Quality V. Quantity

Did you know that out of school time was just as important, if not more important than the time a child spends in school? Well it is!

I was recently impressed when at a highly reputable educational conference I saw mother's and father's with their children. The children were being children and the parents and conference attendees were okay with it. There was on-site child care for those participants who may have desired to attend sessions, or receptions or present without their children.

I thought to myself, "This is how it should be." If children are raised in a culture of life-long learning then school won't be likely to trip them up. I was impressed that these parents chose to expose their children to educational jargon, middle-class culture, research, discussions, and more at such an early age. In this setting children who attended could see that it was fun and cool to be smart. This was clearly demonstrated by the academia by day and party by night practices of the conference participants.

Parents who have children who are successful do several things: 1) craft their child's educational experiences (summer programs, extra-curricula activities), 2) take advantage of libraries and reading programs, 3)demand better interactions and educational experiences for their children and 4) build their children's cultural pride.

Time spent with your children in purposeful and meaningful interactions is important. If you really were to analyze the time you spend with your child (contact hours), would you be proud? Or is the only time you spend with your children functionally specific. Things like helping with homework, picking up/dropping off, supervision, feeding and bathing are all pretty functional. Of course if during these times you are choosing to read, have conversations, cuddling, and asking reflective questions then I guess it could be seen as purposeful and meaningful. My point is try to increase the quality of contact time with children by having fun!

Clearly, there are ways to have fun and learn at the same time.

Stay informed!