by guest author Señora Gose

One thing I’ve learned from my mentors and from my students and classes of all ages over the past 25 years of teaching (I was a public school teacher before becoming a mother) is that you just can’t FORCE learning. You can push and push and THINK they’ve got it, but they don’t. Regurgitation does not equate absorption.

Everyone (including me) is interested in doing things efficiently. Well, being “fast” actually is not efficient. Being “early” isn’t efficient. It’s TOO fast. But you don’t want to be TOO slow either…

You want to be JUUUUUUUSSSST right. 

What’s the difference between learning in a manner that’s “too cold” or “too hot?” One of the biggest breakthroughs in your homeschooling career will be the day you realize that fast isn’t good, and slow isn’t bad. Those terms, those speeds, have no value actually attached to them. The moment the velocity of learning takes a back seat to the action of learning is the moment that everything will “level up.” Your anxiety will decrease, your and your children’s joy will increase and that “sweet spot” of “just right” will actually broaden. The timing of WHEN you learn, and WHEN your child learns will become a much bigger target because you are no longer shooting for a certain speed, but just for the absorption.

The methods of learning also have a Goldilocks Zone — your tools for learning can be too hot, or too cold — TOO much input and stimulation is just as bad as “not enough” during a lesson or an experience. 

This principle is so important, I even made a video about it — I’m SUPER visual, so maybe this will help you, too!

Watch this short video to find the necessary tools located in the GOLDILOCKS zone in all the areas of learning, especially foreign language. 

In addition to being a homeschool mom to five awesome teens — oops, four… the eldest is 20 now! — I teach Spanish classes and write Spanish curriculum, if I can help you in that arena, check out FlipFlopSpanish.com and SpanishGeniuses.com.

About the Author: Señora Gose

I am the owner and creator of Flip Flop Spanish and Spanish Geniuses. Before we began our family, I was a certified Texas Public School Teacher who thrived on teaching in the public school system. I stayed home with our first born and missed teaching so much, I reached out to our local community to tutor or host a small Spanish class. After that initial email, I received 42 replies the very next morning! So for 20 years now, I have been teaching Spanish and public speaking to homeschool students weekly in a classroom setting, most recently at the Community Homeschool Center in Bryan, Texas. I am a happily married mother of five children, small business owner, as well as a founder & board member of the Community Homeschool Center. My family and I love living on our small 15 acre farm here in Central Texas with our goats, chickens, ducks, and turkeys. I thoroughly enjoy teaching my weekly Spanish classes, supporting homeschool endeavors of the community in any way possible, and striving to keep a happy, well-organized home.