Learning Out-Of-The-Box
by
Janiece L. Boardway, M.A.
Saturn3lightflyers.com
When it came to reading and writing, Michael and I found that those were two subjects that Tristan did not enjoy. We discovered when Tristan was quite young, the reason for him not wanting to read and found ways to assist him*.
Although Tristan did not enjoy reading and writing, he loved to draw, and we incorporated that into our teaching approach, which you will read about later in this article. To help him with his writing abilities, we used one of the Waldorf methods called “Form Drawing.” You may find many articles online about Form Drawing** and its benefits. We found it helpful for Tristan’s hand/eye coördination, letter, numerical and spatial relationships, and so much more.
Basically, after looking at a specific Form, using yarn, we made the Form on the floor and then walked it together, with Tristan leading and me following. We found that the act of walking the Form, we placed it in our memory by using our bodies in this active movement. The next step was Tristan drawing the Form in the air a few times and then drawing the Form on paper. He continued drawing this Form by tracing over his original pattern for a few more times or as long as this activity held his attention, which many times was not long at all, but at least he did it.
The Forms Tristan drew always had a relationship to what he studied. For example, when learning about Ancient Greece, he drew the Greek symbol that represented water. Since Tristan loved looking at the pictures and learning about the Blue Grottos, it seemed appropriate to incorporate this important aspect into our studies. Our approach was multifaceted as we could learn about their modes of water transportation, trade (including the economy), food, etc., during those ancient times as well as compare and contrast them to modern-day Greece. Additionally, he always loved dolphins, who inhabit the waters, so we also incorporated some marine biology while we were at it.
In addition to Form Drawing that helped with Tristan’s writing, we did many other helpful exercises from the book entitled, “The Extra Lesson” by Audrey McAllen.
Another amazing resource that helped me tremendously with Tristan’s “out-of-the-box” learning style was Michael. He always had a very hands-on learning approach that incorporated every learning style and beyond. Michael is a licensed architect and credential professor, so how lucky were his students that he had in the past and how fortunate are the current people who work with him in preparing for their architectural licensing examinations!
One of Michael’s suggestions was for Tristan to create storyboards so he could do what he enjoyed, which was drawing pictures. Then after drawing the picture, he could write a sentence or paragraph about the picture. As I recall, Tristan’s first storyboards had many more pictures than words; however, we were happy because at least he was writing, and I might add, without the resistance.
As you all know, the best way I can share information with you is through example. Apparently, I have been a storyteller in many lifetimes, so here goes. When Tristan was learning about the Middle Ages, he immediately lost interest. Well, you know all that fighting, unfair treatment of people, as well as the not so pleasant living conditions, really put him off. Instead of getting into a power struggle scenario, Michael suggested that he and Tristan could build a Middle Ages village. Oh, that piqued Tristan’s interest because he loved doing these types of projects with his dad. However, there was a catch, but a pleasant one. Before building the Middle Ages Village, Tristan would draw up the plans of the village with all the important aspects of it, including people and how they lived, what they did, and any specific information about them as he created the backdrop for his village model. We found adding the personal touch of people helped us introduce and teach Tristan about the “famous” people of that time. So that’s what he did. Tristan drew each picture on an individual sheet of paper, and that way, if the story changed or he thought of something from the past or future, he could re-organize the story so it would be in order. Then under or on the back of each picture, Tristan wrote something about what he drew. Through this process, Tristan never complained about writing since he was learning the way he enjoyed.
After Tristan finalized his storyboard, Michael and he removed an inside door from our house that they used as the base for their Middle Ages Village. Well, it was a way of replacing all of our old doors with new ones, so it was a multifunctional activity. On cardboard, they drew up such things as the castle, village homes, shops, barns, etc., and then cut them out and built the village on the door; gluing, taping, then drawing plants, trees, water and lastly placing all of his human and animal figures to make the scene come alive. I remember Tristan finding the bathrooms during the Middle Ages Times especially fascinating, so his castle also included a “garderobe.” Well, we did have a tendency to take the attitude of “whatever it takes” for him to be present and active in his learning experience was just fine!
As you can see, by taking this holistic way of learning and engaging in his reading and writing, it brought more creativity and imagination to the learning experience. It was definitely time-consuming; however, we (through Michael’s suggestion) chose this innovative way of teaching instead of spending time pushing and most likely fighting with Tristan to read and write.
You can use the storyboard for anything. A friend of ours said that her son is interested in journaling, but she felt that he would not pursue it since he isn’t very keen on writing. I suggested that her son also incorporate his drawings in his journal and then do some writing about what he draws. A very creative way of expressing oneself. After all, this is how Leonardo DaVinci’s journals looked!
For our family, it is always about discovering how a child learns and allowing them to express themselves even though it may be different from the norm. If being out-of-the-box brought up any fears within us, we looked at them, processed them, healed them, and let them go. We found this journey to definitely be more expansive as we freed ourselves from the fears that we learned in our past than to pass them on to our son and fit him into that proverbial box of limitations.
*To learn more about assisting children in their learning endeavors, please read the articles at the following link: http://www.saturn3lightflyers.com/learning/
**A wonderful article that discusses “Form Drawing” can be found athttp://www.waldorflibrary.org/images/stories/articles/formdrawing.pdf
