Learning, Life, and Intentionality

As a homeschooling family, we naturally see every moment as a learning opportunity. We know that lessons in life go beyond facts, numbers, and the classroom.

So when I listened to my friend describe her sons' recent playdates, I shook my head. The problem wasn't that her sons' friends were wild and undisciplined; rather, their friends were bored! They asked to play video games and Wii, and when my friend told them, "We don't have any of those… there's plenty of others things to play," the boys didn't know what to do. They sat on the couch and announced, "I'm bored!"

How sad, to hear that elementary-age boys don't know how to play anymore. And we analyze and criticize video games, arguing that they are too violent or too sedentary, but forgetting that there are many, many lessons that children are not learning while they sit in front of a screen. Social interaction, body awareness, and creativity are just the tip of the iceberg.

Take phones and games at the dinner table. In order to quiet a child at a restaurant, a parent offers a game once. Then, because the child asks again, and because it's easy, the parents offers it again, until it becomes the norm. Go to a restaurant equals playing on the phone. The child is missing out on family interaction, of course, but what the child is also not learning is:

- manners

- patience
- self-control

- appreciation of those preparing and serving the food
- understanding of the time it takes to prepare food

- listening and responding in conversation

- boundaries

- social rules

- awareness of people
- care of people
- value of people

Every time our family sits down to eat, life lessons are being reinforced. It may seem tiring to live so intentionally, but that is what godly parenting must be (and godly living too!). So parents, think twice before you say "yes" to phones, video games, and TV. In a world where 'Google' has become a verb and soon even your toothbrush can come with an 'app', it is important to be intentional. Don't forget that every moment is significant and that the little things add up and make a difference.