CANE Press is now offering a new book by Ruth Breindel, De discendi natura – Learning Styles in the Teaching of Latin.
De discendi natura - Learning Styles in the Teaching of Latin
Ruth says this about De discendi natura:
I wrote De Discendi Natura because, during my 21 years of teaching Latin, I’ve noticed that students learn in different ways, but they all can learn. Sometimes the way the information is presented makes the biggest difference. Since I’ve figured out some ways, I decided to offer them to everyone, so we don’t all have to reinvent the wheel!
My book concerns learning styles, not learning disabilities, although an extreme style can turn into a disability. For example, I really can’t learn by hearing, only by reading, so lectures without a handout or notes are very difficult for me. This problem is addressed in the chapter on visual/auditory learners. Then, some students learn best horizontally, from left to right, as on a standard time line, but others do better when the line is presented vertically, with the oldest date at the top. Others prefer to learn the same information when it is presented on an angle, e.g., from the top left corner across the page to the bottom right, or even as a meandering road back and forth across the page (linear/non-linear student).
I don’t know why people have these differences, but they do. As teachers, it’s up to us to figure out the best way to present the information to each student, even if we need to use many ways for one concept. That’s why, in each chapter, I always give an example of how to teach relative pronouns, and then two other topics – grammar, culture, literature, etc. I’m really big on practicality, so I’ve included ideas for the best type of test for each style, too. I’ve also used every idea in the book, so I know that they will work.
De discendi natura – Learning Styles in the Teaching of Latin is available for PURCHASE ONLINE in the CANE Press store at $20 a copy.
Second, explain to the students that they now have a chance to understand the medieval mind. Things that we see now are not possible (e.g., a column rising in the middle of the ocean) were perfectly reasonable to the time period. If students look at some of the old maps, they will see lots of fantastic items listed. It’s not that these people were “stupid,” it’s that their understanding of the world allowed the mystic and the real to coexist on the same plane.