“Grandma is Everywhere!”
“Your oldest grandson just exclaimed, ‘Grandma is everywhere! I can’t be anywhere, look anywhere, or do anything without Grandma there asking me questions!’”
I had to smile when my husband shared that comment with me. I thought to myself with pride, I’m doing just exactly what I’m supposed to be doing.
Want to know how I have the capabilities to be anywhere and everywhere? Read on!
First, let’s remember this important fact: our time spent with our children is extremely important! In just the first three years of life they lay the foundations for comprehending the world around them. Their environment affects their lifetime of learning.
Memory; language development; self-awareness; emotions; cause and effect; understanding past, present, future; drawing conclusions; sequencing; understanding consequences for behavior; and much, much more learning takes place from birth to 36 months.
Still curious to find out how I can be everywhere?
Think back for a moment to my last blog posts about Bloom’s Taxonomy and questioning strategies that help our kids develop deeper understanding of their world and what they are learning.
I love asking questions that stimulates their thinking at all levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. I love asking questions no matter where we are or what we are doing. I love asking questions!
I love seeing the excitement and joy of learning in children’s eyes! I love the surprise and pleasure that beams from their faces when they realize they understand something new with deeper understanding.
Why did my grandson exclaim in exasperation to Grandpa, “Grandma is everywhere”? It’s all because “Once a teacher; always a teacher!” and because understanding Bloom’s Taxonomy and how to ask questions to elicit different levels of thinking is a gift we need to give to all our children.
When we understand how to ask questions that guide our interactions with our children throughout our day, our children will think beyond what is right in front of them. We will experience that awesome feeling of watching their eyes sparkle and their faces beam, as they understand their world better.
I’ll share some examples of me “being everywhere” that demonstrate how Bloom’s Taxonomy can play out in our day-to-day lives:
At home: Once I cut apart a disposable diaper and put the polymers from inside the diaper into an opaque cup. Later, I asked my grandsons to come in the kitchen with me to get a drink of water. I filled the cup holding the polymers with water and then pretended to lose my balance and dump the cup over my oldest grandson’s head. Of course, he was shocked when no water spilled out onto his head and he immediately began to ask questions about where the water was since he had just watched me fill the cup. I ran with his questions (How did that happen? Where is the water? etc.). His questions led to research and more questions from me, such as, “Why is it wonderful to have polymers in diapers?”
At the store: I ask questions that get my grandboys to think about what is around them—questions that get them exploring their surroundings, such as: “What is that thing? What does the sign say it is? (For example, an eggplant.) What shape is it? Could it be a combination of shapes? What food group is it in? Would you like to taste it? Let’s find recipes for this when we get home. Do you think we can eat it raw or should we cook it? Maybe both?”
“Maybe dip it in a dip!” exclaimed my youngest grandson. He’s always game for trying something new.
Hiking in the mountains: Wow, that tree is growing right out of that boulder! How in the world could it do that? I thought plants needed to grow in soil.
At home: Why does the wooden front door open into the house? Why does the screen door open out from the house?
At school: Why do we have to walk on the right side of the hallway?
In an auditorium: Last fall my oldest grandson and I were waiting for his seventh-grade friends’ play to begin. He was excited about what he was learning in his beginning physics class. (And I was excited about the teachable moment!) I asked him to find examples of pulleys as we looked around the auditorium. I asked him to imagine what was behind the curtain.
I then asked him why he thought the hanging amplifiers were tilted in different directions. He looked at me not wanting to answer another question, but just as he said, “Grandma, . . . “, the curtain began to rise. I whispered, “We’ll have to talk about that later.”
He really was “saved by the bell”! Although we never did get back to discussing that topic that evening, you’d better believe that I got him thinking about it. It was only a matter of time before he dropped by at the end of a school day and said, “Grandma, remember when we were talking about the hanging amplifiers in the auditorium at my friends’ play? Well, I’ve been thinking . . . “
When traveling: My husband and I asked our then 21-year-old daughter to go on a vacation with us. There was a long pause. “Okay, but . . . “
“But what?” I asked.
“I’ll go under one condition. “
“What condition?” I queried.
“That we do not visit any museums and there are no teachable moments!”
“WHAT?????
No teachable moments!?!?
How can you have a vacation without teachable moments?”
I now have a 3-year-old granddaughter. We are having so, so, SO much fun discovering, learning and questioning! The possibilities are endless, and the learning is exhilarating! Her eyes sparkle as she gathers each morsel of knowledge and understanding of the world around her.
My grandchildren (and children) may not always want to answer my questions, but I always want to be asking them. It’s an important part of being a parent, grandparent and teacher.
We are guiding those we love to be critical thinkers in all parts of their lives using all of their natural abilities of thinking. It is a wonderful gift to give our children, grandchildren and students.
If you are questioning whether someone in your life is dyslexic and you’re not sure what to do, feel free to contact us.