Rummaging through a goody bag that my mom sent over a few weeks ago, I came across a big Kindergarten workbook. I stuffed it into the school cabinet at the time, but took it out last week. I gathered my remaining homeschool Kindergarten curricula and decided I could spend 20 minutes or so a day working with the two littlest on some worksheets. We are planning to send them both out into the world one way or another in the fall, but they are so excited about "doing school" and I have the materials and the time, so....
Their little eyes were bright when figuring things out, writing, cutting, gluing, scissoring.
I got to thinking about teaching.
We teach them as little ones to look for patterns, color inside the lines, and follow directions. Things are neat and orderly. Things make sense. We can prove that 1+1=2.
We can prove how school-y things work, there is no mystery. When it comes to their eternal souls, though, we can't. The most important thing in the universe is left to "just believe".
We teach them as little ones to look for patterns, color inside the lines, and follow directions. Things are neat and orderly. Things make sense.
ReplyDeleteYes, children are taught to look for patterns. On top of that, we are a bit of pattern-seekers by nature. Interestingly, a few of the patterns that kids can observe are broken right before their eyes, and this can be confusing for them. Should their imaginations go into overdrive, we teach them that there isn't really "a monster in the closet" who's out to get them. Monsters, spooks, and goblins just don't make sense, so why on earth would we not discourage belief in them? But yet, look....many kids(I was one of them) are taught that there's an evil, invisible "spirit" that will get them if they're not careful. The "sense" pattern? Broken.
We can prove how school-y things work, there is no mystery. When it comes to their eternal souls, though, we can't.
Idk....maybe the trick is to not teach them they have an eternal soul to begin with(?). I'm just throwing ideas out there; I am be no means claiming to know what's right for everyone. In my own experience, though, I know that nothing confuses children more than lying to them, or at best, filling their heads with unproven ideas, even if it was meant to protect them. This sort of thing can backfire later on in life.
maybe the trick is to not teach them they have an eternal soul to begin with(?).
DeleteI know what you mean. I hope through their own investigation of the world, they can come to conclusions that will bring them soundness of mind and peace about it all.
I hope through their own investigation of the world, they can come to conclusions that will bring them soundness of mind and peace about it all.
ReplyDeleteI like it. You hope that they will find peace of mind, but whatever they find, you wish for it to come about by their own investigation. Good stuff :)
Indeed there is mystery to things we make up, because we make them up.
ReplyDeleteBut richer than that is the mystery in the ordinary. It is deeper, more beautiful, more enthralling, more complex — an ending tapestry. 2+2 is just a beginning. With more depth, even 2+2 is a limited truth.
I don’t think there is a “most important thin in the universe” — old habit die hard. Why not be satisfied with the complexity, the richness. No need to distill into an abstract god, a “most important thing” or any such activity. Instead of creating abstractions, being happy with the details of our kid’s days, hugs of lovers, our food and falling asleep.
Sorry, late at night — I wax philosophical
Old habits do die hard Sabio:)
DeleteI hope it is understood that this "most important thing in the universe" thing I wrote was meant for an earlier me. Looking back, I shudder at just how much fear followed me around.
Why is "what happens to their eternal souls" the most important things in the universe? If you accept the evidence for evolution, what it teaches us is that out of simplicity arises complexity. Even if there such a thing as a "soul" could it be that even 1+1 = 2 is just as important to the emergency of these complex concepts that many feel exist in the world such as a soul. Let them start with 1+1 = 2 and who knows where it will yet lead. :)
ReplyDeleteSee my reply above to Sabio:)
Delete"Things makes sense." That is what always moved me about life. Even as a youngster I had a certain way of looking at things. It never left me. I had another way of thinking "thrust on me" by my well-meaning parents. Still, underneath it all I had my own ideas. It was later that I allowed myself the freedom to freely develop these for myself. In fact, I am still doing that.
ReplyDeleteBeing a parent is so hard with an "agenda" other than just trying to lead them into being decent human beings.
DeleteOf course we are all dead a lot longer than we are alive.
ReplyDeleteThat's definitely true. Best to make the best of the time we have:)
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