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Mommy Academy

by mathe | Thursday, February 21st, 2008 at 7:25 am | Uncategorized |

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Mommies are the first educators of their kids. If so, we mommies must have some sort of a plan, some sort of a curriculum, which should guide us on how to enhance our kids’ knowledge and make them appreciate the value of learning.

This need not be a sophisticated plan, just a guideline, for us to cover every aspect of a child’s outside-school education needs, particularly the toddler years until at least junior school level.

I am not also thinking of educating our kids in terms of school subjects or academic topics. I am talking about life skills and emotional/psychological preparedness to take on life as they grow up.

The first thing that we should work on is the love for learning and knowledge. Sometimes, because of our busy-ness with home life and a career on the side, we simply miss the importance of laying a good foundation for our kids’ education. By foundation, I mean their attitude towards learning as an endeavor. Early on, we should try to present the whole business of learning as an adventure, a way to open their eyes to a world of possibilities for them.

For example, a three-year old child can be made to understand that a school is a place where every child can meet other children while learning how to read and write. Just this kind of introduction to the concept of school gives him positive thoughts about the place where he will get his first taste of formal education. This should get him excited over school.

This love for learning can also be developed at every opportunity that we are with our little ones. Anywhere we go, we can make it a point to teach them something new. For example, a trip to the supermarket can be a session to teach them about the terms used for different kinds of meat, or the different food groups, or even shapes and colors.

It is important to assess each of the children to learn their unique inclinations and interests. Knowing these, we should be able to know how to approach the subject of cultivating the love for learning and actually imparting knowledge to them.

Of course, this endeavor to educate our kids in “Mommy Academy” requires time and resources, though not necessarily expensive. It is advisable to set aside a monthly budget for the purpose, but do an activity or purchase an educational material every other month. For example, you can set aside a few bucks for this month and then add it for next month’s budget to be able to afford a trip to a historical site or something like that.

Some suggested ways to educate our kids are the following:

- Through educational software or toys
- A once- or twice-a-year trip to someplace big like a big museum or a historical site would be nice.
- Spending an hour or so in the local library at least one weekend a month

There are a lot of other ways to educate our kids our own way. Even for holidays, we can prepare a simple brief about every destination for all the kids to read about prior to departure so that they will gain knowledge about the places they have been.

The knowledge they gain from these kinds of exposure will stay with them because they gained them while they were enjoying with the whole family.