Learning from Life: Hurricanes and Drills
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Hurricanes. Cordless drills. Pop.
This is what’s in our world this week.
This is what’s on the mind of my middle schooler.
Real and relational learning.
Connection and application.
Motivation and retention.
The past week has found our family face-to-face with Hurricane Dorian preparation. There’s been forecasts and projections. Models and movement. It’s in our world and it matters to our children (even if we intentionally keep the television off to lessen possibilities of news overload).
What matters, sticks.
Enter Pop with a bag of drills he brought over in case we needed to board up. Our middle schooler bounced to the foyer. Not only because she admires her grandpa, but because he had something of interest. Drills!
Pop sensed her curiosity (one of the things we love about him). He immediately bent down, unzipped the bag and began telling her stories. As he pulled out each drill, he told her what he appreciated about the functions of the model and mentioned a few jobs it could complete. He talked about his bits and offered explanations of why each might be useful. Oh, and he mentioned the model big brother owned.
Real-life show and tell happened in my foyer.
It was real and relational.
Drills. They’ve been on her mind from the first mention of boards going on the windows. It’s been over for over 72 hours and she’s still pondering, researching, planning. Her learning journey included opportunities to
navigate the internet safely to find information
ponder other information resources (enter two uncles—each with construction expertise—and more relational moments)
conduct impromptu, informal interviews with uncles and more conversations with Pop at family dinner
build reading comprehension, skimming, and scanning skills
compare costs of drills (and the value of the accessories in combination sets)
compare the specifications and applications for drills, hammer drills, and mixers
research differences in voltage
review and compare measurements as related to bits (1/4, 3/8, 1/2, 5/8, and 3/4)
build vocabulary: lumens, mortar, thinset, ratchet, lithium, warranty, stud, joist, asset and torque (great Scrabble word!)
spell words related to her searches (there’s been a lot of “Mom, how do you spell?”)
use computation skills to figure out what’s in her savings and what she spent over the past months
predict what she may make in the future
ponder ways to gain needed income
Drills. They’re in my middle schooler’s world. They’re real and relational. She’s diving in and digging deep.
Her interest matters!
What’s in the world of your children or teens?
What matters to them?
Take time to ponder, observe, and listen.
Likely there’s learning—rich meaningful, memorable learning taking place. Don’t let it go unnoticed.
