It’s finally cold enough out there to snuggle up indoors once the sun goes down. In our home, the little ones are in bed by 6.30 while Georgie, who is almost 8 years old, gets to stay up an hour more. During that time I get dinner ready while he reads a book to me or completes one of these little worksheets we recently received. You can give this one a go with your older kids if you like because it’s free to download and print.
I am a huge fan of TED talks. A motivating talk on a topic I am passionate about can be a great source of inspiration to me. That’s why I was beyond thrilled when I was asked to become part of the TEDxNicosia team as their official blogger. These independently organised TED events have been taking place in Nicosia since 2011 and have covered some amazing areas and brought forward leading thinkers prepared to make a difference in our society.
One of the books I’ve been dying to finish is John Holt’s Learning All The Time. I picked up the name after doing a bit of research on the matter of learning. Not the ABC 123 kind of learning but a different kind. The honest kind. The no pressure kind.
Now Georgie’s becoming more and more aware of his surroundings and beginning to need more stimulation, I worry that what I am providing is not enough. I hear about parents teaching their kids to recite the alphabet by the age of two! This scares me. Not just because it’s feckin freaky but also because I secretly feel inadequate and stupid for allowing my child to play with the dog instead of shoving a book up his nose. I’m not belittling anyone here but that just doesn’t seem natural to me. The same way the schooling system doesn’t. Why are we making learning an obligation instead of a basic instinct?