Attention-focusing questions

10   Comparison questions

11    Productive questions

12    Silly questions created to introduce a topic

13     Homeschooling - even more questions - this time the pupil asks.

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1  Education is based on questions

1. Teachers ask pupils questions.  Pupils ask teachers questions.  Parents ask questions about their children's education.  So it goes on.  
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3. Studies show that students work better in a diverse environment, enabling them to concentrate and push themselves further when there are people of other backgrounds working alongside them. 
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5. The appropriateness of the question-answer regimen increases as a function of diversity.  
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7. Not in the cultural sense since it is more difficult to achieve in the homeschooling context than in the conventional classroom.

2  Home schooling - even more questions 

Some relate to the learning arena - LA.

The 1.3 item applies when group learning and activity takes place, sometimes with teacher-qualified tutors.  It can also apply when one parent 'manages' just several children including those from nearby families.   

Home schooling brings about even more questions.  In the context of the ratio of group work (assumed to be lower) and parental teaching:

1. Should you share the learning arena management with your child?
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3. How do you challenge assumptions that underpin home schooling as being of less value than normal schooling?
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5. How do you see your own values reflected in the LA?
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7. Are the values of diversity reflected in it?  See 1.5
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9. How have the values of diversity changed the way learning is achieved in your LA  functions?
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11. How does your LA operate as a worthwhile learning environment?
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13. How do you make sure your child understands the relevance of their learning for the future?

3   Diversity - a general statement

1. Diversity among  pupils in education directly impacts their performance. 
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3. Studies show that pupils work better in a diverse environment, enabling them to concentrate and push themselves further when there are people of other backgrounds working alongside them.  more  more 

4   Making Learning Meaningful and Lasting

1. Connect content with meaning.  Develop your Q & A (question and answer technique).
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3. Discourage rote memorisation.  Encourage the making of mnemonics *.  
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5. Encourage self-testing.  Asking oneself questions when young can be difficult. 
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7. Let your child figure out the problem.  Let your child feed it back to you.
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9. Give frequent, low-stake mini-tests.  Encourage you child to make graphs and other records of results.  Encourage the use of a log.  (The page will be modernised later.)
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11. Penalise repeated errors, explaining why and pointing to some good work.

* "We've all seen children who can easily repeat silly mnemonic sentences such as commercials. Why is that? There are several answers to that question. The silliness triggers a focus because there is something "different," and the pattern helps hook the information together. Use of multisensory techniques such as colours, visual pictures, songs, rhythms, or movement often capitalise on students' strengths."  more  Ignore Dyslexia aspects.  The paper suits our context.

Silly questions later.

 

5  Two main types of questions  

There are subject-centred questions and pupil-centred questions.

5.1 Subject-centred questions

They focus on subject matter.

Can you name the solar planets in their order from the Sun?

5.2   Pupil-centred questions

They focus on ideas and opinion leading to the creation of more questions.

Can you remember the solar planets in their order from the Sun using our memory aid? more

6   Questions that encourage thinking and reasoning

1. Plan to use questions that encourage thinking and reasoning. Really effective questions are planned beforehand.
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3. Ask questions in ways that include everyone.
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5. Give your child time to think.
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7. Avoid judging responses.
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9. Follow up your child's responses in ways that encourage deeper thinking.

7  Problem-posing questions 

How long is a piece of string when you use it to talk to someone? 

Elicits -  Depends on how far away the other person is.  -  more

The question requires that children have the experience and/or understanding to be able to tackle the question.

8   Measuring and counting

This might be an extract from a science curriculum:

Order and compare objects or events by length, area, volume and capacity, weight (mass), turn (angle), temperature, and time by direct comparison and/or counting whole numbers of units.

9  Attention-focusing questions

1. Have you noticed when you look at the Moon it's more like a banana?
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3. Do you think that astronauts can land on Jupiter?  
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5. The attention is focused on previous   Earth-Moon   and    Jupiter (Item 3) sessions.

10  Comparison questions

Which is largest - Saturn or Jupiter?

Which planet would take longer to reach from the Sun - Uranus or Mars?

11  Productive questions

1. Productive questions have become one of many effective teaching strategies in the early childhood classroom. 
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3. Productive questions are questions that teachers or students can ask that produce an answer, with the answer not only verbal but often being shown by the student physically.  A drawing* or a list might result. 
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5. Productive questions are not yes or no questions or low-level, factual recall questions. 
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7. Productive questions aid in the construction of student knowledge, help students make connections between prior and new experiences, and aid in the development of student curiosity.   

more

12   Silly questions created to introduce a topic

1. How many aliens were in your/our road today?
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3. How many spaceships flew past your/our home today?
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5. How many stars in our galaxy do you think exploded today?
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7. Where in the universe do you want to go for a visit?

13  Homeschooling - even more questions - this time the pupil asks

1. How are pupil points of view valued in my group work?
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3. How are different pupils' opinions and points of view part of my learning?
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5. How do group tutors think differently about what I know?
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7. How do group leaders help you to understand the world?
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9. What helps you to know that you're progressing in your learning?

The Home page for several forms of curriculum is a hidden page here.

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