In The Learning Basket’s parenting workshops, I always share about following children’s interests as a way of learning, as opposed to setting expectations according to what adults think children should be learning. This is especially important for preschoolers who are just beginning to explore the world.
So, you’ll rarely see us working on workbooks or practicing our handwriting (though we attempt that too at times 🙂 or using flashcards. You’ll find us playing outside, or reading in bed, or baking, or hiding in a tent with all the lights turned off.
Since Monday though, our main preoccupation has been looking for and planting seeds.
Because we read it in a book.
Little T’s interest in seeds and gardening was piqued when we read “Seeds and More Seeds” by Millicent Selsam. It is about a boy named Benny who wondered if anything would grow out of a seed, a pebble, and a marble. So he planted all three. And so did we. And much more.
Because we read it in a book.
Many a time, we pursue an activity because our curiosity has been awakened by an element in a story. We made pudding one time because Frances in “Bread and Jam for Frances” ate pudding. Another time we made rainbows with the water hose because we were intrigued by the images in “I Am An Artist” by Lowery Collins. And Little T’s intense interest in and grand love affair with ballet came about…
Because we read it in a book.
When children (and even adults!) are interested and invested in what they are doing, learning naturally happens.. In cultivating my daughter’s interest in gardening, she naturally learned that seeds bear the same kind of plants from which they came. When we made pudding, we practiced our measuring skills. When we made rainbows with the water hose, we talked about prism.
So, get a book, read, and act on that spark of interest. You’ll never know where it will take you and your child!
