Einstein Never Used Flash Cards.....

Wow blogging two days in a row! I've sentenced myself to the couch today after terribly wrenching my back. I've only done this once before and it is miserable. As I picked Audrey up out of her crib this morning, I felt a twitch in my lower back on the left and an hour later when I bent down to pick up paint brushes, I could barely stand. I just called Chris to bring home some muscle relaxers. Ugggggggggggggg! Like I said yesterday, if it's not one thing, it's another.

If you know me as a mom, you will know that I am extremely passionate about child rearing! And as I always say "there is no right way to do things, you have to do what is best for you and your family", I'm still slightly opinionated (in my head). The girls and I were in Borders yesterday and I was not looking for a new book, but happened upon this one that I can't put down....Einstein Never Used Flash Cards. I LOVE every word that it has to say (so far). Basically it's premise is that children need to PLAY more and memorize less. We are a hurried society, over scheduling, rushing to this and that activity, spending every moment trying to stimulate, rather than sitting back and enjoying and discovering. And yes, I fall victim to this. I can think of many occasions where the girls were happily playing, pretending and learning, and I rushed them (unwillingly, with tears) out of the house to a "class" that they didn't care to attend. The book talks about lots of "teachable moments" and "discovering hidden skills" in your children, so you resist them temptation to enroll in every "enriching" activity and let them learn through fun. I already hear buzz about 3 year olds around here having tutors so that they can pass the enrollment exam for the Pre-K program at the private schools. That's just unneeded stress....on them and on the parents. At times I have felt overwhelmed because so and so is doing ballet and gymnastics and swimming....... My instincts have kept our classes at a relative minimum and I am once again reassured that emotional development is so important. We shouldn't put pressures on our children to be experts before they are capable... it only creates feelings of failure. After contemplating what I read last night, we stayed home this morning for 3 hours. I didn't take Audrey to My Gym because she cries and hates it. Instead we played... restaurant, babies at the doctor, dance instructor, water balloons in the bath..... And when the girls were picking out their dress-up clothes, Audrey said "Ella's dress is blue, I want orange." I didn't even know she really knew her colors. I've been too busy to sit down and "quiz" her. What I do know is that everyday living is learning right down to picking out what color Popsicle you want. And I'll get off my soap box now.