A few days ago I was thinking about how the way I teach my children has changed over time. With Nicky (The "First"), I was all about flash card style teaching. I didn't literally use flash cards, but I used a lot of repetition and quizzing with things I felt like I needed to teach him. I was always reviewing colors, letters, and numbers. Then there were the animal sounds. "What does the _____ say?" "How about the _____?"
Fast forward to my fourth kid.
This morning, Eva was singing "Old MacDonald" in the car, and first of all, I was impressed that she knew the song. I was thinking, "Did I even teach this to her?" Because fourth child. But as I was listening to her make animal noises, I started to wonder if I ever even taught her the animal sounds. I think by the time Eva showed up in our lives, I was no longer intentionally teaching my children things. I'd shifted to "Pick it up from your siblings" mode. Plus, I was in school, myself, so I had very little mental capacity for anything beyond keeping my kids fed and sheltered.
As summer approached this year, I thought, "I should make this a summer of learning and try to teach my kids a new skill each week!" I always worry that I'm not teaching them everything I should. I don't want to fail them. I don't want to send them out in the world without the basic skills of being able to cook a thing or two, manage their money, or clean a toilet. Sometimes we assume our kids know how to do stuff when they actually don't. Every now and then, my kids shock me with their lack of knowledge in some areas, and I think, "Oh crap! I failed you on that one."
Alas, a formal “summer of learning” hasn't happened, although I did jot down a few things that I should probably teach my kids at some point... should I ever get a bee in my bonnet.
But there is a silver lining. I've become more aware of the ways I actually am teaching my children. While it's not necessarily in the manner of intentional and/or planned curriculum, I have found myself taking a lot of spontaneous teaching moments.
The other day, I spent about 20 minutes letting Eva scan and bag $125 worth of groceries at the self checkout (I only did it because there wasn't a line, and I wasn't holding anyone up). I showed her how to key in the codes for veggies, and I explained how some of them are priced by quantity and some of them are priced by weight. I showed her how to put similar items together in bags and how to keep certain items (like chips and bread) on top so they don't get smashed. Then I showed her how to use a debit card reader.
The next day, Zoe helped me make two Ranier Cherry Galettes (thanks to my friend, Naomi, for the recipe). She learned how to do an egg wash and what the purpose of cornstarch is.
This morning, we had several conversations on the way to Zoe’s theatre camp. We talked about armpit hair (my kids are obsessed with armpit hair right now - I think we talk about it everyday). Zoe and Eva asked about the purposes of armpit hair (I don't know, but that's a great question!) I encouraged them to theorize, and they decided that we have armpit hair for two reasons:
1. To keep our armpits warm (Zoe expressed how cold her hairless armpits are, and she said that's why she doesn't like wearing tank tops. Okay, Daughter...)
2. To keep deodorant in our armpits (Eva explained that if you have armpit hair, you can have chunks of deodorant in your pits to help keep you fresh... kind of like flavor crystals in gum)
We talked about how some people choose to shave their armpits, the age where people usually get armpit hair, etc. It was most intellectual.
Then we saw a field of cows, and the cows were all swishing their tails so we moved onto a conversation about why cows flip their tails.
From there we discussed why flamingoes are pink.
Then we talked about childhood fame and why I would never want my kids to be famous. This was an enlightening topic for my girls because YouTubing and stardom is so appealing to them. I talked to them about some of the struggles that child stars have had. In the most appropriate way for their ages, I told them about abuse, stalking, cruelty, social problems, body shaming, and drug and alcohol exposure. They were blown away by this information. I asked, "Do you think a famous child can go to a park and play like you do? Or go to a regular school?" and they realized that being a famous child has a lot of complications.
Lately, we’ve been watching a show called Food Factory USA on BYUtv (circa 2014). One of the episodes was about A&W cheese curds, and Zoe was totally into it. The next day, we went on a field trip to A&W to get some (very expensive) cheese curds.
Zoe and Eva have loved seeing how different foods are made. There’s an episode about Cold Stone, and you can get $30 worth of Cold Stone gift cards for $20.87 at Sam’s Club, so guess what else we’ll be doing!
This summer they’ve learned how to make Koolaid on their own, so we have Koolaid “on tap” always. They know the importance of measuring accurately. They’ve also learned to make their own popsicles with the very important knowledge to leave headspace for expansion. Zoe learned how to make French toast. Nicky learned how to recharge the A/C in his Jeep (which didn’t work, unfortunately, but hey! He knows how to do it!) Daisy learned how to do an 8-strand spiral boondoggle (so did I! I never learned beyond the the basic 4-strand). She had to practice patience and endurance to finish hers, but not me. I love having busy hands, so I’m all over it! I got library cards for Zoe and Eva, and they learned how to check out books on their own. Earlier this week, I showed Zoe how to find her favorite graphic novels at the library. To top it off, Scotty let Zoe mow the lawn.
We'll never be able to teach them everything they need to know before they leave our care, but we’re working on it. Hopefully they'll always feel comfortable asking questions, and hopefully, over time, we can teach them enough to send them out on their own without having them fall flat on their faces.
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