Opportunities for Learning
Notice the opportunity – this is the last in our “Functional Education” series: Opportunities to learn and grow are all around us. We often learn more through interaction and play with our surroundings. What is right under your own nose that will foster this? Sometimes we get stumped on the perfect curriculum, teaching style, or educational path, and we are constantly running to what has been deemed “educational” for kids.
Yet, we might miss an educational opportunity that is unique to our situation – like at a rest stop, a distillery, or an adult art class.
In this weeks’ podcast, we share the latest in the betta fish obsession in our home, laying out what is coming up on the Mama Says Namaste Podcast, and digging in to even more non-traditional educational opportunities.
Listen to this episode on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, TuneIn, YouTube, iHeartRadio or your RSS Feed
The Magical Betta Fish:
https://www.facebook.com/MamaSaysNamaste/posts/1671146989630035
As you can tell, Clara is over the moon with this, and the learning pathway keeps going. She’s eager to dig in and research more about the African Dwarf Frog and ghost shrimp, and we learned a valuable lesson about wood…we set up a piece of hickory wood with moss in a separate jar as a “nursery” for the ghost shrimp, and now we’re guessing that hickory leached out into the water and killed it. So, lessons learned, and more opportunities to explore what works and what does.
Functional Education recap:
As a refresher of what all we’ve covered in season 5 and this Functional Education series, we broke it down to “function”:
- Fun: What is “education”: “The world is our school, and everyone is our teacher.”
- Unschooling: Education Overhaul (Deschooling and what that means)
- Reframe your thinking
- Define “learning”
- Lose the lingo
- Not a quitter: The importance of “failure” in our lives – and how to step back from being your child’s savior
- Credibility: What qualifies you as a teacher…or, why you are a guide. We’ll address authoritative vs. authoritarian parenting
- Thirst for knowledge: When the student is ready (delight led learning) – be the guide, not the teacher
- Inspired learning: The ongoing process of functional education – how to become a life-long learner and be the example
- Own your attitude: Learning about interpersonal relationships, socialization, and personality snapshots and how learning is more about a mindset than a process; discovering how to instill a growth mindset.
- Notice the opportunity: Opportunities to learn and grow are all around us. We often learn more through interaction and play with our surroundings. What is right under your own nose that will foster this?
Mommy, I’m Bored
Ah, those wonderful words that can drive us crazy..and can open up more opportunities for learning. Clara said it to me the other day, and I asked if she wanted to do portraits of one another. Here was another time where I got a beautiful glimpse of how personality styles make such an impact on how you approach all things. Here are our portraits of one another:
Non-conventional ideas/opportunities to learn:
Some ideas we discussed on the podcast:
- Rest Stops
- Distilleries
- Bakeries
- Factories
- Hiking
- Zoos/Sanctuaries
- Talking to people of different backgrounds/cultures/ages, etc
- Adult workshops/seminars/classes
- Art galleries
- Real life practice – creating a garden
- Listen along apps for scenic drives
- Volunteering at soup kitchens, meals on wheels, etc
- Stores – think Home Depot, Costco…
- Teaching others – children teaching is a powerful way to learn!
Are you burning your child down or lighting them up?
Some more ideas for you:
- Use crowd sourcing – giving people the opportunity to be a hero is so important.
- Challenge is to go out with your kids and find opportunities to learn – have a curiosity day!!
What is holding you back from a life change?
Care for some Q&A? Hit us with any questions you have regarding education/school in your home. Ask in the Mama Says Namaste or Unschooling Families Facebook groups.
If we reference you on the podcast, we will also send you a free “Mamaste” shirt – fresh off the presses!
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