Around here, learning multiplication is in full-force. Yesterday, when Daddy arrived home, amongst the usual chaotic squealing, yelling, howling (yes, Rex greets him wholeheartedly, too) welcome home, my Little Man (6) excitedly informed his Daddy, "I learned how to TIMES today!" Although he has known how to do this for awhile now (yes, kind of a scary-smart little guy), when put in the context of a multiplication problem, using the correct symbol, he was amazed, "you mean, I KNOW how to TIMES?? This is EASY!"
When teaching the same concepts to his brother a few years ago, he preferred to do it all in his head, building on what he knew, rather than learning or memorizing the tables. Then, when their sister learned these same concepts, she preferred to learn the multiplication tables, so she would "just know" and not have to continue to figure it out every time. Same teacher...same concept...three DIFFERENT ways to learn!! As they continue to learn and use these concepts, they will find the products more quickly. Eventually, after repetition and continued use of multiplication, eventually it becomes second nature, or you "just know."
"Learning never exhausts the mind."~~Leonardo daVinci
Although they have each learned how to multiply in different ways, they all have a grasp, an understanding, of the concepts. We may each come to understand things in a vast variety of ways ourselves. There is no "standard" way to learn something. Like the multiplication tables, knowledge can become second nature, a "just knowing," when used continually. How much do you think and ponder when driving a car? How hard do you consider and think when writing your name, or reading a sign? What may have once been difficult to grasp, or confusing, can become enlightened understanding.
There is never an end-point to learning or understanding, just a continual progression. Just as I am teaching them things they need to know, I also continue to learn, not only from the experience of teaching, but just in the world around me. I have a great appreciation for the moments of excitement they have in discovering what they DO know, or having that "light-bulb moment."
Explore the world around you...where you are. Discover something new that you hadn't known about or noticed before. Hopefully, like these children, the excitement of learning will happen!
"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest."~~Benjamin Franklin
