Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Mike Farris:
Marcia, can you explain how children develop in stages?

Marcia Somerville:
Well children develop in stages like stair steps, rather than an upward slope, like you might think. They kind of go along at a plateau and then they kind of bump up to the next stage. And sometimes that jump can surprise both parents and students! And we can err as parents, through either unpreparedness or impatience with that rate of growth.

Mike:
Marcia, do you think that tracking developmental stages rather than age might be especially helpful for raising a large family?

Marcia:
It has been for me, Mike, because I’ve learned to tune those plateaus to developments in learning as well.

They say that young children in the grammar years or the elementary years are real sponges for facts and I’ve tried to key my curriculum to those. And then in the middle years when they’re pubescent—that is, going through puberty—then they sort of ratchet up the next stair level, and they’re into connections. And then after they get through puberty and into high school, they’re ready to analyze and synthesize and work with abstract concepts.

So knowing that helps me as a parent to key in to what they are most able to learn most easily. And that makes me more efficient and them less frustrated!

Mike:
Marcia, I want to thank you so much for that helpful advice. I know a lot of people will really appreciate what you've said. I’m Mike Farris.