Setting an academic example for your kids

[Bang!Zoom!]

Is this a part of your lives? How do you involve them beyond teaching/receiving..

 

Do your children watch you study something academic?

 

Do you think it has an impact?

[momma aimee]

:lurk5:

[Halcyon]

I study Latin. i study chinese medicine as part of my continuing ed as an acupuncturist. I read the newspaper and non-fiction constantly, and dicuss it with them and with DH.

 

I am starting some Coursera courses too! history of the world starts in 12 days! I do think it helps them to see learning as lifelong, and fun, and something pleasurable.

Edited September 5, 2012 by Halcyon

[Heidi]

They see me staring at the computer screen. When they start talking I say, "SHHHhhhhhhhhhh... I'm reading! I'm trying to learn stuff!"

 

Does that count?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:lol:

 

I do read and study books/subjects I feel are important. yes, I think it will have an impact eventually.

[ErinE]

We watch documentaries together as a family. It warmed my heart when my dd got excited about Brian Greene on PBS...

 

I read a lot. Fiction on Kindle, but non-fiction is physical books. DH and I talk about what we read often.

 

I also enjoy math and logic puzzles. I'm still working my way through AOPS Volume I.

 

We also try to research interesting field trips and museums. An often heard phrase in our house, "I don't know, let's go find out more."

[EducationX2]

Well, I'm a full time college student, soon to be graduate student, then (hopefully...... :D) history professor. Academics pretty much dominate our lives. :lol: DD sees me go off to class a couple times a week, see me doing homework every day, and often accompanies me to campus for meetings and cultural events.

 

Beyond my school work, she also sees me reading in my free time, and together we pursue "academic" hobbies like chess and visiting museums and other such field trips.

 

And we are constantly discussing new ideas, asking why, or how, or looking things up. Google is our best friend. :lol:

 

DD is a very curious child. Maybe she'd be like this anyway, or maybe she is like this because of her environment, who knows. :tongue_smilie:I hope she'll continue to be curious and interested in learning new things for the sake of learning, and I hope she'll continue to see the college community as a benefit and cultural enrichment to our lives, and not rebel from it.

[LibraryLover]

I don't know how well I/we have done. Some children pick it up better than others. Dh and I are always trying to talk about life, literature, politics, making connections, and trying to help our children see that everything that seems new is almost always old.

 

We also have quotes & printouts taped about the house.

 

We are talkers, so I hope that helps.

Edited September 6, 2012 by LibraryLover

[laughing lioness]

dh and I have earned several grad degrees during the time we've had kids. We study continually; we read incessently.

All of our kids are readers (at least our oldest was till she went to college- now she's more of a viewer). I think it has an impact, but it's no guarantee that they will choose the life we have, be the degree seekers that we've been, etc. For one, the cost is different- much, much different and the benefits are different.

[Joker]

We are often talking life, politics, and literature. We are always trying to make connections.

 

I don't know how well I/we have done. Some children pick it up better than others. Dh and I are always trying to talk about life, literature, politics, and are always trying to help our children see that everything that seems new is old.

 

We also have quotes & printouts taped about the house.

 

We are talkers, so I hope that helps.

 

This is us. Just tonight, older dd had a lot of questions and thoughts on politics while watching the convention. Their take on things usually lead to very interesting conversations.

 

As far as actual reading and self-educating go, I have gone back to school and we all read a lot. They find my desire for school now interesting, but it doesn't lead to a lot of great dialogue like just talking about everyday things does.

[Mommyof4ks]

We are often talking life, politics, and literature. We are always trying to make connections.

 

I don't know how well I/we have done. Some children pick it up better than others. Dh and I are always trying to talk about life, literature, politics, and are always trying to help our children see that everything that seems new is old.

 

We also have quotes & printouts taped about the house.

 

We are talkers, so I hope that helps.

 

We do this too, and we have our kids go with us when we learn anything new. IMO it is important for our kids to see us learning all sorts of things. We all learned to kayak a few weeks ago, rock climb, and now dh and I are taking dance lessons and the kids watch there and practice with us at home.

[melmichigan]

We own four Kindles and always have no less than 100+ books out of the library at a time. I have been a reader my entire adult life and I love that my kids have found that same excitement about books.

 

We watch documentaries and science shows all the time. The DVR is always full of educational shows.

 

I read and study almost every day so it has just become a normal part of life. Sunday I was struggling with Latin so the kids were my cheering section. Some days they quiz me. ;). I think that it helps that they see me doing these things, they see me struggle with some things, they see me doing homework even when I'd rather be doing something else. Math isn't my favorite but they see that I take the time with it. I have to learn the material too.

 

Halcyon- thanks for the reminder, I forgot that History was starting soon.

[WTMCassandra]

I dunno. I'm always studying something. Right now it's the U.N. Sigh. Not what I would study if I had to pick. But it's this year's debate topic. And I'm definitely studying how to do debating. They see that, I guess. I never thought about this much. I think I breathe studying, so I'm hoping they will catch it by osmosis.

 

I dunno if it has an impact. Since you know me IRL, you could quiz my children and see what they say. Would be interesting to see what they think when asked by someone other than Mom.

