Introduction
At a recent panel, I was able to speak with the local mayor and she partly-accredited poor literacy rates to teaching too many subjects in schools. In today's fast-paced educational environment, students are expected to absorb a broad range of subjects—science, math, social studies, arts, physical education, and more—all while mastering foundational skills like reading and writing. Although, I'm a proponent for challenging our children in many areas, as I seek to do with my own children; I am becoming increasingly aware that mastery is key to true understanding. I read a recent article that confirmed this perspective. It was in regards to business and innovation, though I have found that it is applicable in education as well, insisting that "breadth" often comes at the expense of "depth." So how can we conglomerate these subjects to get our children to have more effective outcomes? The answer may be found in simplifying education and read more to learn how!
The Frustration with Too Much Knowledge
One of the critical consequences of this overloading is that reading, arguably the most essential skill for all academic success, can become neglected. If students struggle with reading comprehension, every other subject becomes an uphill battle. As I've seen with the students that I've tutored, the foundational challenges just get deeper and more frustrating. Phonemic awareness becomes a vital skill by the time children reach third grade, because at that point, they are not only learning to read, but they begin the creative writing process and begin to explore articulating their unique ideas. And if they struggle, they're seeing tutors, they're seeing different teachers, all with varying assignments and techniques. What an advantage for those students who's parents work along side them preventatively under a scaffolding system before intervention needs to take place. Though, this may be all easier said than done...
Families face many challenges when trying to walk along side their children in life. From the single mom to the busy families struggling through navigating their demanding responsiblities. Often times, it can feel lonely and confusing understanding where to even begin with teaching children to read. I know these frustrations all too well, and often it can be alleviated through simplifying.
Since researchers have found that too much information hinders innovation, we should narrow our children's education and prioritize this vital skill by simplification. Simplification can be applicable in every aspect of life, not just in teaching kids to read. For this reason minimalism, and simple living have been a growing "trend" in recent years. For good reason, we are all just wanting simple, less hectic lives. Because it is true that with less stuff, less thought, less mess, and less stress.
Capturing Depth vs Breadth in our Daily Lives:
Less toys- with the growing consumer trends, I want to remind myself and parents that children will be impacted more by the connections they have than the toys they play with. Many researchers have connected the amount of toys to high stress and less innovation as well! And no worries, I fell into the consumerism trap for a while there too, and I'm slowly recovering from it! So you're not alone.
Less information- When were given too much information before we are ready to handle it, it can lead to lack of understanding, overwhelm, or anxiety...but by using a systems for anything helps us to gain skills towards mastery! Our letter guide fosters this, emphasizing a few letters at a time learning to blend with them, and them acquiring new information and skills. Chunking up the data! Oh also, less information might mean less time spent on phones and more time growing through books and thoughtful resources, like this blog instead of social media?? Yikes.
More practical items- I want my children to learn new skills, so having instruments, games, balls or other practical items that build up their education for the long run, not just for the "toddler" or "young child" season. Things that children are already taking with them, to integrate learning can be beneficial in the long run---that's why we LOVE our reading bands!
More multipurpose items- When teaching children to read, or managing a home, you can actually work effectively and productively will little. Try purchasing products that have multipurpose like letter blocks, magnets, chalk board, or even paper and pencil, ***or AHEM our reading bands*** that you and your children can use over and over again!
Prioritizing Simplistic Methods to Reading Instruction
Before students can engage fully in other subjects, they need a strong reading foundation. Are we giving our children enough time and support to develop their reading skills? Without this depth of understanding in literacy, a broad curriculum loses its effectiveness.
How can we simplify the learning process?
By making it easier for our children to understand our expectations, creating goals, and consistently working towards meeting them! Grow as you go follows a scaffolding system, join our tutoring groups, parent plan, or purchase our reading bands to be part of this simplistic reading method!
Be gracious to yourself and Grow as you go!
Have you got hooked on simplistic learning yet?
Write an answer
References
Hu, S., Gong, H. and Li, S. (2024), "Fail forward: the relationship between innovation failure
and breakthrough innovation in the context of knowledge- based capabilities", European
Journal of Innovation Management, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print.
Wang, C., Tang, F., Zhang, Q. and Zhang, W. (2023), "How does corporate social responsibility
contribute to innovation performance? The moderating role of social media strategic
capability and big data analytics capability", European Journal of Innovation
Management, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJIM-11-
2022-0636
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