Erika Twani - Becoming Einstein's Teacher book. Relational Learning Framework. Autonomous Learning.

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VIDEO: Homeschooling routine for busy parents

Video transcript here:

[00:00:00] My name is Erika Twani and I'm the CEO of Learning 1 to 1 and author of Becoming Einstein's Teacher. I believe every child is a genius. So in this video, we're going to talk about routine, having your child learning at home. Some people choose that to have their children at home and learning at home. But it was kind of forced on us during 2020. You know, every child, every parent, every teacher was forced to learn at home.

[00:00:38] It has been a struggle because he takes us out of our comfort zone, we're not used to this. We're not used to having all the kids at home all the time, especially doing some special for parents, doing something that they are not used to. I would like to present something that can be really useful for parents and for teachers, which we call Relational Learning Framework.

[00:01:06] I want to make sure that you have everything in place so you, your child can learn at home. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to present you an effective routine that thousands of students are already using and we know is effective.

[00:01:26] And if you want to learn more about it, it's in my book Becoming Einstein's Teacher. But for now, just do this.

[00:01:33] So let's start with the first step. It's PLANNING and GOAL SETTING. So make sure that children at home have a space to learn with all everything they need a computer, textbooks, notebooks, games, anything that will help them to learn.

[00:01:55] Now to plan, you got to make sure that you have in your notebook an area that says planning and that your child can write down what they will do in the next hour, the in the morning, throughout the day.

[00:02:13] Now, one very big mistake that teachers and parents have done in the past have seen that all this year was that they assumed that kids already knew how to do things, already knew what to study and how to do it. They don't. So it's up to us to help them in that first step.

[00:02:38] It's very also very, very important that you make sure that you start in baby steps by planning for the next hour. What are you going to do in the next hour? And then as you see your child acquiring that skill plan for the next two hours, plan for the morning, and plan for the afternoon. The other very important thing is to be very, very, very specific on the goals that you want to achieve.

[00:03:07] I want to learn math in the next hour is not a specific goal. A specific goal is I'm going to do five activities in the next hour. That's a specific goal.

[00:03:21] So step two is EXPLORE. Now, if you are a teacher, what you can do is to send out some very interesting questions that entice the brain of the students. And if you are a parent, you could spend a couple of minutes just asking some questions, like, for instance, if your child will learn about clouds, for example, you can ask, what do we know about clouds or how many clouds can we recognize in the sky or what colors they have and so on and so forth. That we'll start the child and the student to think about what they're going to learn and start connecting the new knowledge to what they already know. This is scientific. Don't skip it. It's very, very important that you do this.

[00:04:17] The next step, step three, is RESEARCH. The child will use anything available like textbooks, movies, documentaries, or somebody else that they can ask questions from, or anything that is available. It doesn't matter. Anything is a good resource.

[00:04:36] In the beginning, as a teacher and as a parent, you got to understand that in the beginning, if you're just getting started with this very, very important, that you understand that your child needs guidance. So you have to help them with the resources. With time, though, what you see is that the child will start finding new resources by themselves. It's amazing to see when that happens. So they will use those resources to find specific things that they are learning right now. And then the very other resources that they will need is how to learn how to translate that into what they interpret about what they researched. Right. So we use things like a concept map, a mind map, an essay, something that will help them translate what they understood into paper.

[00:05:36] It's going to be easier for them to come back and read it again for the next step, which is practice. So now what we're doing is we're working with activities and games and projects and making sure that whatever they learned is being practiced. The more they practice, the better they'll get ready. So make sure that they have also a choice. Layout lots of practices, lots of things that they can use to practice, and allow them to choose one of them or two or three, allow them to have a choice.

[00:06:20] Step five is RELATE. Now, up to now, we had a lot of work being done, right. We get them right. How to plan, you gotta good research. You get and read textbooks and go to watch videos. You get to do activities to practice.

[00:06:35] But now is a time where you stop and reflect. So you help your child to understand how they going to use the new knowledge in their own lives. So if you're learning math, which situations are you going to use that if you're learning about clouds, when can you go out of the house, out of the house to play when there are certain clouds in the sky so you can start connecting the dots into their own lives. And trust me, they'll never, ever forget about this once they relate what they learned to their lives.

[00:07:12] Finally, the sixth step, which is SELF-ASSESS, is also a moment of reflection, but now is a reflection on the process of learning. So how did I plan? Did I allocate the right time? Was I specific on my goals? Did I use the right resources that I practice right in my using that in my life properly, so on and so forth. Do not do not skip this step because it's so important to make sure that the routine happens. So we're talking about homeschooling routine. Right? And is so important that you look back, you play the observer as a teacher, you play the observer with your students. As a parent, you can also play the observer, as with your child, to make sure that they understand that this is a process.

[00:08:11] And once you follow each of those steps, you make sure the learning sticks. So these steps or the Relational Learning Framework, which I talk about extensively in my book, Becoming Einstein's Teacher. So if you want to learn more, pick up my book, Becoming Einstein's Teacher, watch the other videos like it. Subscribe comment. I love to hear from you.