A child and his dad walk down the street towards the beach. The dad walks in a straight, purposeful line. The child teeters on the edge of the sidewalk, arms stretched out, pretending to be balanced on a high wire. The child jumps down, suddenly and inspects something crawling on the ground, while the father continues walking, only to pause briefly to tell his child to hurry along. The dad doesn’t understand why it takes so long to simply walk for one point to another. What the dad doesn’t know is that twenty-five years earlier, this exact scene played out with himself and his father!

Every moment of every day, children are absorbing information from the people and things around them. They are discovering why the ants march in a line, and how they find their way back, when they stray. They are discovering how to balance, how to greet people, how water boils and why the sun rises and sets. All day long, children are discovering their world.

Discovery and learning occur at school. But more so, they are discovering and learning at home and in their neighborhood the rest of the day. Textbooks and educational resource are not present and not necessary.

Children have the amazing ability to absorb information around them, simply by observing. While you are cooking your dinner, cleaning the house, talking with your family, your child is learning what happens when water is placed over a fire, the power of electricity and how to carry a conversation. And while you are busy making dinner, they are asking a hundred questions a minute. “How does the egg do that? Why did you put that there? How do you know how to do that?” (Most likely to the point of frustration) But, what the child is doing is very important to his or her development.

How can I help at home?

• When your child has questions, don’t give them the answer! Help them discover the answer!
• This is accomplish 2 things:
• Your child learns to look for answers on his or her own, and becomes an independent learner (aka, asking you less questions)
• Your child feels a sense of accomplishment and develops high self–esteem because he or she was able to find the answer to their question.
• Experiments!
• Do Science Experiments and cook with your child. They will discover a lot about the world around them through this work.
• Allow extra time for everything
• In order for kids to do things for themselves, they need extra time. They can’t tie their shoes as fast as you can, so start getting ready 10 minutes earlier to allow enough time for them to tie their own shoes independently.

 

If you want want to share your experiences as a parent, or if you have questions about parenting, you can write to [email protected] and we will ask our group of professionals for advice.