How to excite my child about learning...?
July 27, 2005 10:30 AM Subscribe
Seeking books on supplemental home schooling and helping teach your kids.
As a parent of a 14mo old, I am slowly starting to think of ideas about how to get my son interested in learning and to keep him from getting bored and, like me, being a poor student. My parents had little to no involvement in my education aside from the occasional Science Fair bit or yelling at me for bad grades.
My wife's parents were much more involved. With the further erosion of arts, PE, extracurricular activities from public schools, teaching to "tests" based on the poorly supported "No Child Left Behind" Act, and the incredible lack of support for teachers.....I'd like to find ways to help teach my son and read books of how we can be involved in his education without being seen as "interfering", not actually doing his homework for him, and instill a desire to read & learn through, hopefully - if he chooses to, college.
As a parent of a 14mo old, I am slowly starting to think of ideas about how to get my son interested in learning and to keep him from getting bored and, like me, being a poor student. My parents had little to no involvement in my education aside from the occasional Science Fair bit or yelling at me for bad grades.
My wife's parents were much more involved. With the further erosion of arts, PE, extracurricular activities from public schools, teaching to "tests" based on the poorly supported "No Child Left Behind" Act, and the incredible lack of support for teachers.....I'd like to find ways to help teach my son and read books of how we can be involved in his education without being seen as "interfering", not actually doing his homework for him, and instill a desire to read & learn through, hopefully - if he chooses to, college.
My parents did a pretty good job with me, and I'm trying to pass on the attitude to the kids I'm involved with, though I am not a parent myself. The keys that I believe in:
1) Have more square footage of books visible in the house than tvs or other recreation. It doesn't matter if they're adult books or text books or a wall of paperbacks (as far as literacy goes, asthetics is another thing), it sets the impression that you are a book-lovin' family. Kids absorb that.
2) Never deny a child a book. Grocery store toys, yes, McDonalds yes, but get in the habit of saying something like, we're not in the mall for toys, but I'll be happy to buy each one of you a book when we pass by that store. That worked even on 2 year olds, don't underestimate the power of Elmo even in print.
3) Don't fret about the weirdness of your child's interests. The Elmo obsessed 2 year old has grown up to be really proud of her ability to read her children's bible to me (sigh), and seems blissfully unaware that neither is my idea of good reading. However, now I can sneak more subversive elements into her intellectual path without her feeling forced into something.
4) Try pretty early on to set an example of being interested in exploring new ideas, not worrying about the child actually understanding the topic. It's about the process, not the content. Like, watch MythBusters and go on and on about how cool those guys are to try those experiments. Or watch a travel show and drag out an atlas to look up locations. It doesn't matter if the kid is directly involved in the thing you're going on about, he/she will absorb your attitude. Even if you have to fake it, it will work long enough for the love of mystery to imprint.
posted by dness2 at 11:50 AM on July 27, 2005
1) Have more square footage of books visible in the house than tvs or other recreation. It doesn't matter if they're adult books or text books or a wall of paperbacks (as far as literacy goes, asthetics is another thing), it sets the impression that you are a book-lovin' family. Kids absorb that.
2) Never deny a child a book. Grocery store toys, yes, McDonalds yes, but get in the habit of saying something like, we're not in the mall for toys, but I'll be happy to buy each one of you a book when we pass by that store. That worked even on 2 year olds, don't underestimate the power of Elmo even in print.
3) Don't fret about the weirdness of your child's interests. The Elmo obsessed 2 year old has grown up to be really proud of her ability to read her children's bible to me (sigh), and seems blissfully unaware that neither is my idea of good reading. However, now I can sneak more subversive elements into her intellectual path without her feeling forced into something.
4) Try pretty early on to set an example of being interested in exploring new ideas, not worrying about the child actually understanding the topic. It's about the process, not the content. Like, watch MythBusters and go on and on about how cool those guys are to try those experiments. Or watch a travel show and drag out an atlas to look up locations. It doesn't matter if the kid is directly involved in the thing you're going on about, he/she will absorb your attitude. Even if you have to fake it, it will work long enough for the love of mystery to imprint.
posted by dness2 at 11:50 AM on July 27, 2005
I concur-ish with dness2 - I think kids will follow your lead in that if you're interested in new things and value ideas and exploration they're going to pick that up and make it their own.
Somewhat related, I also think kids pick up on when something is being pushed on them and is an ideal you wish they'd embrace without holding it true yourself. Dness2's #4 has it right - if you're DOING it even if you're not necessarily thrilled to death, that comes through. If you're just pushing the wee ones but they never see you engage in that kind of thing yourself, why would they want to?
Or put another way, kids yell "let me, let me!" when they see adults DOING something, not TALKING ABOUT something.
posted by phearlez at 12:12 PM on July 27, 2005
Somewhat related, I also think kids pick up on when something is being pushed on them and is an ideal you wish they'd embrace without holding it true yourself. Dness2's #4 has it right - if you're DOING it even if you're not necessarily thrilled to death, that comes through. If you're just pushing the wee ones but they never see you engage in that kind of thing yourself, why would they want to?
Or put another way, kids yell "let me, let me!" when they see adults DOING something, not TALKING ABOUT something.
posted by phearlez at 12:12 PM on July 27, 2005
This thread is closed to new comments.
I have a number of friends (all of whom are college educated, pretty smart, similar incomes etc) with kids between 3 and 6 years old. The ones with the most success in getting their kids interested in books, art, etc. are the ones that have them available. Lots and lots of books around. Lots of paper and crayons and paste and all that sort of stuff. The ones that try and over-regulate and become hyper-involved tend to put the kids off.
So in my (n of about 6 friends, me completely unknowledgeable) opinion, it seems to be about access. Kind of an "if you build it they will come" approach.
posted by gaspode at 11:26 AM on July 27, 2005