Keeping Up With New Skills
AdventureDad | April 23Both my kids go to day care part time and I’m always surprised of how much they learn. This is often learning that I become aware of way after it has taken place. Does this ever happen to you? I go to great length not to approach day care as storage facility for the children by communicating with teachers on a daily basis. But there is still so much progress I fail to catch.
This delay in learning is quite comical at times when I chat with teachers and proudly tell them what my son has managed to learn at home. “Daniel counted to 20 in English yesterday”! I might tell his teacher. “That’s great, but he did that two months ago and he can manage up to hundred now….” is a typical reply. Or perhaps he made his first nice drawing, spelled his name by himself, learned how to peel potatoes, or dress himself from top to toe. I’m usually late in learning about these things too. I’ve also realized that he sometimes is a little evil, in a funny and cute way, since he fails to admit just how much he’s learned.
He might not tell me he can zip up the jacket or tie his shoes. It’s much nicer when daddy does it for him. He can cut meat by himself by prefers daddy doing it. Salad or celery is no good at home until I find out that’s he eats a whole bowl at day care. I wonder what parents do that take little interest in what goes on at school? If I sometimes feel a little behind, these parents must really struggle in picking the right activities since they have no idea where the current level of knowledge is. What’s appropriate, ask child to count to 5 or have him read a book?
I’m not bringing this stuff to complain about day care. I couldn’t be happier with our teachers and how they handle the kids. I’ve spent many days together with the kids at school and know the teachers do a great job. It’s more about curiosity and how to make parenting a little easier less difficult.
How do you handle these situations. Communicate through email, text messages, verbally for minutes each day, on a weekly basis, or only during parent/ teacher meetings? Or do you just go with the flow and see what happens at home? How do you keep up with all the fast learning?
this is happening to us as you blog this article. Erik has moved into the 2 year old class and all we get is a 2×4 note about the times he did potty and not much else. It drives me up the wall.. and he does seem to be learning a lot at the day care.
Chhimi
this is happening to us as you blog this article. Erik has moved into the 2 year old class and all we get is a 2×4 note about the times he did potty and not much else. It drives me up the wall.. and he does seem to be learning a lot at the day care.
Chhimi
this is happening to us as you blog this article. Erik has moved into the 2 year old class and all we get is a 2×4 note about the times he did potty and not much else. It drives me up the wall.. and he does seem to be learning a lot at the day care.
Chhimi
Happens to me all the time. Our daycare is an in-home setting and the owner is more grandmother than anything else (they even call her “Nana”) When I go pick up my son, he’s usually not done playing just yet, so Nana and I sit around and gossip, and she tells me battle-stories from the day. I’m a first-time parent and my parents live far away so it’s like having my folks nearby, but since I pay her, she usually keeps the snide comments to herself! :-) Consequently she’s always letting me know about these little breakthroughs. Doesn’t matter though, because on lots of occasions, the little bugger plays dumb when I try to get him to re-create the magic for mom at home. Sigh. The trials of a working-parent!
I thank the Lord for our teachers at daycare; they do wonders with our kids. In some of the earlier classes, we found that our kids were doing things at home faster than they were showing them at daycare. Not sure if that was because the teachers are so busy changing diapers and keeping random things out of kids’ mouths not notice, or what. But in the later classes (MLI is four now), he learned to count and do ABC’s far faster than our small amount of home teaching would warrant, so I know they drill them there.
Plus, you can’t underestimate the power of competition among ones peers. My kids will do things with their friends that I could never get them to do on my own.