A few months ago, J and I were reading a book about inventors. It began with the sentence, “Thomas Edison’s favorite word was “why”.” I almost closed the book and returned it to the library. There’s no way that was Edison’s favorite question. “Why?” implies a concrete, right answer. Why is the sky blue? Why…
Tag: education
Teaching our kids how to look
Children are natural observers. They’re great at noticing differences and asking about them. Most parents have a story about the time their kid asked a stranger about a mole, pimple, or similar taboo topic. We want to harness this power and help our kids learn how to see. This morning, my three year olds and…
Why I don’t always correct my kids
Most of us do a good job with this point when it comes to babies, toddlers, and even young preschoolers. We give them space to learn, accept their funny pronunciations or verb endings, and celebrate their progress with them.
Something happens, though, when our kids reach the age of formal schooling. For some reason, we as a society feel like we need to reach in and begin to micromanage their development. We correct and correct and correct. All in the name of teaching.
It all started with a shadow
My 6 year old and I were waiting for the bus. The day before, we’d traced some shadows.
“Jeremy!”, I said, “Let’s check your shadow – see if it’s the same!”
Wonderschooling 