Monday, July 21, 2014

Kids and Current Events

Saturday afternoon sitting around the table at Grandparents drinking coffee and talking politics, religion, etc...when my oldest waits his turn sips some of his coffee, (half milk half coffee) and reply's..."well, I know one thing that plane that went down in Ukraine,  Russia better watch out, looks like their going to be in big trouble..." (yep. My 11 yr old talking current events.) I believe that's the joy of homeschooling they socialize with all ages, you all know what I mean...they can entertain the little ones, play with kids thier age or make profound statements in a grown conversation that u think they couldn't possibly understand. Anyway back to topic, if your like me, you tend to guard your children from the world, tend to change the channel from the news when the kids are around for fear of what may be said or heard? (Not easy to do when you have a husband who could happily watch CNN all day.) I come to realize, sheltering isn't always the answer, its taking time to have discussions with them, help them understand what's going on in the world around them, how to make good choices, make them decide how they can be part of the solution or part of the problem. I don't know about you but I love those discussion times with my kids, it's amazing to me what they are capable of understanding. I love watching the wheels turn in their heads and most importantly I  love that their thinking. In today's society we definitely need more thinkers, more people grounded in what they believe, those who know when it's time to take a stand and when to let it come to pass. We seem to live in a society that changes directions as the wind blows, and quite frankly I don't even think America as a whole knows which direction its going. Its our job to teach or children, not just academics, but about life in general about the world around them. I had a highschool economics teacher that used to make us watch the news each night and would quiz us on the topics the next day. At the time I hated it, could of cared less, I had better things to do...now, I completely understand what she was trying to prove. So, my question is, how much discussion time to you allow with your children, are current events used as important teaching tools, or would your children even be aware of the world around them?? Truth is we can't shelter them forever, but we can lead them, teach them, and guide them as they grow.

No comments:

Post a Comment