Let The Little Children Learn….

Posted on by Deborah Tschetter


So many times we underestimate the abilities of younger children. I was reminded of this when my daughter came to visit with her husband and 2 children. Their Dad was very busy trimming our trees and I was feeling that the girls weren’t spending a lot of time with him. All of sudden I looked up and there were my 3 and 4 year old granddaughters on my roof helping Dad clean my gutters. Now don’t be alarmed, their Dad was vigilant in keeping them safe. : )

Learning while doing works best for young children. You can have the best lesson planned to teach safety but until you actually go and physically do it it doesn’t stick in a child’s head. Children need action for retention. Up on that roof what were my grandchildren learning? Safety, helping others and my dad loves me(time with dad).

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We tend to think that we must develop this great plan and complete it perfectly for it to count as learning. When we actually need to be available to see the “Learning Moments” in each day. If you go for a walk and see a butterfly that could be a learning opportunity for your little one. You could then get books from the library on a butterfly’s life cycle, butterfly gardens, metamorphoses, etc… No library? Guess what? YouTube has many videos of books to read aloud. You could even print out a picture of a butterfly and label it’s parts or print out a worksheet of the life cycle of a butterfly. For even deeper learning you could practice vocabulary like metamorphoses, chrysalis, or caterpillar! Pinterest is also a great tool to use. You can find almost anything on there. There are so many talented people contributing everyday!

Don’t be concerned about following the rabbit trails of learning and not getting the serious work done. The point of learning with younger children is sparking a life long joy of learning. Let the little children lead YOU in the adventure of learning by following their interests!

Deuteronomy 11:19 NIV

Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

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Growing, Step by Step is slow and sometimes it's hard to see the progress. But skipping over steps eventually will send back to where you started. Granddaughter, daughter, sister, mother of 5, grandmother of 4, friend, daycare owner, children's ministries, homeschooler, teacher, leader, all of these describe me well but behind it all is a love for people. I am drawn to people who need friendship, help, encouragement because everyone needs to know that this will pass, you are enough and you did it well. Join me as share my successes and failures and everything in between.

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