What are we doing to our children?
An example of the trend is for parents to think that their children MUST be entertained every second of the day especially when traveling. “We are taking a five hour automobile or plane ride and we need to buy a DVD player so that or child can watch movies for the entire plane ride.” Some of the other passengers may be pleased with this decision but is it good for the child. Children need to experience what is going on around them as part of their learning experience. Watching the clouds or just watching all of the people on an aircraft can be part of the overall education of a child. On an automobile trip why not look at the area where you are traveling. Can a child be taught through doing simple games? A game such as counting some specific object such as horses or cows while in the country, counting signs or some specific type of store. “That is the 96th donut store we have passed in the last hour” Then again the alphabet game can be a fun time even for adults. You can try to find in alphabetic order the entire alphabet using the first letter of words on signs. It may be distracting the child and making the time in the car go faster, but it also gives some practice on the use of the alphabet and it gives some practice making the child more aware of their surroundings.
Use travel as a way to educate and not just a dull time getting to your favorite amusement park or to see relatives. Let us all try to learn as we go through life. This will add to the lives of the adults and the children.
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