Teachable Moments Parents Families.com

One of the reasons I feel Tyler is so smart at such a young age is because he has a thirst for knowledge. When he was a baby he was alert, watching everything I did, taking notes and sucking everything in like a sponge. Although I’ve taught him myself most of his life, I’ve never spent much time with flashcards and Baby Einstein videos. Instead, I’ve used a lot of “teachable moments”.

Teachable moments involves no lecturing, or boring monologues. They can happen at home, while driving in the car, while standing in line at the bank– anywhere, in fact. Here’s two examples. One day about two years ago, Tyler and I were standing in line at the bank when he asked me what, “FDIC” meant. I explained as simply as I could what it meant. On another occasion, about four months later , we were looking at a downed tree when I asked him if he knew what the rings meant. He didn’t so I went on to explain what they meant. Teachable moments.

Teachable moments are simply a way to communicate knowledge to your child in a non-threatening manner. I find that Tyler retains this information better than if I sit down and teach and then quiz him.

Every single time he asks me a question, I answer it or tell him I don’t know but will find out and get back with him later. I hate to hear parents tell kids to “go on” or “why do you need to know that?”. Nothing kills a child’s curiosity more than feeling like they’re bothering adults with their questions. I believe this is the reason many would-be gifted kids end up average students. Or worse, getting failing grades.

I have never made Tyler feel that way and I believe this accounts for his present academic success. He has a naturally curious mind and I try to feed it as much as possible. And it’s also been a great learning experience for me. Every time I have to look up some fact in order to answer a question that Tyler posed that I didn’t know, that’s another opportunity for me to learn something new. What I love is when he comes back to me weeks later and talks about something that he learned during a teachable moment.

The good thing about teachable moments is you don’t have to look hard for them, numerous teachable moments exist as you go about your day-to-day activities.