When Schools Are Shut Down, Let Your Children Harness The Wind
(yes, I know, this is technically a doula blog. Doulas care passionately about the big picture of life, though, and today’s post centers around concerns I’m seeing online as public schools shut down. Keep scrolling to other posts if you are looking for birthy things; I promise it’s the majority of my content! To borrow my preschooler’s language, all my posts come from my heart, & today the heart is overflowing on this subject).
A few years ago I read William Kamkwamba’s amazing book, “The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity & Hope.” Kamkwamba grew up in Malawi ~ in a farming village decimated with drought and poverty. He desperately wanted to go to high school, but his family couldn’t afford the costs. He had to stay home. And you know what he did instead? He read books on electricity because the subject fascinated him; he raided local junkyards, and went out and built a functional windmill for his family. How many American teenagers do you know who could do that? He literally brought light into his family’s dark home.
I don’t want any child in the world to face starvation, drought, or poverty. But freedom to explore on their own? THAT is oh, so very good for them. William commented in his book that he wondered if he would have had the time, opportunity, or energy to develop his windmill project if he had been allowed to go to high school like he hoped. His education wasn’t stunted; it simply took a different path (he later graduated from Dartmouth College and returned to Malawi to continue improving conditions in his community).
His book is powerful. I highly recommend it. But his story is not unique.
Francis Collins, director of the Human Genome Project, shared this in his book “The Language of God”: “Like my older brothers, I was home-schooled by my mother, a remarkably talented teacher. Those early years conferred on me the priceless gift of the joy of learning. While my mother had no organized class schedule or lesson plans, she was incredibly perceptive in identifying topics that would intrigue a young mind, pursuing them with great intensity to a natural stopping point, and then switching to something new and equally exciting. Learning was never something you did because you had to, it was something you did because you loved it." (emphasis mine). Collins didn’t start formal schooling until he was ten, and that was at a small rural school.
Thomas Edison received very little formal schooling ~ his mother taught him some basics, and then he went and read and read (and read some more) on his own.
Benjamin Franklin’s schooling was much different than ours
actually, this list could go much longer…. our American education schedule and culture is, well, fairly modern in the history of the world….
which means:
Parents, please do not stress about the perfect educational schedule for your child while their school is shutdown. Just don’t.
Please don’t stress about how to teach them every single thing you thought they’d be learning in classrooms this spring.
Please do not think you have to follow every single free internet activity that’s advertised as educational.
For the love of Pete, please do not think YOU have to fill every single hour of their day with “educational” activities. Teachers in public schools are made of awesomeness. They also have to teach a couple of dozen children at once… which takes a whoooole lot longer than just teaching a few children. Accept that and don’t be afraid that you’re short-changing your child if educational things are done by lunch.
Please do not think that because your child is out of school for a couple of months, their chances at overall educational success are at risk. Maybe this is the break your child needed. It’s a small blip in what should be a lifetime of learning.
What activities can you do with your children right now that will nourish their minds and continue to feed the love of learning that ALL children are born with?
* Read to them. About everything. I’ll include some links at the end of this post for book recommendation lists.
* Give them books on their favorite subjects. I literally handed a book of physics experiments for children to my 8 & 9 year old children yesterday; they read through the instructions for a basic experiment, assembled all the parts for it, and are planning to do it when a friend comes over.
* Go on walks. Look for signs of spring as you go ~ birds, flowers, changing cloud patterns. Visit cemeteries, talk about the people buried in them ~ this is maintaining excellent social distance! “This person fought in World War 2…” or “I wonder if this person was a farmer…” or “look, this person had 3 children, just like we do!”
* Cook with them! Do simple recipes, perfect them… and then do things like double the recipe (math practice!). Let them practice on their own. Muffins are simple. So are these bannock buns.
* And let them be! If it’s 2 p.m. and a live feed is starting from an artist or a zoo is starting, but your child is happily playing with blocks… don’t interrupt them. What is going on in your child’s brain can’t be restarted as easily as an internet video. Give them blocks, magnetic building tiles, crayons & pencils….
* And let them get muddy! Buy rain boots & a rain coat. Charge outside with them if you’re expecting a downpour but it hasn’t started yet. Fresh air is vital for maintaining good mental health, and the grownups aren’t the only ones stressed by these schedule changes.
* Practice the art of narrating with them ~ read a chapter of a book, and ask them to tell you about it or draw a picture of it (or do lego creations..). This helps them organize thoughts and sentence structures, and is excellent for memory retention.
Book lists available here:
AmblesideOnline, divided by year
Landmark Biographies