Lessons learned by bowling (yes, bowling)

Welcome to the September Carnival of Natural Parenting: We're all home schoolers

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have shared how their children learn at home as a natural part of their day. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

 

 Bowling fool.

I'll be honest.  I don't know the first thing about home-schooling or unschooling.  I have a vague idea of what those concepts are, but that's about it.  


What I do know is that whether I try or not, Hawk learns something.  Is that home- or unschooling?  Beats me, but I am hyper aware of it, nonetheless.  


When kids open their eyes each morning they see something, it gets processed, logged away, and utilized.  How could I possibly not be sensitive to this?


So, here's the way I approach our days together: something happens, I model some behavior, I watch how Hawk takes it, I tweak my approach if necessary, we move on.


For example, for Labor Day there was a $2 bowling special at Dart Bowl (great, right?).  We snagged a lane, laced up, got our balls and bumpers ready and started in.  I showed Hawk how to hold his special neon orange ball, where to stand, where not to stand, etc., and then stood back and let him do his thing.  

I was surprised at how fast he caught on.  We'd been standing around for about 20 minutes prior to getting our lane, so maybe he'd gotten it that way, I'm not sure, but still.  To be almost three and waiting his turn, following the rules, and being a cheerleader for everyone else was pretty impressive.

I talked to him about the pins, taught him about all the different parts of the lane (gutter, etc.), and we watched a diverse crowd of people laugh, scream, and shout all around us; little old ladies shivered under wraps, kids darted between arcades, and names were called over loud speakers.

The lesson here was many fold:

• 1) What happens when it's your turn and what happens when it's not?
• When it's your turn you get to grab a giant ball and fling it.  When it's not, you get to sit and root for the other players... or run amok.
• 2) What are the rules of the game itself?  How does that affect an almost 3 yo?
• You can't go past this magical line, nor can you move too far to the left or right of your own lane, lest you get knocked over by a bowling "athlete."
• 3) What's bowling etiquette?
• Apparently, you have to wait for someone next to you to either go or let you go.  
• 4) How much of what I'm saying is actually being absorbed by a tiny person with limited capabilities?
• There is *this much* space for listening, *this much* space for executing, and *this much* space for anything else.  After that its:
• 5) Ok, we've hit our max, let's go.

Our max was actually pretty amazing.  Picture this: it was our 8th frame, I think Hawk was beating both me and Rooster who had joined us for the outting.  He grabs his glowing orange ball, trots up to the lane line and tosses his ball.  He eagerly awaits its return from the tunnel, grabs it, confidently heads back to the lane and at the very last second, moves 4 feet to his left and throws a gutter ball in the neighbor's lane.

 Too bad we don't have pics of that glorious moment of lane-stealing.

Luckily the dudes (who were very serious about their game) were also really, really nice about it.  I ran and got their frame restarted while Hawk started throwing fits.  It was total system overload.

So, we left.  Happy with the 8 frames, happy with all that he accomplished that day; lo, downright proud of all that he'd done.

I think the lessons were many fold that afternoon.  Not sure he'd ever learn them in a classroom, per se, but he learned them anyway.  I'm glad I could be there for him. 

 

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Visit Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

(This list will be updated September 14 with all the carnival links.)

