New Podcast: Notice and Wonder

When I was a novice homeschooler, our local Moms’ Night Out provided mentoring and kept me sane. We’d leave the children home with their dads and meet up at a local restaurant for a cup of coffee, a slice of pecan pie, and a robust discussion of educational philosophy.

This spring, my friend Sonya Post launched a new podcast called “Notice & Wonder” — and it captures that same feeling perfectly.

Sonya explains: “What is Notice, Wonder, Discover? It’s the development of cognitive skills, without which you have never learned anything in your life. We are developing the underlying skills that will make anyone more proficient at learning anything.”

I’ve had the privilege to join Sonya for three episodes of the podcast so far, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed our conversations.

Here’s a taste…

Episode 2: Shifting From Task Orientation to Learner Orientation

“We tend to see math in a task-oriented way, that the goal of our math lesson is to produce those answers so we can check it off as done. And the most efficient way to do that is to teach our kids to do these procedures.

“We focus so much on what to do: follow these steps, do it this way because I said so, because that’s the way the textbook says to do it. You don’t even have to think about it, just follow these steps.

“It feels efficient because we can check these things off — yet, the kids aren’t thinking. And if they’re not thinking, they’re not really doing math.”

Episode 3: Curiosity as the Driver of Learning

“You could even go so far as to say, without curiosity, there really is no learning. Because the way our brain works, the way the human mind works, we can’t just passively receive and retain information. We only learn what we pay attention to, and we only pay attention if we’re curious.”

Episode 5: Rethinking Perfection: Why Mistakes Matter

“I remember as a kid hearing the slogan that if something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well. And our parents by that meant, wash the dishes and get them clean, don’t just slop a bit of water on them and rinse them. Do your chores properly.

“But really, on the very important things, if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing badly.

“If it’s important, you’ve got to do it. And you’re going to do it badly — you’re not perfect, you’re still learning, your kids are still learning — but it’s worth doing, even badly, because that’s so much better than not doing it.”