Use Bloom to Make Your Child Bloom

The University of Chicago’s Benjamin Bloom contributed many theories about learning to the body of work known as cognitive development. At Think Tutoring, we employ these concepts in many of our tutoring programs including reading, math, and language arts for grade school students all the way up to ACT and SAT Prep for high school students. But parents can use these concepts as eagerly as our tutors do. All it takes is knowledge and a desire to turn a student into a “blooming scholar.”

Master Learning

Bloom believed that children should not move on to a second learning objective until they have demonstrated mastery of a first objective. When children fall behind in expectations that have been set for certain grade levels, our tutors step in to ensure they will be able to catch up. Whether your child has fallen behind in math/reading or whether he needs help preparing for standardized tests, we take a step-by-step approach to helping him achieve mastery through sequentially organized activities. Ask your tutor how you can help reinforce each learning objective at home, so your child can confidently move on to the next one.

Bloom was also a fierce advocate of individualized tutoring, which he felt produced remarkable results for average students. At Think Tutoring, we create the conditions for success so that when the learner returns to the classroom, he is ready for the larger group-instruction situation he has at school.

BLOOM’S TAXONOMY

Bloom developed a system or categorization of the types of questions teachers should be asking to ensure learning is really taking place. The most basic question is the Knowledge question, which simply asks the learner to quote something from memory. If your child can recall the capitals of the states, he is demonstrating knowledge.

Comprehension is the next highest level. It calls for understanding of terms and asks the student to interpret or paraphrase. If you ask your child to tell you what she learned in school today, you will be asking her to demonstrate comprehension.

The next level involves Application . Here, your child is asked to show that she can take previously acquired knowledge and use it in a new set of circumstances. To illustrate, if your child is given a paper with ten grammar errors and asked to find and correct them, he is being asked to apply his knowledge.

With Analysis , the learner is asked to show he understands how the parts of a structure create the whole. He may be asked, for example, to compare and contrast, or to identify, or to show the difference between facts and inferences.

If the learner is asked to assemble those parts into a new structure, he is demonstrating competence with Synthesis . So, if our SAT Prep tutor asks your child to show he has comprehended a passage by distinguishing between fact and inference, he is asking your child to synthesize.

Finally, Evaluation calls for judgment or opinion. You can do what our tutors do—ask your child to explain or interpret or justify his ideas, based on something he has read or experienced.

No matter what grade your child is in, we can work together to optimize his learning experiences and help him or her bloom as a student.