• A is for Apple {But right now it's more fun to pick apples!} — Kat at Loving {Almost} Every Moment has a four-year-old who wisely knows she must forgo the worksheets for now and do things with her mother if she's going to learn.
• Baby Talks — Amy at Anktangle talks, talks, talks all day long to her preverbal baby, about simple things and complexities. (@anktangle)
• Baby University: Little Man, My Teacher — The ArtsyMama shares how her relaxed and patient "teaching" at home resulted in a confident little one when she returned to work.
• Creating a Sensory Garden — A sensory garden has given Marita at Stuff With Thing and her girls practice in math, science, budgeting, fine motor skills, and more. (@leechbabe)
• Despite the Big Yellow Bus — Seonaid at The Practical Dilettante has surprised many friends by sending her kids off to mainstream schooling — but their learning doesn't stop there. (@seonaid_lee)
• Down on the Farm — Megan at Purple Dancing Dhalias describes the multitude of skills her children learn by homeschooling on a farm.
• Early Childhood Education — First Do No Harm — Laura at Laura's Blog provides an incredible list of tips to facilitate learning at home.
• Education Starts At Home — Luschka at Diary of a First Child was happy to realize that learning at home isn't limited to older children. (@lvano)
• Every Day Is A School Day — Summer at Finding Summer lists the ways her family learns in this poem of a post. (@summerminor)
• hands on — the grumbles at grumbles and grunts read her little one Sherlock Holmes in utero. She'll continue to make learning fun now that he's on this side of the womb. (@thegrumbles)
• Have a Happy Heart — Erica at ChildOrganics has days of poop on the couch and oatmeal down the pants when sending her children to school seems like the perfect solution — until she regains her perspective. (@childorganics)
• Home Sweet Home Schooling — Check out CurlyMonkey's Blog for a photo montage of how her kids are learning anatomy, architecture, and more — all at home. (@curlymonkey_)
• Homeschooling — My Needs? — Do you homeschool for the kids, or do you do it for you? Read some thoughts from Home Grown Families. (@momtosprouts)
• Homeschooling: A Way of Life — Kimberly at Homeschooling in Nova Scotia has children who meet learning with enthusiasm and are becoming self-sufficient at a young age. (@UsborneBooksCB)
• How We Homeschooled — Deb at Living Montessori Now details in retrospect how her two lifelong learners spent their homeschooling years. (@DebChitwood)
• Learning at Home With a Preschooler and Toddler — Need some inspiration? Michelle at The Parent Vortex shares her tips and resources for lifelong learning. (@TheParentVortex)
• Learning at Home: Are We All Homeschoolers? — Kristin at Intrepid Murmurings incorporates homeschool ideas even though she plans to send her kids to school. (@sunfrog)
• Learning From Life — Mamapoekie at Authentic Parenting doesn't even have to think about how her daughter learns. She just does it. (@mamapoekie)

• Learning Through Play — What better way to learn at home than through play? Dionna at Code Name: Mama lists the many ways children learn through play, whether they know it or not. (@CodeNameMama)
• Learning With Savoury Pikelets — Deb at Science@Home breaks down how cooking facilitates learning. (@ScienceMum)
• Lessons Learned by Bowling (Yes, Bowling) — What life lessons can you learn from bowling? Ask Jessica from This is Worthwhile. (@tisworthwhile)
• Life is learning, learning is life. — Kristin, guest posting at Janet Fraser — Where birth and feminism intersect, defends the truth that children are hardwired to learn. (@JoyousLearning)
• life learning... — Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children found that structured schooling is about teaching, whereas unschooling is about learning, and her family resonated with the latter.
• Live to Learn Together — RealMommy at True Confessions of a Real Mommy knows that children learn in all different styles, so only one-on-one attention can do the trick.
• Natural Parenting and the Working Mom — Jenny from Chronicles of a Nursing Mom shares how natural parenting in the Philippines — and learning at home — includes "yayas" (nannies). (@crazydigger)
• Not Back to School: How We Learn at Home — Denise at This Holistic Life has learned to describe what unschooling is, rather than what it isn't.
• Our Learning Curve — Andrea of Ella-Bean & Co. has a special bookshelf set up where her daughter can explore the world on her own terms.
• School at Our House — Where is learning happening at Kellie at Our Mindful Life's house? It is pouring all over the floor. It is digging down deep in the earth. It is everywhere!
• Schooling Three Little Piggies — Despite the mess and the chaos, Melissa at White Noise lets her children into the kitchen.
• SuperMom versus The Comic Books of Doom! — Mommy Soup at Cream of Mommy Soup realized that if "getting the kids to read" was the goal, it didn't matter what the kids read. (@mommysoup)
• The joy of learning at home — Heather at Life, Gluten Free has a daughter who sees magic in the stars and understands the honeybees. (@lifeglutenfree)
• those who can't teach — Do you need a superiority complex to homeschool? Stefanie at Very, Very Fine wonders.
• Too lazy to unschool? — If unschoolers aren't lazy, Lauren at Hobo Mama wonders if she's too lazy to live her dream of free-form education. (@Hobo_Mama)
• Unschooling the School of Me — Rachael at The Variegated Life considers what she's teaching her son about work as a work-at-home mother — and the extreme work ethic she doesn't want him to emulate. (@RachaelNevins)
• What We Do All Day — Alison at BluebirdMama discovered that it's easier than she thought it would be to quantify how her child learns all day. (@childbearing)
• Who taught that kid ‘exoskeleton’? — Nervous about how you will facilitate learning at home? Don't be - they will absorb things on their own! Joni Rae at Tales of a Kitchen Witch Momma shares her story. (@kitchenwitch)