How Do You Instill a Love of Learning in Your Child?

This week's TOS Crew Blog Cruise question is: "How Do You Instill a Love of Learning in Your Child?" I allow my children opportunities to learn about what interests them, and this absolutely helps instill a love of learning in them. For instance, my son LOVES nature! He loves anything that creeps, crawls, flies, or slithers. We have made various bird feeders, caught all kinds of insects and amphibians, and made habitats together. He is MUCH more likely to write about stuff he's interested in. Also, if you call something a field journal instead of a writing assignment or report, he will have a better attitude and much more success. It is no secret that my little man does not like to hold a pencil and WRITE! He'll sketch and draw though, go out and get his hands dirty, and talk your leg off about what he's learning (oral narration)! We are slowly doing more and more written narration with him, and written narration is always much more successful if I allow him opportunities to learn about what he loves.

For several months now, I have been talking to the children about what we're calling our "Summer Projects." Right now, my 7-year-old daughter wants her project to be all about butterflies. My 8-year-old son is having a hard time narrowing down his project, so I am gently encouraging him to focus on insects, reptiles, and amphibians (not the entire animal kingdom). I tell ya, I will NOT be surprised if this kid is a zoologist one day!

I believe these Summer Projects will help instill in them a love of learning. They have chosen their topics, and they will be given opportunities through nature hikes, library books, nature journals, and anything and everything we can think of to learn. They will read, write, and draw about everything they learn this Summer! I am getting more excited as I type this out!

You can check out more answers to this question by clicking over the TOS Crew Blog Cruise Page!