Rehearsal Learning

Rehearsal.

I’m not talking about the kind of rehearsal you have before a play, but if that’s what comes to your mind,  you are on the right track. I mean that some kids need to practice before they are expected to “perform”. For example, my little one whispers words that she is practicing before she says them for everyone to hear. There are many ways to use rehearsal in your home school.

• Very shy children, children who do not react well to the unexpected, and autistic children benefit from practicing social scenarios. They learn what to expect and what to say. Rehearsal allows the children to make mistakes and get coached in social skills.
• Children who struggle with writing, either the act of writing or with the process of writing, benefit from rehearsing their ideas before they write them down. Simply removing the frustration of actually writing can be a huge relief to kids who struggle to write. You might notice more insightful written thoughts and better organized writing.
• Children learning a foreign language can rehearse useful and typical conversations before you assess them on their conversational skills. This gives them the opportunity to think about vocabulary and verb tenses ahead of time. They can correct grammatical errors on the spot without the risk of failure. This also works for written work.
• Rehearsing by taking a practice test can also alleviate test anxiety. Through rehearsal children know what to study for and what to expect on the test. Often they perform better on the test.
• Young children can learn basic safety skills by rehearsing. Recently my daughter and I rehearsed an emergency scenario. I pretended to be unconscious and a friend talked her through making a 9-1-1 call. It was both enlightening to me and helpful for her. She’s now more equipped for emergency situations.

Rehearsal is a unique and helpful learning tool. Try it out in your home school.

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