Learning Moments

Each day there are moments in our lives where we can learn something. A childs life is no different. For a child everything is new, to be explored, a question with in a question, and interesting. An example of a learning moment would be today at lunch; a child was looking at me closely, studying me. After I while I asked if they were OK or needed something. The reply reminded me of how much we have to learn out there and how much we can teach our kids.


I was asked why some skin on my shoulder was pink, it wasn't pink last week. I replied that it was pink because I didn't put enough sunscreen on yesterday at the pool. A moment passed and the next statement was, "Mrs. Abby you know that you have to have sunscreen on outside"! I stifled a laugh, because the child was pointing out how I didn't follow my own rules and I didn't want the child to think I was laughing at them. I said you are right and now my skin is pink and burnt by the sun so it hurts a little. Another moment of thought, "The sun can burn you like fire or the stove?", (we had talked about the stove last week). I replied yes it could and that if you’re not careful you can get sick from too much sun or burnt and it can make your skin older faster, but if you’re careful, then you can have fun in the sun without being burnt or getting sick. The child sighed, then shook their head and asked if I would survive the burn. Making sure to remain as serious as the child, I said my burn wasn't bad and I would be just fine once it healed. I was informed that this was good because I needed to help them with their letters later.

In this moment there was a learning moment for not just the child, but for me and the other kids around. They got to learn, be reminded of, why it’s important to use sunscreen and be careful in the sun. They got to explore feelings of concern, relief, and (in their own way) rationalization of why it would be bad if I were not able to be there with them. I got to be reminded to be more aware of caring for myself and being careful in the sun. The other kids got to listen and go through the same moments of the child asking questions and learn that it is good manners to let someone speak and not interrupt or they could miss something. A simple question because of a simple mistake that I made created a half hour of learning for everyone involved. Everything can teach something. It sometimes just takes the realization of the possibility for a lesson to be learned and a question to get the ball rolling! I challenge you to learn something new today, if you don't learn something completely at least open yourself to a new question and work to find the answer. In closing, maybe we could all learn from children and look at things with questions, then find the answers.

Abby