Learning by observation

It is no secret that homeschooling is sometimes difficult with a toddler running around. But, is she really just running around or is she actually soaking up much of the information being taught? My little Maggie can usually be found at the kitchen sink playing in the water, passing water from cup to cup, or painting at her little table while Annie and I are doing a lesson. She's also usually singing or talking to herself during these activities. Although I've always known it to be true, it never really hit me until a couple of days ago. Children learn by observation. I mean, really learn. Watching and listening to what others do is an important way for them to gain knowledge. Children learn from watching and imitating their parents and siblings especially. Observation is a strong force in gaining knowledge. The reason I bring this up is because of what happened a couple of evenings ago. My husband, was asking Annie about the different vowel sounds we have been learning. He asked her what the short vowel A says, and before she could answer Maggie immediately told him, "a, a, a, a, a". The same thing happened with the short vowel O sound that we reviewed yesterday. It blew my mind that my 24 month old sweetie was really listening and soaking in the information that I was focusing on with Annie.

Observation is a powerful way to gain knowledge. It is also very subtle, as you pick things up you may not even think about.