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Children
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North Shore
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© Copyright 2007-2009, North Shore Ink, All Rights Reserved
© Copyright 2007-2009, North Shore Ink, All Rights Reserved
© Copyright 2007-2009, North Shore Ink, All Rights Reserved
| Every Moment is a Teaching Moment: Stimulating Your Child’s Learning by Michael F. Mascolo, Ph.D. |
Parents are their children’s first teachers. As parents, we are often unaware of the importance of what we teach our children. This is
because much learning – perhaps even most learning – is woven into the fabric of everyday life. We teach our children without even
being aware of it! What can parents do to facilitate their children’s everyday learning?
There are three basic ways that we promote children’s learning: Direction, distancing and encouraging independent activity.
Direction and encouraging independent activity are opposite strategies. Direction occurs when we actively tell or show our children
how to do something. For example, directing happens when we deliberately show a 5-year-old how to tie his shoes. Often,
however, children can figure out how to perform tasks by themselves. When this happens, parents often encourage their child’s
independent activity. For example, a curious 3-year-old may be able to figure out for herself how to fit a round peg into a hole
without much assistance from an adult.
Providing direction and encouraging independent activity come relatively easy to parents. The middle option – distancing – is
sometimes harder to perform. Distancing occurs when a parent or teacher creates “distance” between a child and her immediate
thoughts or actions. In so doing, a parent offers a modest challenge to the child’s current level of thinking. As a result, the parent
introduces a knowledge gap that the child herself must try to fill. The child must actively do something in order to fill the gap.
When she has done so, she has built new knowledge for herself. The trick for the parent or teacher is to provide just the right
amount of challenge (distance) so that a child can successfully fill the knowledge gap herself.
For example, a 10-year-old who is writing a story asks, “How do you spell the word ‘history”? At this point, the parent has several
options. He can spell the word for the child. This would be an example of directing. Alternatively, the parent can ask the child to
look up the word for himself. This is an example of encouraging independent activity – the child is asked to do the whole task
herself. A third option is to use a distancing experience. The parent might press the child by saying, “What are the sounds that
you hear?” In response, the child says: “hisTERy”. Building on this response, the parent says, “Very good. You spelled it just like
it sounds – but you are just one letter off. ‘History’ has the word ‘story’ in it. Can you try again?” And the process continues.
Note that in the last statement, the parent used both directing and distancing to support the child’s active attempt to figure out how
to spell the word for herself. Telling the child that “history” contains the word “story” is a type of direction. But then, by asking the
child to use this idea to figure out how to spell the word on her own, the parent uses a distancing strategy. Good teachers do not
rely on any one teaching strategy. They use many different teaching strategies depending upon the child’s needs. Note also that
distancing is not a matter of asking a child questions to which he already knows the answer. The child builds new knowledge or
himself by actively solving a problem that is within his grasp.
The concept of distancing is the brain child of psychologist Irving Sigel. He has shown that children of parents who frequently use
distancing achieve higher levels of learning and understanding than children of parents who rely only on direction or support.
There are many ways in which parents can promote learning through distancing. Imagine that your six-year-old is putting together a
puzzle. He matches one piece with another saying “this yellow goes with that yellow”. To extend the child’s current thinking, a
parent might ask the child to:
• Devise another strategy to solve the problem: “How else do you know that the two pieces go together?”
• Plan the next step: “Now what piece should we try to fit in next?”
• Draw relationships between objects, people or ideas: “How is this puzzle different from the one we did
yesterday?”
• Link present actions to events that are imaginary: “What do you think this puzzle is going to look like?”
• Recollect how he performed a given task: “Now, how did we figure out how the pieces went together?”
• Reflect on his work: “What do you think of …”
Distancing strategies prompt children to perform new actions on their own that extend existing knowledge in new directions.
Remember, we learn what we do. As a result, if we can help a child to build new knowledge actively for herself, she will never forget
it. In addition, she will also learn how to build new knowledge for herself in the future!
Further Reading
De Bono, E. (1994). Teach your child how to think. Penguin Books.
