Lessons At Home | Value Bookshop's Reading Notes

The last few weeks, I’ve tried to incorporate more impromptu lessons into my children’s lives. I sometimes forget that they have not yet acquire much of the knowledge that has become automatic common sense to me. With that kind of mindset, there are actually many, many things we can teach our children informally. Here are a few examples:

Example 1: Physics
(My son playing with the bouncing net a.k.a. “sarong”)
DS: Mommy, why when baby is not in the sarong, I cannot bounce it?
Mommy: That’s because it needs something heavy to pull at the springs on top.
DS: Oooooh. I see.

Example 2: Chemistry
(My son thinking he is doing a good deed for his baby brother, washed a battery operated toy)
DS: Mommy, this toy cannot work properly already. See, the sound like going to die.
Mommy (screaming): Why you wash this???? It’s got batteries inside. Of course cannot wash lah.
… after Mommy calms down
Mommy: D, I know you were trying to help but we cannot wash battery operated toys okay? The battery is like electricity for the toy to work. Water and electricity cannot mix.

Example 3: Road Safety
(Sitting in the car with my girl)
Mommy: See, so many cars on the road.
DD: Yes, must drive carefully right?
Mommy: Yes, anytime you are on the road, it is dangerous. See, if you want to go left or right, you must turn on your signal (indicator light). See, like that car in front. He wants to go right, so he puts on his signal. Can you see the light blinking?
DD: Oooooh, so when you put on the signal, the light at the back will blink.
Mommy: Yes, the light in front also.

Example 4: Health
(Mommy reading the news on the computer and DD standing nearby checking out what Mommy is doing)
Mommy: See this? It’s about a girl who at first didn’t want to smoke cigarettes, but all her friends were smoking so she started to wonder if she was missing out on some fun. So she decided to try and you know what happened?
DD: What?
Mommy: She coughed and coughed and became sick the next few days. She also felt like vomiting. After that she vowed never to touch cigarettes again. See here? She says she doesn’t want to breathe poison into her body. Want to see what happens to your lung when you smoke?
(Mommy finds some images through google)
Mommy: (Pointing to the black colored lung). That’s is what your lung will look like.
(Pointing to the healthy lung). That’s a good lung. Which one you want?
DD: Damus seeee… if you smoke your lung will be black like that.
Mommy: So next time if you have friends who ask you to smoke, you know what to do right?

Example 5: Domestic Skills
(DS is washing his cup. He is just holding the cup under running water.)
Mommy: That’s not going to get the cup clean lah. (Ding ding! Light goes on in my head that I’ve not actually taught him how to wash a cup). You have to use your hand and rub it like this.
DS: Like that ah Mommy? (Trying to do what I had shown him)
Mommy: Yes, good. Now turn off the water. You don’t need that much water to wash a small cup.

Example 6: Health
(Trying to get the children to drink more water instead of sweet drinks)
Mommy: Too much sugar is no good for you, you know? You might get diabetes next time. You know what is diabetes?
DD: No. What is diabetes?
Mommy: People who have too much sugar in their blood. Then it cause them problems like they can go blind. Also, when they have a cut, their wound cannot heal so easily like yours now.

These are just some of the stuff that I can remember telling them.
So anyway, the point of this blog is:
Be on the alert for things or situations that may prompt opportunities for learning. They are all around us.