Educate Your Kids Without Them Even Knowing
Not everything needs to be a “lesson” kids are soaking up information constantly
I’ve brought up four healthy, happy human beings who are enthusiastic about life and strive to be self-confident and self-determined. It wasn’t easy! I had a lot of fun along the way but there were also moments when I left the room to have a quiet sob. I’m an avid reader and traveler and I knew that I wanted to share all my insights into diverse cultures with my kids. I also wanted to teach them to accept people who are different from them and be able to understand other people even if they held opposing opinions. So I decided to use every moment as an opportunity to teach my kids some general knowledge or life-lesson.
Riding in Cars with Boys (and Girls)
The car is one of the best places to teach your kids. You have a captive audience, and if you make sure they have no devices in the car they have no other choice but to listen to you. On each school run, drive to the supermarket or road tip I would point out things we were passing and give them a sound bite of info like — “that's a palm tree, did you know you can make sugar from the dates that grow on a palm tree”; “did you see that dog, it’s a St. Bernard, did you know they are used to rescue people stuck in the snow” etc.
The car was also where my kids got exposure to diverse genres of music. I’d play everything from Beethoven to Queen and Grease to Bob Marley (“did you know Bob died of cancer in his big toe and he came from an island called Jamaica which is in the Caribbean ?”).
Bed Time Stories
I read my kids a bedtime story each night, but once we’d read the classics I started to tell them the tales of famous novels that were far beyond their years. If there was no kid’s version I simply told them the stories I remembered like Les Miserable or Robinson Crusoe. I’d also tell them about the lives of famous figures as if it was a story, for example, Chairman Mao (my kid’s always remember that he hated brushing his teeth and they went green); Queen Victoria; Mandela; Van Gogh and others. I’d add in strange and weird details that the kids would remember forever. They didn’t have to be heroes and I didn’t need to know everything about these people. I just needed to be able to tell my kids enough to spark their interest.
Meal Time — Food in For Body and Mind
Mealtime was an excellent opportunity to teach my kids about nutrition; how foods are grown; how farms operate and how there are people who eat differently to us. I told them about various diets — vegans, vegetarians, fruitarians etc. I pointed out the many colors of vegetables and asked them why they thought veggies have the colors they do; how long do they think it takes to grow a carrot and how farmers protect their farms from rabbits, bugs and natural disasters. I wanted to get them thinking and asking questions. Is it right to eat animal? Is it healthy not to? Do we really need to eat three times a day? How come some cultures eat animals we consider pets? We would also discuss how the food was prepared, cooking styles, methods and the names of cooking utensils. Mealtimes are one of the best times to feed your kids minds.
Teach Your Kids Anytime, Anywhere, Anything
No matter what your education, you have something to share and some knowledge to impart to your kids. Take every opportunity to communicate with your kids, build a bond and pass along a little of the knowledge you’ve gained over the years. They’ll be soaking it all up like gravy without even knowing it and years down the line your kids will remember — oh yes mom told us that.