Can Mummy teach me?
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
“Give the pupils something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking; learning naturally results. ”
When the schools closed, I found myself at home with my three-year-old daughter. Initially I was worried. She has been in preschool since September and was thriving on routine, social interaction, and the countless benefits of learning new things all the time.
I was concerned because I thought I wouldn’t be able to match the experiences she was having in school. I am working from home, along with my husband, so life is busier than ever and energy is low. I found I was getting nothing done around the house and it was slowly building up to total chaos in the home, as I struggled to maintain her interest and keep her stimulated.
So, I changed tactics. I began to encourage my daughter to help me with everyday chores such as hanging out washing, cleaning the windows, preparing the dinner and baking. It meant she was kept busy while I got some tasks done. What I didn’t realise straight away was that she was learning a lot of physical and also life skills, and while we were working I would explain things to her. So the result was lots of education but in a different mode.
We are extremely lucky to have so many green areas and parklands within 2km of our house. We head out for a nature walk every day. We have a nature table at home, on which we place things we have collected on our outings. Names of plants, bugs and birds are rolling off her tongue, her ability to climb, balance and walk long distances has seriously improved.
I was totally unaware until very recently that in fact, I was teaching my daughter countless things, without tiring or stressing myself out. Education is everywhere!
