I am always asking “Why?”  So are my children.

Everyone wants their children to be brilliant.  I am no exception to this hope.

But, I try to be intentional in my instruction.

I am not always successful, but I do try.

I TRY to think about what I would learn from a lesson if it was being taught to me.

Let me explain.

I found this craft idea on another blog.  I think it is a cute craft and it would be fun.  But, I started wondering if I were the child doing the craft, would I understand that I was making a rabbit in the shape of an R because the word rabbit starts with an R?  Probably not.  Please do not misunderstand me here, because I think it would be a fun activity.  I also know, though, that as the mother who would spend a lot of time getting this project ready, I would end up feeling like it was a lot of effort for a little return.  Please do not think I am judging the parents out there who do spend the time on this activity.  Kudos to those of you who want to spend your time helping your children.  But, to those other parents who are overwhelmed and trying to figure out how on earth you are going to find the time to go to the store to get supplies, get the supplies ready, then after the mess has been created, clean up yet another mess in your house: there is another option.

If I were a child learning about the sounds letters make, I would need to hear the sounds.  Yes, seeing the letters helps.  But, I do not need to add to my list of daily chores.  In fact, I am a big fan of incorporating activities into daily life.  For example, when we are at the grocery store, we play games.  We pick a letter, talk about the sound, and look for it around the store.  For “R” we could look for rice, raisins, etc.  We repeat the words over and over.  We sing songs and manipulate the words in the song.  If we are singing Row Your Boat, we could switch the beginning sound to R for many of the words.  (We sing “Row, Row your Roat, gently down the Ream…” and the kids love it.)  But, these are things that we can do anytime and while I am finishing other tasks.

I could go on all day about intentional learning.  For now, I think the best summary in my approach to parenting is to consider how I am preparing my children to be adults.  I am not only preparing my children for elementary school.  I am not only preparing them to learn to read.  I am preparing them for life.

I want my children to be prepared for the future.  I want to think about why I am spending time doing the things I am doing.

I am a huge fan of motivation.  If my children are not interested, they will not learn.  There is a lot of research to support that statement.

I will probably talk about intentional learning a lot.  I hope I can do a better job of clarifying eventually.

For now, I will leave you with this:

Involve your children in the things you are doing.  Discuss colors, shapes, sizes and sorting when doing laundry.  Let your children help.  Listen to the questions about why and see if you can explore it together.  You will be amazed at how much your child can learn!

Enjoy the explorations!