Quote:
Originally Posted by ManiacMama
Will the child always lead you somewhere? I read so much about the course of everyday living sparking interests in your kids that lead you into side trips learning about this and that, but I don't see that here.
|
It's not a constant thing. (How exhausting would THAT be?) Sometimes, something sparks their interest and launches them into a study of something that's deep and long-term. When my oldest was your ds' age, it was dinosaurs. He played with them, read about them, watched programs on them, and was interested in nothing else for a very long time. He knew their names, what they ate, where they lived and when they lived. That was pretty intense.
But lots of the time, especially when they're young, their learning is not as obvious. For instance, my (now) 6 y/o wanted to know what the "lump" was in his knee. This was last year sometime. I explained about his patella and how it "floats." He played around with moving it, we looked at pictures of the human skeleten to see it. And that was it. He didn't care to know, right then, about any other bones. Months later, he wanted to know where we get red blood cells from. (He'd had a cut and we talked about how it's okay for some blood to leave the body, and that our bodies are always making more.) So, we're back to bones. Add that to the million other random questions he's asked about the body, and he's learned quite a bit about it.
Even though we don't sit down and do a "unit" on the human body, and even though one question about the body didn't launch him into an independent study,
he's put together all these little bits of information that have come from questions he's asked.
Quote:
| My kids love to read and we do it often, but they don't really ask questions that lend opportunity for further study or seem to have the interest to branch off into something related. I honestly don't think they'd be interested in looking things up on the computer (they'd just want to play games on it) or watching educational videos (just Star Wars movies). |
They're still really young. It's okay to NOT "branch off into something related." Sometimes, they just want their one question answered and that's it. You know how they ask those "Why is the moon out during the day?" or "Why is the grass green" type questions? It's still learning if you answer that question and they're not interested in more right then. Maybe they'll come back to it in the future, maybe that's all they need to know about that topic.
Quote:
| And while I love to be with my kids and could read to them all day or do crafts or play board games, I do not really enjoy playing the pretend games, like Thomas the Train, that they want to play ALL DAY. |
Mostly, I re-frame it for myself. Playing a pretned Thomas the Train game may not be my first choice of activities, BUT, I do love seeing how imaginative they can be, so I might do it just to be a part of that. Plus, I figure, there are far worse things I could be doing. You could agree to play a game of their choosing and then play a game of your choosing. Or, suggest that they play with each other or their friends the games you really hate.
As for them wanting your attention, if they're home from school, there will be a lot more time for your attention. When they're with you all day, there's more opportunity for them to talk with you or play with you, so quantity of time makes a difference in their needs, imo. Plus, your kids are still very young -- as they get older and more independent, it won't seem so demanding, really. My 6 y/o still says "Mamma LOOK!" and "Mamma, WATCH ME!" about a million times a day. My 15 and 11 y/os'...not so much.
2
