being with kids while they're learning; facilitating learning
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In a message dated 8/6/02 2:33:41 AM, PSoroosh@... writes:
<< We had this discussion on this list a month or so ago - people were
posting
about this exact thing - and were attacked for supposedly saying that kids
needed to be "entertained all the time." Just can't win, can we? <G> >>
I got jumped pretty hard for saying parents should spend as much time
directly with those kids as the kids would have spent in school.
It was more a "Why would you spend less?" comment. My REAL press was that
parents WILL spend at least as much time as they used to spend getting kids
ready for school and transporting them, but it won't be the same kind of
powerless, stressful, at-others'-bidding timespending.
Being with a child is powerful. Not just being in the room while they're in
the room, or in the house while they're in the house, but *with* them in what
they're doing. Sharing what they're doing, talking about their thoughts and
the experiences of the day, telling them stories about your own day, month,
life, ideas. Doing this in a quiet, open-ended way, whether it's in the car
or on the couch or in the back yard pulling weeds or walking to a video store
or whatever, I consider that some of the greatest learning time in which I
get to participate with my kids. It beats the heck out of testing and
reporting, which separate child from parent, and learning from life.
Some parents don't remember to do that, or they've forgotten how, or their
kids aren't talkative, or the relationship has gone hard and hostile, or they
act teacherly when such opportunities come along.
If anyone doubts that this has been my recommendation in the past, please
read the "Leaning on a Truck" article at
http://sandradodd.com/truck
and other articles thereabout
Sandra
<< We had this discussion on this list a month or so ago - people were
posting
about this exact thing - and were attacked for supposedly saying that kids
needed to be "entertained all the time." Just can't win, can we? <G> >>
I got jumped pretty hard for saying parents should spend as much time
directly with those kids as the kids would have spent in school.
It was more a "Why would you spend less?" comment. My REAL press was that
parents WILL spend at least as much time as they used to spend getting kids
ready for school and transporting them, but it won't be the same kind of
powerless, stressful, at-others'-bidding timespending.
Being with a child is powerful. Not just being in the room while they're in
the room, or in the house while they're in the house, but *with* them in what
they're doing. Sharing what they're doing, talking about their thoughts and
the experiences of the day, telling them stories about your own day, month,
life, ideas. Doing this in a quiet, open-ended way, whether it's in the car
or on the couch or in the back yard pulling weeds or walking to a video store
or whatever, I consider that some of the greatest learning time in which I
get to participate with my kids. It beats the heck out of testing and
reporting, which separate child from parent, and learning from life.
Some parents don't remember to do that, or they've forgotten how, or their
kids aren't talkative, or the relationship has gone hard and hostile, or they
act teacherly when such opportunities come along.
If anyone doubts that this has been my recommendation in the past, please
read the "Leaning on a Truck" article at
http://sandradodd.com/truck
and other articles thereabout
Sandra