I should be reading. The house is (mostly) quiet. Hubby and baby are sleeping. Toddler woke me up when he crawled into bed at 8am this morning. He was content with cuddles for about 10 minutes, then he was ready to take on his little world. He asked for a cup of milk while I fixed breakfast and waited on brewing coffee. He brought his iPod to me, asking for it to be turned on. Early morning puzzles. This kid loves his puzzles as much as he loves his books. I meant to write this yesterday at the library, but I forgot the laptop when we left to get his haircut.
At two, he loves to go to the library. He makes a beeline straight for the train table and Lego table. He’s still content with mama picking out the books. It’s my current goal for us to read all of Eric Carle’s books. I’m sure we could do it in one fell swoop, but I like to spread them out. Sometimes, Punky picks some books. Yesterday, he saw a few Thomas books so we picked up three of them.
I hope I am fostering a love of reading in Punky and Ladybug. I don’t want them to ever feel that they HAVE to read because mama and daddy do. Books will always be easily accessible to them and library trips will be encouraged.
Hubby and I were talking education last night on the way home from my dad’s house. Kids in kindergarten now have to go in KNOWING what hubby and I LEARNED in kindergarten. It baffles me how those in charge of education departments (most of them never having set foot in a classroom as a teacher, only as a student) continue to force more and more standards down. Forcing things to be taught at a younger and younger age. Do some psychology study. Small minds are built to handle only so much at a time and aren’t able to comprehend stuff until certain ages.
In this world full of technology, I fear we are losing some of the simple pleasures and talents of life. A discussion with my mom and a few friends the other night brought a shocking thought to my mind. Cursive is rarely if ever taught in schools now because it isn’t a “tested subject.” First cursive, next printing? We live in an every increasing dependency on technology. It brought to mind the world in the Matched series where writing at all wasn’t taught. For being so technologically advanced, they were rather behind. Is that what we’re heading toward? Will my grandchildren learn to write in schools? Or will it last out until perhaps my great-great grandchildren? Education is precious as are the small minds in the education system. Someone in preschool will one day grow up to be president. I hope that education begins to flourish again so we aren’t one day ruled by someone absolutely ignorant. (No, I do NOT wish to start a political debate on current or past presidents and if comments are made to stir it up, they WILL be deleted.)
I love to read. My children currently love when we read to them. I know many children today don’t get that. All it is, is TV and video games. While I can, I will limit exposure to “technology.” To me, playing and reading are far superior than learning technology. Saying this, my son knew how to work our Kindle Fires at 9 months old… so there’s only so much I can do!
Now that I’ve gotten my mini rant off my chest, I’m going to get back to reading. The peace in this house will only last for so much longer. Plus we have company coming in for the weekend. It won’t be polite to keep my nose shoved in a book the whole weekend! (:
What are your feelings on technology and education? Do you want to keep it simple or do you think a complete technological takeover is the best way? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
The Whimsical Mama 