Are you a fast talker? Try slowing down!

From Our House to Yours

Are you a fast talker? Try slowing down!

Those of you who have called Heart of Dakota or met me in person probably know, I am a fast talker. I come from a family of fast talkers! Not only am I a fast talker, I am a fast mover. My car is barely in park, and I’m throwing open the door. If I need something from the basement, move out of the way! I’m coming down the stairs… fast. I have good intentions! Truly, I just want to get the most out of life. The trouble is, sometimes a fast pace is good, and sometimes it is not. How about you? Are you a fast talker, and a mover and a shaker? Well, you might want to try slowing it down now and then! It could make a big difference in how certain children do in homeschooling!

If you are a fast talker, slowing down might be hard to do!

I have learned to take time to purposely slow down. Sitting in my rocking chair on my porch petting Sweetie Pie, my cat, for awhile, for example, has been a good slow down for me. Dating my hubby once a week has been another good slow down for me. Watching a t.v. show or movie with my sons each week has been yet another good slow down for me. However, slowing down this fast talker has been a little harder!

What does being a fast talker have to do with homeschooling?

If you’ve hung with me so far, thank you. I’m about to do some fast talking and get to the point. What does being a fast talker have to do with homeschooling? Well, a few weeks ago I would have told you nothing. However, that was a few weeks ago. Today, I would tell you being a fast talker has a LOT to do with homeschooling! You see, I made an incredible discovery while teaching my youngest son, Emmett. I noticed he was catching bits and pieces of what I was saying. I always thought this was a focus issue. However, we are using www.mathhelp.com for Pre-Algebra, and the online teacher speaks v-e-r-y slowly. Emmett is retaining math terms better than ever! Somehow, it must have been the good Lord’s prompting, I realized how I tend to talk much, much faster than the online math teacher. Hmmmm.

I decided to try an experiment!

R & S English has oral questions I ask at the start of every lesson. The questions are largely vocabulary-driven. I already knew it helped Emmett to study the questions and answers before I met with him. However, after trying this all last year, I realized this study method really worked better for my middle son, Riley. For Emmett, it was still somewhat hit and miss with what he remembered, and he didn’t like it. So, I decided to try an experiment. I slowed down my fast talking. I simply asked the questions quite slowly, pausing after phrases even. It was incredible! After just a few weeks of this, Emmett is answering everything correctly! Next, I tried slowing down my fast talking with dictation. Amazing! He is doing better than ever! Finally, I slowed down my oral discussion questions in DITHOR and in history. I also let him see the questions in the guides. Eureka! Emmett is answering questions like a champ!

If you’re a fast talker, try slowing down your talking, and see if it helps!

Are you a fast talker? If you are and you are thinking your kiddos don’t concentrate or focus well, try slowing down your talking! It is a simple experiment well worth trying. I want to stress that Emmett is an intelligent, creative boy. He is just a deep thinker who likes to take his time processing things. He’s also a teenager who has grown over 7 inches in the past year. Anyway, as homeschool moms we can test out hunches like this. Slowing down my talking and letting my son see the questions as I ask them (at least for history and for DITHOR) has helped Emmett make incredible strides in comprehension and retention! If you’re a fast talker like me, consider slowing things down; you might see a real change too!

In Christ,

Julie