Day 65: What Adults Can Learn From Kids

"To show you care, you listen." -Adora Svitak

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Each day at school, I get a reminder of why I wanted to be an educator.  Kids are amazing people with endlessly fascinating thoughts and ideas.  I feel that part of our job as teachers and parents is to give kids a chance to share their ideas and to help them find a way to creatively work out what's on their mind.

There are times, however, when we forget this notion that kids can teach us something different about an idea or concept we thought we knew so well.  I'd like to think that most of the time it's not totally our fault.  Our lives are busy, we have other things to get to, or we just don't have the time.  But is that really true every time your child comes up to you to share something they thought was interesting?  

How many times have we said, "Not right now" when our little one wanted to ask a question.  Yes, we do have that adult intuition of when a child is just seeking a little attention (usually when we are talking to another adult).  However, I know that I am guilty of sometimes saying "no" before I really thought about what a child might have to say.  

Check out this TED Talk by Adora Svitak.  I believe she is about 10 or 11 in this video.  What she has to say might help you pause for a second before saying "no" to your child and instead listen.