Hello and welcome to Blooming Curious, the podcast
that's all about nurturing that natural curiosity
in our earliest kids and students. I'm Edwina,
your host from the Ed's Lessons blog, a passionate
advocate for play and inquiry and on a mission
to keep children curious and questioning. The
days of talk and chalk are over. We're diving
into the world of integrated, inquiry and nature
-based learning and exploring those strategies
that create lifelong learners. So if you're a
classroom or a homeschool educator or even a
curious parent, then this is the place for you.
So today's topic is going to be controversial.
But as you'll see, if you stick around, I'm going
to give you some ideas as alternatives to technology
to keep kids occupied when you need them to be.
You know, I see a bit on social media posted
often by older, more mature folks, often psychologists,
talking about the dangerous combination of technology
and young children. And then there's always the
inevitable backlash often from young parents
that just want to keep their kids busy and because
they need five minutes or they're busy. And times
have changed. I acknowledge that. Our lives are
busier, possibly busier than in the past, but
some might say, well, there's more pressure on
today than they used to be. And others might
say, well, that busyness has always been there.
If I think back in the past 23 years, my oldest
is 23. The first six months of my son's life,
I was lucky enough to spend at home with him.
And our days were filled with nursing and changing
nappies and tidying the house and getting the
laundry done and preparing food and all those
other mundane tasks. And for us, we lived in
a foreign country. My husband often worked away
from home and I had no family around to help
out. I was on my own. So at six months, I had
to go back to work. and I had to put this little
bundle into daycare and just about broke my heart
and it's something that haunts me to this day.
So there I was, a full -time working mum with
a six month old and we had no house help or family
around and we just got on with it. A friend of
mine and a colleague who at the time was a single
mum gave me a very important piece of advice
that I've never forgotten. And that was, give
your child your time. It's the most precious
thing you can give them. So from the moment that
I picked him up from nursery, and I always try
to get there as early as I possibly could, from
the moment I was there till the moment he went
to bed, I tried to be present for him because
it wasn't his fault that we were living in a
foreign country and that we'd bought a house
and we had to pay a mortgage. So I made him a
priority from the moment I picked him up till
that moment I laid him down to sleep. I remember
nursing my son and just sitting there studying
every square millimeter of that beautiful soft
face. I was in the moment with my child and there
was no smartphone to distract me. And I would
talk and I'd read to him long before he even
knew what a book was. And 17 months later, I
was on maternity leave again for the birth of
my second son. And luckily we were now transferred
and I didn't need to go back to work again until
the kids were much older and they were in elementary
school. And although it was a busy time, you
know what I didn't have? I didn't have a smartphone.
I know that might sound crazy to some people,
like how would I have coped? But you know what?
I think it freed me up to spend time with my
kids and I think it saved my sanity because I
could just be in the moment. I wasn't trying
to be with them and on the phone at the same
time. And you know, my husband and I were quite
old -fashioned in many ways. We have old -fashioned
values and they're still important to us and
we raised our kids with those values too and
they often didn't appreciate them as they were
growing up but now as young adults they understand
and they value them. things like table manners
and making eye contact when you speak to others,
saying please and thank you, working hard, taking
responsibility for your actions, not giving up
in the face of adversity. And all the things
that we oldies think are important, clean shoes,
dressing respectfully when you attend church,
these are the few of the rules or values that
we try to teach our kids. And these things now
are really difficult in a modern tech -driven
society. A society that so often, to me, appears
bereft of a moral compass. But we can't blame
technology for the lack of values or manners
that we so often see now. I mean, it's just an
object. But it's an object with an incredible
power over humans. Technology can be a wonderful
thing when it's used appropriately with children
and in front of children. I fought long and hard
against bringing video games into our home and
giving children smartphones. The battles were
sometimes loud and teary, but I'm glad I held
the line when I did. And of course, eventually,
even we felt we had to give in. And luckily,
this was only when the kids were in high school.
We were able to avoid the video games, except
for that first little handheld Nintendo when
they were in primary school. We managed to hold
off on smartphones and social media until they
were well into high school. But nowadays things
are different. Young kids have iPads and phones.
You're going to the shops and doctor surgeries
and you'll see young children playing on their
parents' phones and on their own iPads. Or as
I've seen so many times, kids playing up because
they're seeking attention while their parents
are swiping at a screen. And as an educator,
I find this a disturbing phenomenon. I understand
that kids get bored and restless. The question
we need to ask as parents is this. Is there a
better way? I'm not claiming to be a parenting
expert by any means, nor do I have all the answers.
