“What did you learn today?” is a common question most parents ask their kids when they get home from school. As a mom, I want my kids to learn as much as they can so they can grow and thrive. Kids go to school every day so that they can keep up with their curriculum, and it is a natural question to want to know what stuck with your child that day. Now I have a question for you: How often do you ask yourself the question, “what did you learn today?”.
As an adult, I love to learn new things. I really enjoyed most of my college classes where I was introduced to new material by professors who were great at teaching their topics. I miss being in a class setting, but still enjoy learning new things throughout my day.
My siblings and I were fortunate enough to grow up with parents who valued the importance of education and took it even further than just sending us off to school. They would take us to museums and historical sites. They encouraged us to read, and would take the time to sit down to read to us. Even when we were on summer break, I remember my mom saying at a certain time each day, that it was time to sit down and read our books. I was not a big fan of reading when I was younger, so I did not appreciate it as much back then. But looking back now, I really admire my parents for making that a priority for us.
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| This is me, reading to my nephews! These are the kids of my sister who loves to read 🙂 |
While I did not enjoy reading, my older sister loved it! I remember one summer, before going to bed, they pulled her aside, and told her if she wanted to stay up for an extra amount of time, she could, as long as she was reading. I remember finally being old enough to get that privilege as well, and I always looked forward to staying up a little later to read my book. Fast forward to life now, with three little ones, and I am lucky if I get the chance to sit down and read a little every day (I love to read now!).
Another thing my parents did for us to encourage us to learn was holding family meetings, where we each chose a topic, did some research on it, and presented it in front of the family and told them what we had learned. This all started when one of us had a question and asked my dad about it, and he told us that we should research it, and then present it once we found our answer to whatever question we had. This continued on for a long time and I really enjoyed these family meetings (even if a lot of the time, my siblings and I used it as an excuse to research dog breeds, in the hopes that my parents would get us a dog…it worked, but that’s another story!).
That is one of the great things about learning; usually whatever you learn about, you want to share with others. Learning something that excites you makes you happy, and you want to spread that happiness to others by sharing what you learned. I remember calling my parents in college and telling them about my classes and the topics we were covering that week. Even now, if I am reading a good book, or I learn that the weather for this week is going to be super nice, I end up messaging my family and tell them. We can all take the time to learn something new every day, even if it is just one thing, like the weather forecast, good news after a doctors appointment, or learning that your child knows a new word. The whole point of learning something new every day is to keep on growing and becoming a better person, and then to teach what we have learned to other people. Our coaches at the gym are constantly telling us that we need to keep trying to make ourselves better and offer extra class times every few weeks to really work on our forms for certain lifts. A few weeks ago, they held a seminar on how to improve on pull-ups and I learned a lot from it, even though I have been doing pull-ups since I started there 18 months ago.
Learning something new should be a priority for us, and it is up to us to find new ways to challenge ourselves in education. This is especially important in our faith. At mass every week, the priest gives a homily on the gospel readings, and usually I can find good lessons in the homilies and takeaway new information. Lately, however, it is difficult to pay attention to the homilies while trying to take care of three loud wiggle worms. This is where I am challenged to take it a step further so that I can keep growing in my faith.
When I attended the women’s retreat for the first time, I learned that I was a bare minimum catholic. I attended mass every week when I could make it and on holy days of obligation, and prayed before meals and before bedtime with my kids, but that was it. I was raised Catholic, attended Catholic school growing up, and thought I had learned everything I needed to know. That weekend really taught me about how to incorporate faith more in my life, instead of just meeting the minimum requirements. I am reminded of Matthew 25:14-30 The Parable of the Talents, where three men were given money to keep for a little while, and then were supposed to return it when their master asked for it. Two of the men had invested the money and gave their master back more than he had given them. One of the men, however, buried his money, and gave back the same amount to his master and was ridiculed. If we don’t make it a point to learn more about our faith, then it won’t grow. Our goal as Catholics should be to let the whole world know what we learn about our faith. If we just do the bare minimum we lose that excitement we get when we learn something new and want to share it with our friends and family, and just instead keep it to ourselves and it becomes more of a routine rather than a passion. There are so many ways to grow in our faith, and right now is the perfect time to start. Lent is a great opportunity to learn more about ourselves and grow closer to God. I try to get up early most days now so that I have some quiet time before the kids get up to sit down and read.
My parents still encourage us to learn more every day by sharing with us what books they are reading, or what projects they are taking on. My mom sent me an email the other day with a bible study that she is about to start. My sister is currently taking classes to get her masters. My husband is working on his masters as well. My husband’s grandmother loves to learn and takes classes online. My mom’s dad loved to learn and would read a lot. My kids watch my husband and I during the day and listen to us talk and pick up new words, or learn new things just from observing us! You are never too old or too young to learn something new; learning is for everyone. And make sure when you do learn something that fascinates you, share it with another person! You’ll never know who will find it fascinating too.
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| My kids, learning that the Washington Capitals National Hockey team is their favorite hockey team 😉 |
~Michelle
