A One Room Schoolhouse

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Habits of Learning: Balance

I can balance my mind, body, heart, and spirit.

Habits of Learning: Balance is here! Balance is the last week and Habits of Learning and I could not be more excited to share it with you! As we have studied together during Habits of Learning, we have learned so much. Balance is the perfect culminating week!

If you are just joining us, you might want to start at the beginning:

In this week’s lesson, I am so excited to share with you two really great books and take the students on a journey to create some powerful, BALANCED goals.

Sounds pretty great! If you are enjoying your Habits of Learning journey…

Join our community! After you complete a lesson, snap a picture and post it to Instagram! Use the hashtag #habitsoflearning and tag @aoneroomshoolhouse. Follow the Schoolhouse and our hashtag to join other Habits of Learning users!

Preparation

Once you have completed the last few weeks of lessons, you are ready to dive into Habits of Learning: Balance. 

Here is all you need to do to get ready for this week:

  • Download the lesson plan (link below), print it if desired.
  • Bookmark this blog post that includes live links to use for each lesson containing a video.
  • Print out the Balance sandwich poster, Balance sandwich student sheet, and goal poster for each student.
  • Optional: video player to view optional videos.

Now you are ready to go!

Remember to Practice

The general instructions for the Habits of Learning stay the same from week to week. This week (and from here on out) you will want to encourage your children to do the exploration activities from the previous week’s lesson.

This may be a copy sheet, hymn study, or memorization. Maybe they might like to read a book from the list or watch one of the video links. It does not matter which activity they do, what does matter is that they are still thinking about and learning about the previously studied habit.

Furthermore, make sure you are always looking for ways to praise your children as they progress in the previously studied habits. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO DO!

This focus on continual practice and praise will help further development and generalization. It reinforces the idea that we are always working to improve ourselves.

Special Elements

Below are some of the special elements that you might want to read about before completing the Habits of Learning: Balance lessons.

Using Symbolism in Teaching

Using symbolism in teaching can make thinking visible and concrete. Symbols can enhance understanding and learning by displaying a visual image that can be more easily understood.

Using symbolic learning can make a lesson a multi-sensory learning experience that will engage all types of learners.

Here are some tips for successful use of symbolism in the classroom:

  • Ensure it is familiar. Make sure the visual you will liken the lesson to is something familiar to the students. If a student has never been to the beach, then don’t relate the lesson to ocean waves.
  • Keep it simple. Symbolic learning can be hard. It is an excellent tool to make learning stick, but if it is too complex, then students won’t make the connection.
  • Make it tangible. Coloring a picture of the symbol is great, but can you make it? Can you eat it? Can you smell it? The more experience the students have with the symbol you are learning from, the better.
  • Revisit it often. Frequent reinforcement of the symbolic learning will help students gain layers of knowledge from the lesson and solidify learning into long-term memory.

Five Ways to Raise Balanced Children

  1. Model a balanced life for your children. Make sure you are not over-committed and are modeling engagement in all four areas of life balance.
  2. Promote a sense of individuality. Not every kid needs to play the piano, take dance lessons, and read above grade –level. Help your child understand that they can do the things they are interested in. It’s okay to be different! Take archery, go to paleontology camp, or raise a sheep for 4-H.
  3. Encourage children to do hard things. It’s wonderful to help children stretch and accomplish difficult tasks. Don’t let fear control what you think is possible.
  4. Learn that it is okay to fail. From failure comes our best lessons and builds the strongest foundation of worth.  Daniel Tiger said it best, “Keep trying, you’ll get better!”
  5. Allow time to play. Play is the work of childhood and is a must for child development. In the best case, aim for at least 3 hours of unstructured playtime during the elementary years.

Grow Our Community

We are growing rapidly and we are so pleased with your support. Keep tagging your friends, using our hashtag (#habitsoflearing), and sharing your Habits of Learning journey.

Let’s keep the social media ball rolling and share this program with your friends! Take pictures and videos of your Habits of Learning: Balance lessons. Post these on Facebook or Instagram. Use the hashtag #habitsoflearning and tag @aoneroomshoolhouse. Follow the Schoolhouse and our hashtag to join other Habits of Learning users!

Downloads

Balance Lesson Plan

Balance Resources

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