I’ve noticed my children ask different questions to their schooled peer group. Or, rather, I was surprised by the questions asked by some school kids I looked after recently. Whereas my kids tend to be full of ideas (too many sometimes – heehee), the visitors kept asking me ”What am I meant to do with this?” and “What does this do?” and “What’s this for?” I was intrigued that they turned to me for their answers instead of experimenting or coming up with their own posssible solutions. I was also surprised that once they had heard one answer, they were off. I guess I’ve got used to engaging in discussion rather than just question-n-answer-format. To be really honest, I shot questions back at those visiting children’s questions to encourage their own thinking, but on that one occasion I had three really good ideas spring to mind immediately, so decided just to tell them. They only heard the first one. All I can surmise is they thought that was THE answer and so there was no need to hear any more.

This is not to say that there are no good teachers in state schools or that government schools cannot teach children to use their imaginations. It’s just an observation of some interactions with some children that made me realise the *good* my own family is getting.

 (Sidenote: This post was a discipline post. I didn’t feel like writing. Just wanted to read. But I’m really keen to establish the habit of a daily paragraph or two, so I got that done first and am now going to curl up with Peter Rabbit and a little one who has just awoken!)