My daughter loves to create beadies (creations using string and pony beads). She has followed many patterns as well as made some up on her own. The other day she asked if she could lead a class on how to make a lizard.
As we planned her class, we discussed many details. What age should the kids be? Could a younger child come if a parent promised to stay and help? How long should the class be? Should we limit the number of students we could have at one time? What project should she help them make? Should we charge for the class? Should we include photos with our email invitation? After all the decisions were made, I helped send out an email to our homeschooling community.
Six students participated in my daughter's class. They all made a lizard and then took home instructions and beads to make a firefly at home. The class was a success. The kids had fun. My daughter was proud. I think she learned a lot about the process of teaching a class. A teacher's time isn't limited to the 90 minutes of teaching, but includes a lot of preparation, thinking ahead and even thinking about things after the time is over (What surprised us? What could we have done better? What worked best?)
I'd like to think some of her inspiration has come from seeing dad teach her computer programming, or mom teach her yearbook class, or all the parents in the homeschooling community teaching classes on history, writing, math and more. So a big thanks to all teachers in our lives who "showed us by doing" and inspired her to "do what she saw".
