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June 12, 2007
Mornings with Mommy
The other morning as I was walking through the Nashville Airport, I overheard a mom talking to her son. He was looking at the departure board. He was checking on their flight. He told her it would be leaving at 9:30 for San Diego and it was on time. It caught my attention that he was telling her, not she telling him.
Then she asked him what time it was. He began looking around for a clock, and she helped him a bit by saying, “Look at the board. Check the bottom on the board on the red strip. It has the date and…..”
“Oh, it’s 8:22,” he said.
She sat down not far from me as he went to check out the area. I mentioned that I’d listened to their conversation and asked if she was a teacher. She said no, but that every morning they have what she calls Mornings with Mommy. She tries to use breakfast as a learning time. Since they were traveling today it seemed like a good idea to use the items in the airport as a learning experience. She said she liked the learning to be something everyday and practical.
Her son is in fifth grade, and it was obvious they do this regularly.
What a delight! This is exactly the kind of thinking I’ve been encouraging in the parents I meet in schools. Learning doesn’t have to be a burdensome undertaking. It’s fun and make sense in what we do everyday. School is supposed to help make the everyday experiences easier to deal with and make more sense.
I really appreciated what this mom was doing, and doing so automatically as if it were part of parenting. Some of us do it automatically. Some of us need a little direction to see how it might work, but neither matters because however you get thre, your child is going to benefit from the learning.
Thanks mom.
Posted by Dr Joni at June 12, 2007 09:05 AM
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