A couple of years ago, my son started to ask a lot of questions about knives. Yes, that’s right – knives. He was pretty young at the time, so his fascination at first seemed peculiar to me. Every time I was cutting or chopping something in the kitchen, he would appear, asking me things like, “Is that really sharp?” “Can that hurt you?” “How did you learn how to use it?” “Can I hold it without touching the sharp part?” He was equally as fascinated by his dad’s pocket knives. I instinctively wanted to lock up all the knives in the house.
His questions persisted and it was so tempting to just say, “Stop!” I wanted to protect him from the dangers he could not perceive. I wanted to shield him from potential injuries and to try and avoid an accident. I didn’t want to believe that he could possibly have the motor control and awareness to wield this dangerous tool. Let’s face it, even I, as an adult in the kitchen with a knife, have done some serious damage to my own digits. However, at the same time, I recognized that his curiosity was genuine and that he really wanted to know how to use a knife and be safe at the same time.
To his delight, I found a kids cooking class offered by Katie Kimball of Kitchen Stewardship. In the class, she was teaching knife skills. I asked my son if he was interested and I thought he would just about fall over with excitement. We signed him up and he absolutely loved the class! Two years later and he can still remember important points from that class. He talks about the experience both fondly and proudly.
So why am I telling you all of this? Well, it’s because many times, especially in homeschooling or teaching, we say that we want our kids to explore things that interest them. We say that we want them to choose an area of interest to pursue. But when the thing or interest that they have chosen doesn’t seem to us to be interesting, academic, or worthwhile enough, we find ourselves trying to direct their attention elsewhere.
Well, what if we could find a way to support even the craziest of ideas? Sometimes I think our children (especially the older, more cynical ones) will only truly believe that we value their interests when we show genuine excitement about those interests that have nothing to do with us at all, or that we ourselves don’t even like. Unfortunately at times, we translate support and genuine excitement as taking over completely, inserting all of our own ideas, and directing the learning.
So what then does support really look like? It goes back to how we see our role as teachers and the image we have of the child as a learner. If we are the partners, observers, guides, mentors, and collaborators, rather than the transmitters of knowledge, the enforcers, and the sole experts, then how we respond to our children’s interests changes. Some psychologists and educators describe support as adding kindling to a fire, or knowing what not to do to kill it. You can’t necessarily control what ultimately happens to the fire, but you know how to fan its flames and on the contrary, how to snuff it out.
We worry about our children having worthwhile pursuits. However, we then send messages to the child that their interests are worth pursuing only when their “real work” gets done. A colleague of mine once pointed out that the ”Three R’s” (reading, writing, and arithmetic) were merely tools. They help us to access the things we really want to know or do. So if a child really has a genuine desire to learn something, they will figure out how to overcome obstacles that stand in the way. They will learn new words. They will seek out resources. They will figure out how to measure, make close observations, jot down notes, or multiply numbers because it’s a means to an end.
Sometimes we fail to see that true learning can happen beyond the parameters of traditional school disciplines. As educators, we need to get better and better at seeing the interconnectedness of different areas of learning. Instead of thinking, “Because my child is interested in X, they will never learn Y,” we might begin to say, “How can she explore Y while engaging in X?” The connections are there if we are willing to see them.
When my daughter first expressed an interest in Littlest Pet Shop (created in the early 90’s, they are toy franchise that produce a variety of small animals), I wasn’t exactly sure of where the interest would lead. One day I openly discussed with her my thinking. I told her about some of the connections I saw between the crafting she was doing for her LPS toys and math (like scale and proportion, measurement, decimals and division). We discussed her fascination with rare collections and scripting scenes for animal plays, and the connection to writing descriptions, scenes, and character bios. We talked about animal science and pet care, the sociology behind authentic and imitation toys, and so much more! To my excitement, the conversation was just the kindling needed to inspire her to explore some of these avenues further!
You just never know what other pursuits or learning journeys will stem from that original interest. In the case of my son, his confidence with a knife that he built in that cooking class lead to many more interesting endeavors with a knife, like whittling his own wood to create a bow and arrow while studying Native American history. He learned about other Powhatan weaponry too.
So before you say, “No!” to knives, or some other messy, expensive, silly, or far-fetched idea, consider your role in the learning process! Ask yourself where is the learning? Evaluate your own reservations against your child’s interest. You just might be surprised by the path this learning journey will take!
