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December 4, 2006, 7:28 am PST
11/24 Great School Debate
Quote From: momofbrwWe are not unschoolers but I did want to make a point in regards to HOW we learn... My DD just turned 2. She is amazing. I do not school her in any way, shape or form except she's around when I school her brother and her Daddy often reads a nightime story. (That is the extent of us teaching to her.) She can answer questions that many adults couldn't. She knows almost as many spanish words as she does english words. She can tell you the roots of many words and even recite spelling rules... just from hearing me teach her 2nd grade brother. I am very very strongly against pushing a child to learn ANYTHING too early. When I first started to notice her learning so fast, I was freaked out but it is teaching me a lot about learning styles and abilities. It has some to do with parenting, it has some to do with teachings but some children are cabable of learning where neither is present (parenting or teachings). Actually, I am one of those parents who do teach her childrena t a very young age. As soon as they show an interest in something, I go for it. My oldest was coloring at the age of 11 months. I was babysitting at the time and I would sit her at the table with the other children as they were coloring and doing crafts. Iw ould give her books/whatever and she was content. One day, as she was sitting ont he floor, she found a crayon and a little piece of paper on the floor and begain coloring so I sat down with her and colored with her. She also got a hold of a closed (thankfully) bottle of glue and was trying to put glue on a craft stick, so yes, i helped her with that, only I put a tiny bit of glue in a small container, gave her a q-tip and showed her how to put glue on the stick and we glued another stick on top of it. To this day, she loves doing this stuff. She was laying on her tummy and coloring in a coloring book at the age of 18 months, I didn't push her to do it, she learned it and I encouraged it.
My youngest, didn't get into this stuff until later but she is now interested in "homework" as she sees her sister doing things, she can now print her first and last name at age 3 because she is in learning mode. I love teaching my girls new things and when they are ready, I am ready. I do believe kids learn in differnet ways and methods and they should always be encouraged to learn. I do not believe in pushing kids, especially at very early ages, but at the same time, I take advantage of every opportunity that I have to teach and guide them.
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