My love of softball...
I I love softball...
When my daughter was born I anticipated the softball experiences we would have together. The vision of mother and daughter catches danced in my head. I had the vision of us standing on a beautiful field, the wind blowing our hair, maybe picking a few dandelions, punching our mitts to get ready - you get the picture. I was the captain of my softball team in high school. I loved softball. So I envisioned our catches and I imagined myself watching or maybe coaching her games from the side lines. I created a nice story in my mind of our future mother/daughter softball experiences. As my daughter grew up something became quite clear: my daughter didn’t care much for softball or any other sport. She had no interest in playing a structured physical activity. I tried a few times and then I surrendered to the fact this was not going to happen. As I was able to move through my disappointment I was able to embrace the amazing person my daughter is. Her love of animals, nature and science became a great joy in my life.
When my daughter was born I anticipated the softball experiences we would have together. The vision of mother and daughter catches danced in my head. I had the vision of us standing on a beautiful field, the wind blowing our hair, maybe picking a few dandelions, punching our mitts to get ready - you get the picture. I was the captain of my softball team in high school. I loved softball. So I envisioned our catches and I imagined myself watching or maybe coaching her games from the side lines. I created a nice story in my mind of our future mother/daughter softball experiences. As my daughter grew up something became quite clear: my daughter didn’t care much for softball or any other sport. She had no interest in playing a structured physical activity. I tried a few times and then I surrendered to the fact this was not going to happen. As I was able to move through my disappointment I was able to embrace the amazing person my daughter is. Her love of animals, nature and science became a great joy in my life.
Her love of science was a bit surprising to me as I did not particularly enjoy the hard sciences in school. Over time I have come to understand that I had built up a bit of fear of studying science – probably resulting from not-so-great early experiences with science teachers.
One of the best things about working in preschool is you learn how fun science can be and I was often able to match that with my daughter’s interests. We had great fun together leaning about the scientific method and exploring the many aspects of science in our everyday life! We loved messy experiments and great scientific readings as we studied all the animals my daughter loved.
From our alarm clocks, to cooking breakfast, to watching a bird fly by as we get in the car to drive off for the day, we are surrounded by opportunities to share knowledge with our children. The “science” is right there. It does not need to be divided, as a separate subject to be learned on its own. The way we break down subjects and separate them from our everyday living can be misleading to our student and our children. Our learning should be integrated with our everyday life experiences.
Each of our children will have their own interests and ideas that may or may not resonate with us. The better we do in recognizing their interests, the more we are able to fully embrace and appreciate the beauty of their personalities. This in turn allows us to best help them satisfy their own curiosity – and enjoy learning. As we support and love our children for who they are the relationship we have with them is built on respect and appreciation.... with some laughter!
Each of our children will have their own interests and ideas that may or may not resonate with us. The better we do in recognizing their interests, the more we are able to fully embrace and appreciate the beauty of their personalities. This in turn allows us to best help them satisfy their own curiosity – and enjoy learning. As we support and love our children for who they are the relationship we have with them is built on respect and appreciation.... with some laughter!
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