Recently my daughter hopped in the car and said "Mommy, I am so excited we don't have to bring anything to school tomorrow because we aren't going to be doing any learning!" Well, it was the day before winter break and I guess you can imagine the expression that came upon my face as I quickly responded, " You never take a break from learning!" Of course, my husband, being his little girl's saving grace, tried to recover for her and said calm down "teaching mommy", she means formal learning. Although his response helped me to exhale and agree it also still disturbed me that my daughter spoke of learning as an isolated occurrence in her life that only happens during the school day. With this in mind, I began to explain to her that learning occurs everyday and in all her experiences. Then I began thinking, is the learning in school really so far removed from what children experience in their daily lives? If so, we as educators need to reevaluate our practices to be sure that our children can see the connection to what they are learning in school and how it relates to their daily lives. Only then will we, as teachers be able to help students to see that what they are learning does matter and everyday you are constantly learning, no matter where you are. Life is learning and just like you can't take a break from life,
you should never take a break from learning!
To keep learning ongoing and fun during the holidays, check out this
helpful site that offers great ideas to make learning both fun and relative!
