Teaching a younger child
You are showing a younger child how to do something. They have gone quiet and are not doing it.
What do you do?
Step 1: What Would You Do?
There is often more than one good answer. Pick one and see what happens.
Giving directions
Somebody asks how to get to the hall. You know exactly where it is.
What makes a good answer?
Step 2: What That Was
The name for what you just worked out.
When you know something, it is very hard to remember not knowing it. That is why experts often explain badly.
Start from what they know
Find one thing they already understand and build from there. Everything is easier to attach to something.
One thing at a time, in order
Say the steps in the order they happen. Jumping back to add something you forgot loses people completely.
"Does that make sense?" does not work
Everybody says yes. Ask them to tell you the bit back, or ask what they would do next.
Step 3: Try It
These ones do have right answers.
Put the Explanation in Order
Tap them in the order that would actually help somebody.
You are explaining a game to somebody who has never played it.
- 1What happens on your turn
- 2The two or three main rules
- 3The unusual cases, if they come up
- 4What you are trying to do to win
Step 4: Quick Check
Two questions, then you are done.
Question 1 of 1
How do you find out if somebody has understood?
Step 5: Your Life Mission
Something to do away from the screen. Nobody is checking.
Teach one thing
- Teach somebody at home something you know and they do not.
- Start with what it is for.
- At the end, ask them to tell you the first step back.
Why: Teaching it is the fastest way to find the holes in your own understanding.
Step 6: What You Learned
- Start from something they already know.
- Say the steps in order. Do not jump back.
- Check by asking them to say a bit back.
For the grown-up
Explaining something is one of the strongest ways to consolidate it, so asking a child to teach you something they have just learned is a genuinely efficient use of ten minutes.
The "does that make sense?" habit is nearly universal and nearly useless. Replacing it with "what would you do next?" changes the information you get completely.
This lesson pairs with Thinking & Decisions on breaking things into steps. An explanation is a decomposition delivered out loud.