But I do know that over the years of teaching,
children have become increasingly restless. Increasingly,
they struggle to focus. Increasingly, they have
difficulty socializing. And increasingly, their
reading and ability to express themselves verbally
have deteriorated. So as a curious educator,
I have to ask why? I have my own personal opinion
but I think perhaps we'll leave that for another
day. Instead, allow me to share this little trick
I used when my kids were young. I had a little
thing called a boredom buster bag. A small backpack
that contained an array of goodies that I kept
my kids occupied with whilst we were visiting
a friend or the doctor's office or on a flight
or anywhere really where they could get bored
or restless. Your boredom buster bag should contain
things that your kids enjoy and that are age
appropriate. The kind of things that you might
think about putting in are always a few of their
favorite books that you can read to them. If
they're old enough, they can read to themselves.
Their favorite soft toy, some of their favorite
toys or maybe they're animals or dollies or small
cars. Some colored pencils or crayons, a coloring
in book. If I think about how many kids now have
problems with holding a pencil, then seriously,
let's get out those colouring in -books. Some
blank pages or a sketchbook for drawing, a pack
of Go Fish cards or any playing cards like Yuno
or Happy Families, a small bag of Tic -Tac -Toe
or magnetic travel sets with snakes and ladders
or anything that's age appropriate, maybe even
a puzzle, some Lego or blocks, and of course
a snack and some water. So here's the plan. Instead
of giving the kids a screen, let's try and set
a good habit to have as little technology in
our young kids' hands as possible while they
are still young. Small kids don't need technology.
They just need us to look at them, talk to them,
and acknowledge them. The one thing that we parents
can do for our kids is to be present. That means
engaging with our children. Don't get me wrong.
I do think there are times that children need
to occupy themselves. That it's okay for them
to watch a TV show. We need to model and teach
children that it's okay to be bored at times
too. And it's okay not to be busy all the time
and to have something in your hands to occupy
with every moment of every day. It's okay to
be still or quiet sometimes. We do not need to
be entertaining our kids 100 % of the time. I
mean we'll go crazy if we do. Just remember that
children mimic our behaviour. When we show our
love and our enjoyment for nature or learning
or reading or playing games, drawing or colouring,
they will too. Keep them off devices as much
as you can when they are young and instead talk,
talk and then talk some more. As educators each
year we see young children with poorer and poorer
oral language skills. And of course, this means
that we must model this behaviour to our children.
This means that we need to be of our devices
too. So here's something to think about. If you
were trying to have a conversation with a friend
or a partner and they were preoccupied with something
else and not looking at you or acknowledging
you, how would that make you feel? Would you
feel heard? Would you feel respected? or loved
or valued. When our children are trying to engage
with us, we are ensuring that they feel heard,
respected, loved, and valued. These are the things
that the young kids I teach so often say to me.
My mom never listens. She's always on her phone.
Or when a kid hasn't practiced their reading
and their excuses, my mom was too busy on her
phone to read with me. And I go, what? Well,
I go, what in my head? Doesn't that just break
your heart? I swear, I'm not making this up.
And of course, we can't get away from technology.
It's here to stay. But we can put limits on it.
And we can model how to use it appropriately.
And I don't buy into that whole thing about,
well, kids need to know how to use it because
they use it in school. I mean, have you seen
how quickly a kid can figure out his or her way
around an iPad? or a TV remote or any kind of
digital device. It's unbelievable. So let's be
mindful and come up with creative ways that we
can keep our kids occupied in public spaces and
when we need to without resorting to a screen.
So what do you think about the board and buster
bag? It's going to be a hard sell if your kids
are used to screens already. But perhaps if you
do it with them and you're not on your phone,
it might be a little bit more palatable for them.
So let's try and be more present in the coming
weeks and see if it makes a little difference
in our lives and in the lives of our kids. So
that's all for today. Thanks for listening folks.
I hope you enjoyed this episode. And if you did,
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going. Thanks so much. Be sure to visit me at
bloomingcurious .com and listen out for a new
episode every Tuesday. And remember, Curiosity
isn't just a trait, it's a superpower. So until
next time, stay blooming curious!