Using the PER Report with Your Student: Prompt and Support
Earlier this week I presented the first step of a three-step process you can use to point out mistakes your children may make. I presented a way to re-direct them toward the correct answer without taking away their motivation. This step, first presented to me years ago by a mentor, Madeline Hunter, is to dignify the student’s response. You do this by identifying, but not judging, their incorrect answer.
The second step of this three-step process is to prompt and support your child toward the correct response. Prompting can take many forms and levels of involvement. Think of teaching your child to ride a bike. The prompting can be seen in showing what to do, encouragement, and verbal directions as your child gets on the bike for the first time. The training wheels, your steadying of the handle bars, and walking beside her as she peddles for the first time are all ways of supporting.
Building on the grammar illustration I used in my previous post, I’ll continue to add to a possible exchange between a parent and child:
Parent: “Name a part of speech that shows action.”
Child: “Noun.”
Parent: “That would be the correct answer if I asked you to name a part of speech that names a person, place, thing, or idea.”
Parent: “Think about the things you did last week at the park. You ran, skipped, jumped, and hopped. All these words show action. The part of speech that shows action begins with the letter ‘v.’ What part of speech begins with the letter ‘v’.”
Child: “Verb.”
Parent: “That’s right. Good job!”
The first two responses by the parent affirmed the value of the child’s answer while at the same time identifying that it wasn’t correct. This second response by the parent supplied more information and prompted the child toward the correct answer. The child answered correctly.
Tomorrow, I’ll present the final and crucial step in this three-step process. For now, remember to prompt and support.
Thanks for Reading!
Curt
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