Teachable Moments

Every Moment is a Teaching Moment

Each moment is a teaching moment. Think about this and let it sink in. Each moment is a teaching moment. I know many parents probably already know this sentiment and already live this way with their children. I didn't. I was always busy, in a hurry, too tired, too frustrated and just plain done.

At the end of the day, who wants help in the kitchen when it just makes a mess and I can do it faster on my own? How much easier is it to answer, "I don't know" when your child asks the umpteenth question you can't answer or don't want to answer? How many times has your child, "I wonder what would happen if...?" and you helped them find out?

After thinking about homeschooling, my entire mindset has changed. For example, I almost brushed off the question when my daughter asked, "I wonder how much it would be if you added 1+2+3+4 and so on, until you get to 80?" This was going to take some time, so I could easily have said, "I don't know" and distracted her with something else. Instead, we took out paper and pencil and worked it out. She had a method she wanted to try. I had my method. We compared answers (which weren't the same). Then I went to Google to find out if there is a formula we could use as a shortcut to verify our answers. Voila! n(n+1)/2 is the formula! And now we've all learned something.

Perhaps my daughter won't remember the formula (I didn't, I had to look it up again for this post), but I believe she learned many other things. One, there are formulas that exist to help math problems go more quickly. Two, you can Google (or do other research) to find these formulas. And three, mom cares about what I think, hears my questions and has time for me.

Another example: The kids asked, "I wonder what would happen if you tried to freeze ketchup?" Again, how easy to brush it aside and move on? Instead, we filled plastic cups with different liquids or foods and froze them. As we did this, we made predictions and wrote down what we saw and time intervals to see if our hypotheses were right or wrong.

What did the kids learn this time? Scientific process. Testing hypotheses. Setting up and conducting an experiment. We even learned that if you label the bottom of a plastic cup, it will appear backwards when reading it through your liquid. So, we adjusted our behavior and wrote backwards, so we could read the label forwards!

Last year, I NEVER would have searched for formulas or froze items from the refrigerator. I was always too tired after a day of making lunches, shuttling them to/from school, volunteering in the classroom, etc. Or too busy helping them complete homework, classroom projects, etc. I'm not saying I can do this every time. I still get too tired to answer all their questions or to help them figure out how to find the answers. I still like to cook alone (this one, I'm REALLY trying to change, as it's a life skill they should know!) But my mindset has changed and I'm finding that I brush off fewer questions each day.