Have you ever heard a parent suggest that they'd lose brain cells if they stayed home with their children? Well, I understand that most parents don't even have that choice. And staying at home is certainly not for everyone. One size does not fit all adults, just as it does not for children.
BUT it saddens me that people would even think something like that. They're missing out on a very small window of opportunity to learn and grow alongside their child.
Whether you stay home with your children or not, there are always opportunities to learn and grow - together. All it takes is a willingness to get down on the floor and see things from the point of view of your child, to try new things, explore new territories (no matter how near or far they may be), and to read A LOT of great children's books together.
The bottom line is that if we give children a chance, they can teach us a lot more that we think. They can even help us to discover a love of reading and learning that may not have existed in us before.
That's why today, I am excited to share two links which will inspire you to keep the community of learning and reading going in your home, family, and neighborhood:
- How much can we learn from a 12 year old? Find out in Daily Good's What Adults Can Learn from Kids.
- The Book Whisperer, otherwise known as Donalyn Miller, shares findings from a University of Nevada research study in the blog post Access to Books Key to Academic Achievement. Here's an excerpt: "This massive study showed that the difference between being raised in a bookless home compared to being raised in a home with a 500-book library has as great an effect on the level of education a child will attain as having parents who are barely literate (3 years of education) compared to having parents who have a university education (15 or 16 years of education)." While the researchers seemed to be surprised with the findings, I don't think too many kidlit bloggers, homeschooling parents, and avid readers would be!
What can we take away from these articles? Well, for me it's that you don't have to be a rocket scientist to raise children who love to read and learn. You do, however, have to be willing to explore new worlds together - whether they're real or imaginary, spoken or written, sung or whispered - and connect the dots along the way. Sometimes, there will be questions that can't be answered, and that's when you know you're learning the most together!
“We call a child's mind "small" simply by habit; perhaps it is larger than ours is, for it can take in almost anything without effort.” ~Christopher Morley
Here's to families learning together, just for the fun and challenge of it...
Have a fascinating week!
