TheApple

I have made sure I incorporate learning into my daughter's summer activities, but she has started expressing her opinion that learning is for school. It is summer and she should have a break from learning.

I am looking for opinions on this topic.

But is there anything wrong with continuing through the summer?

teacher__411 says ...

But is there anything wrong with continuing through the summer?

If you get resistance, yes. Are you familiar with the medical community' oath: 

Primum non nocere (First, not to harm.)?

I think one needs a break from the formal learning environment. This frees up the mind for other things and allows for greater motivation and focus when one resumes their studies.

Hi 411,

What age is your daughter?   What precisely do you mean by "incorporating" into her activities?  Are you making her sit down at the table and do school paperwork? 

I have this odd philosophy about education:    Learning Should Be Fun.

Kids have a 'natural curiosity'.....find out what she's interested in and feed her that through fun-type stuff.

Just a thought.

FER, cute baby picture...looks just like you!

Ha!    Nooow I get the picture.

Young Miss 411 ~ get out of the house!   S-t-r-e-t-c-h your mind, and your field-of-experience!   These summers and the time spent with your Mom doing stuff will be some of the best memories of your life!   OPEN that Brilliant MIND, gather information...use it later to make wise decisions and steer your life in the direction YOU want to go.   Knowledge + Experience = Wisdom = power and control of your own life..... Your Mom is trying to get you ready to be INDEPENDENT....and I know you'll love that!

That's my opinion.

Thanx for asking.

Smiles!

~debo

Dear Young Miss 411,

I realize that your Mom probably had you sit down and read what others wrote, then write back to me.... and that is a good thing, Hon.   I know it isn't easy to be bright while all your friends and classmates are average, with little interest in learning anything more than the teacher puts in their face... it is never easy being different.   I do understand.   All of the students I worked with felt like this.  But, I also know that learning IS fun...and it can keep you from being bored stiff...uh-huh, it's true.  

I remember when I was young I used to say, "Mom, I'm sooo bored!"   and she would say to me "Only boring people get bored."   I really hated it when she said that....but, now when I look back, it makes me smile because...ya know what?....she was right!    (Doncha just hate it when Mom is right?  geeeeeeze)  

Here's the secret that is right in front of everyone's face:   everything you do, every place you go, every tv show you watch, all the music you listen to, each game you play, every ride in the car, or step out the door ~ all the time....you are learning.    And it all goes into your brain, eventually proving out what kind of a person you'll develope into...if you are aware of this you can give yourself important, valuable experiences that will help you be free from the rules and judgements that stifle you...you can make wise decisions that open a world of joy and pain, but a world that is created by you.  

Be proud of your intelligence. 

Now I want to tell you how what you wrote effected me: I got tears in my eyes....tears of happiness....and when my life is "less than perfect", I will remember your words ~ and how they've filled me with a sense of purpose and value.    Thank you!

Many Blessings....and a big hug too!

~debo   aka  Ms.Max (that's what all my students called me)

ttfn

Hey Young Miss 411,

Yes, you are right (and that's a great analogy) learning is like making friends!     What is difficult at first only takes time before it becomes easier... you are a wise young woman.

I no longer have a classroom ~ I guess you could say I'm retired....but it wouldn't be precisely correct.   However, my students remember me and several of them have looked me up in FaceBook (where we are fast friends), and one of them phones me every few months for a good long talk.    You see, many of them I had from 2nd grade through high school....which makes me a little like an "auntie", because I worked with their parents, went to dinner at their homes, attended special occasions like birthdays and confirmations...becoming sort of a family member.  I feel I was very fortunate in this "acceptance" and unique "closeness" I got to experience with them.   Also, I'm still in communication with the woman who is now teaching my old program... so, in a way, I still have a connection.

I will let you in on a method I used to keep my students inspired ~ I always took an "Interest Inventory" at the beginning of the school year...to find out what my students found stimulating (like robotics, rocketry, astronomy, cryogenics, the Human Brain, animals, theater, etc)...then I planned my projects around what they wanted to learn.   Also, my lessons were primarily hands-on.  Ofcourse we learned from books and manuals when necessary...but, they always knew that a cool project (like actually setting-off model rockets, or seeing and touching a real human brain, or looking at stars and planets through high powered telescopes, etc.) would be part of the learning process.

This gave them the energy and excitement to want to learn about the subject.    Sometimes, when they had finished a project, I required them to teach their classmates what they had learned ~ which put them at the front of the room, leading others.   (Do you think I was creating future teachers?)

Keep Smiling (cuz "what goes 'round, comes 'round")

~Ms.Max