Giving Your Child Life Skills | Metacognition

Metacognition has many benefits.  When kiddos are facing attention difficulties, sensory challenges, executive function issues, or struggling with fine motor skills, metacognitive skills will help. It may look like staying focused in the moment, regulating their behavior, or managing their emotions. 

 

 

Over time as kids reflect on their own behaviors and the thought processes behind them, they will develop the ability to make plans going forward and advocate for themselves.  They’ll be able to put into play a plan for when their focus is challenged, or they are facing a situation that is out of their comfort zone.

Including Metacognitive Skills in our Homeschool

One of the best ways to support metacognitive skills in our homeschool is by creating a supportive learning environment.  Each of our kiddos has different learning needs, so we want to tailor their environment to include resources to support their challenges.  

First, we want to recognize their individual strengths, interests, and learning styles. Then we can accommodate metacognitive strategies to their specific challenges.  For example, if our kiddos struggle with attention and focus, we want to use visual supports. By leaning into their strengths, we can create a rich learning environment so they can learn the skills needed to work with their struggles.

Communication is another element to focus on when it comes to metacognitive thinking.  It is impossible to overcommunicate with your kids at home. In fact, remembering that you’re modeling self-reflection and self-awareness when you communicate with your kids can help you focus on how important it is.  

Talk about what strengths you saw in a situation, and then touch on some weaknesses they can improve on next time. Ask questions about what they felt went well and what they would do differently. Model the type of self-reflective conversation they can grow into for themselves.

 

 

Building Your Community

Finally, a key area to pay attention to while homeschooling and working on metacognition is to how we’re collaborating with professionals. We need to seek support where we need it, and we need to find other parents who have kids that struggle in the same ways that our kids do. 

The best therapists, the best counselors, the best psychologists that you could work with view you as part of a team, and you view them as part of a team.

It’s also important to connect with other parents of neurodivergent kiddos. If you can find resources local to you, then meet one on one with a parent, or in a group, and your kids can meet with other kids who are just like them. 

When that’s not possible, there are many online communities you can find for free or for a small monthly fee.  

I’ve talked before about the Learners’ Lab community. I love it because it brings together families who have kids like mine, like yours, and the kids get a chance to chat with each other in a kid space that we have built on Flip. Parents have a chance to browse through resources, and pour through the archives of all of the master classes, family challenges, and creative thinking classes that we’ve done in the past couple of years. 

As you continue to include metacognitive thinking in your homeschool, look for resources that you connect with. Engage with ongoing learning. Attend workshops, webinars, and conferences to help you learn ways to tap into your, and your kids’, metacognitive skills. Over time this will help them grow in strength, resilience, reflection, and advocacy.

The Raising Lifelong Learners Podcast Episode #204 – Giving Your Child Life Skills | Metacognition

Metacognition is the ability to think about our own thinking, and that is exactly what Colleen talks about in today’s episode.  Metacognition impacts many areas of our child’s development.  This episode focuses on how we can implement different strategies into our homeschool day to develop this ability in our kids, helping them in all areas of life, including family relationships, school, work, and socially with peers.

 

Links and Resources from Today’s Show:

 

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