Sigel, I. E., Stinson, E. T., & Kim, M-I. (1993). Socialization of cognition: The distancing model. In R. Wozniak & K. W.
Fischer (Eds.), Development in context: Acting and thinking in specific contexts. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
because much learning – perhaps even most learning – is woven into the fabric of everyday life. We teach our children without even
being aware of it! What can parents do to facilitate their children’s everyday learning?
There are three basic ways that we promote children’s learning: Direction, distancing and encouraging independent activity.
Direction and encouraging independent activity are opposite strategies. Direction occurs when we actively tell or show our children
how to do something. For example, directing happens when we deliberately show a 5-year-old how to tie his shoes. Often,
however, children can figure out how to perform tasks by themselves. When this happens, parents often encourage their child’s
independent activity. For example, a curious 3-year-old may be able to figure out for herself how to fit a round peg into a hole
without much assistance from an adult.
Providing direction and encouraging independent activity come relatively easy to parents. The middle option – distancing – is
sometimes harder to perform. Distancing occurs when a parent or teacher creates “distance” between a child and her immediate
thoughts or actions. In so doing, a parent offers a modest challenge to the child’s current level of thinking. As a result, the parent
introduces a knowledge gap that the child herself must try to fill. The child must actively do something in order to fill the gap.
When she has done so, she has built new knowledge for herself. The trick for the parent or teacher is to provide just the right
amount of challenge (distance) so that a child can successfully fill the knowledge gap herself.
For example, a 10-year-old who is writing a story asks, “How do you spell the word ‘history”? At this point, the parent has several
options. He can spell the word for the child. This would be an example of directing. Alternatively, the parent can ask the child to
look up the word for himself. This is an example of encouraging independent activity – the child is asked to do the whole task
herself. A third option is to use a distancing experience. The parent might press the child by saying, “What are the sounds that
you hear?” In response, the child says: “hisTERy”. Building on this response, the parent says, “Very good. You spelled it just like
it sounds – but you are just one letter off. ‘History’ has the word ‘story’ in it. Can you try again?” And the process continues.
Note that in the last statement, the parent used both directing and distancing to support the child’s active attempt to figure out how
to spell the word for herself. Telling the child that “history” contains the word “story” is a type of direction. But then, by asking the
child to use this idea to figure out how to spell the word on her own, the parent uses a distancing strategy. Good teachers do not
rely on any one teaching strategy. They use many different teaching strategies depending upon the child’s needs. Note also that
distancing is not a matter of asking a child questions to which he already knows the answer. The child builds new knowledge or
himself by actively solving a problem that is within his grasp.
The concept of distancing is the brain child of psychologist Irving Sigel. He has shown that children of parents who frequently use
distancing achieve higher levels of learning and understanding than children of parents who rely only on direction or support.
There are many ways in which parents can promote learning through distancing. Imagine that your six-year-old is putting together a
puzzle. He matches one piece with another saying “this yellow goes with that yellow”. To extend the child’s current thinking, a
parent might ask the child to:
• Devise another strategy to solve the problem: “How else do you know that the two pieces go together?”
• Plan the next step: “Now what piece should we try to fit in next?”
• Draw relationships between objects, people or ideas: “How is this puzzle different from the one we did
yesterday?”
• Link present actions to events that are imaginary: “What do you think this puzzle is going to look like?”
• Recollect how he performed a given task: “Now, how did we figure out how the pieces went together?”
• Reflect on his work: “What do you think of …”
Distancing strategies prompt children to perform new actions on their own that extend existing knowledge in new directions.
Remember, we learn what we do. As a result, if we can help a child to build new knowledge actively for herself, she will never forget
it. In addition, she will also learn how to build new knowledge for herself in the future!
Further Reading
De Bono, E. (1994). Teach your child how to think. Penguin Books.
Sigel, I. E., Stinson, E. T., & Kim, M-I. (1993). Socialization of cognition: The distancing model. In R. Wozniak & K. W.
Fischer (Eds.), Development in context: Acting and thinking in specific contexts. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.