[Mrs.Gregg]

They see me study continue ed. topics for nursing and they learned the bones of the hands and feet when they were 2 and 5 when I was in nursing school. Dh has to take re-cert. for his job and they see him studing. But the biggest thing is they see us reading and trying new things. How to dye this, ways to cook that, organic gardening etc. I think most important is to show them that learning continues into adulthood.:lurk5:

[fairfarmhand]

I do read alot, and not just fun books. I like nonfiction just as well as fiction too. I like watching documentaries too. Dh and I took an art class a few years back and now we paint/draw together as a family. I like to look at art books too.

 

We also read challenging religious literature. dh and I have been working through some of C.S. Lewis's works/

[besroma]

DH and I both read and study our education, so our children see this.

 

DH continues to study and practice music.

 

I think this has a profound affect on them because, to them, it is normal to sit quietly and enjoy reading a book, studying for school, and working hard to improve their art and music skills.

 

I think this also applies to exercise, going outdoors, cooking, etc. Our kids enjoy what we enjoy (so far, anyway!).

[FaithManor]

Is this a part of your lives? How do you involve them beyond teaching/receiving..

 

Do your children watch you study something academic?

 

Do you think it has an impact?

 

 

Dh is building an HHO generator out of well, unusual parts that he's scraped together off ebay, to pop into an old Ford Taurus. He's testing to see if the science on increased fuel efficiency is sound and determined that Mythbusters did not adequately test their attempt at this so prematurely determined HHO generators were "myths". Now, he hasn't determined that they do increase fuel economy. He's just determined that there was some necessary testing that they didn't do. The kids have been watching the you-tube videos along side him and now the 12 year old is busy building his own HHO generator as a 4-H project so he can collect the gas in balloons and release it. However, he doesn't like using latex balloons becaue of environmental, and in particular animal, concerns so he's looking for a green friendly option. I'm not sure if he will find one or not. However, he can always use some of the chemistry glassware we have around to collect the gas. Meanwhile, I'm not allowing any candles to be lit in this house! :001_huh:

 

Dh, the mad professor, is always doing something like this in his spare time so I think he sets the standard.

 

One of the boys made a quilt after getting interested in my quilting hobby. They also know that I'm studying music theory again so that when they leave home, I'll be current in my knowledge and can take a grad school musicology course. It's not easy finding study time around here so I think they do get the picture that I try to make my own studies a priority as much as possible.

 

We tend to teach socratically around here, so they are used to a household in which just about everything ends up being a "lesson". I was teaching the 15 year old to do laundry the other day and asked him if he knew why I was adding borax. He didn't know and it ended up being a chemistry research project so he would understand WHY borax is an excellent laundry additive. Sometimes they get frustrated by these "side bars" since they do not feel like we give their brains any breaks - not true, they do get some computer game time to just vegetate and then there is family movie night and long bike rides plus read alouds - but mostly they are used to it!

 

DD's fiance is trying to get used to it. :D

 

Faith

[Night Elf]

Since their work got more challenging, around middle school, I've had an interest in learning alongside them rather than taking the role of teacher. I simply did not have the knowledge to just teach and I couldn't have pulled it off to pretend I knew what I was doing. They haven't always felt as interested as me in their work, but I've certainly talked to them a lot about taking an interest. I was also in college for a while and they saw me studying a great deal and they knew I was doing it just because I loved it.

 

To be honest, I think my kids will be like me. As a kid/teen, I had no interest in book learning of any kind. I didn't take an interest until well into my college experience when I started taking classes that excited me. Some classes like political science were just torture. Because of my experience, I don't get mad at the kids for not taking an interest in subjects they have to take and they hate. Not everyone will like every subject and I think it's rather silly to expect that of every student.

[Desert Rat]

We are a curious family. My boys watch us read. We enjoy documentaries. I love crosswords and sudoku. They also see us exercise. They are learning what adults should do to keep their minds and bodies fit.

 

This week, I started studying grammar with my 12yo. I decided that, despite 16 years of schooling 4 of which were in English, my grammar is very weak. We're doing the pretests this week. He thinks it's funny that I'm missing more than I should. It's good for his self-esteem. LOL

[elegantlion]

Is this a part of your lives? How do you involve them beyond teaching/receiving..

 

Do your children watch you study something academic?

 

Do you think it has an impact?

 

I study and have my own academic interests. I'm also studying with him on a few subjects, as in I told him we will learn this together.

 

I do think it makes a difference, as dh is not academic, he handy and can fix anything, build anything, but he's not a fan of book-learnin'.

 

So I am the example, I'm the one with a stack of books on my nightstand and only one is fiction. I go in spurts with classics and YA fiction, but I gravitate towards non-fiction. I'm not the greatest example of efficiency as I'm always poking at stuff, doing parts of something.

 

But, yes, I do see my self-education as an important part of his education. I try to budget for my own materials for school.

[laughing lioness]

After our house fire and our contractor was fired, we had ample time to involve our kids in learning. In the past 2 yrs they have learned to dry-wall, grout, tile, lay brick, inventory with precision, spakle, paint, build furniture etc right along with us.

My dh did not know how to tile a bathroom, but we knew how to find out how to tile a bathroom. As a result, our bathroom is tiled. The kids helped in that process. And they saw their Dad go through the process of learning something.

DS 17 was hired 3 weeks ago at $15/hr to help drywall a garage for a friend, because he already knew how. He came home telling us how to drywall faster - LOVE that! Now he is thinking that he could sub-contract to pay his way through college- so he is building a brick walk to add to his skills. Learning leads to more learning.