Baby University

We have enrolled Audrey in Baby University. You must be asking "What is that and who are the instructors?" Professor Dad and Mama teach a variety of courses. Just to name a few - Guitar Basics, Little Touch Leap Pad, and Baby Einstein. Here are some pictures from our brochure...







Professor Mama isn't a homeless person although you can't tell from her appearance. She sometimes arrives to class having just gotten out of bed. This behaviour is frowned upon and she has been warned.

As you can see we are trying to encourage early learning. Can't hurt really. Although the Sarcastic Journalist has referred to baby einstein as "baby crack" we received it as a gift and thought we'd see how she liked it. As you can see by the photo, she lay there on her Bobby Pillow and stared at it. So I think that means she liked it. Who am I to stand in her way? The following may be my reasons for trying to teach her so early.

I was a terrible student. I don't think I started that way. I always had the best of intentions. My kindergarten teacher was... not nice. I could be mean but I'll be diplomatic instead and try to look at it another way. She was very old and my class was the last she taught before she retired. One of the most memorable moments for me from that first year was when myself and another girl had dumped the classroom's books all over the floor during lunch when she wasn't around. At least that's how I remember it. Our punishment? She grabbed us one at a time by both shoulders and shook us. I can still remember my head flopping uncontrollably forwards and backwards. Perhaps that gave me mild brain damage and this explains my poor marks for the remainder of my years as a student. I look at my young niece who is about to start school this fall. I try to imagine shaking her that way. It makes me ill. At the time I didn't think anything of it. I had been bad and that was the consequence. Now I wonder what on earth she was doing teaching anyone, especially tiny young children if she so easily lost her temper.

Wow, this may be a long post. I have many theories on why I was a poor student. Besides the trauma I experienced in my first year, there was the ongoing torment by fellow students until I finally moved away from the small town I grew up in. I don't recall having problems until about grade 2 or 3 when math started to become very difficult for me. I'm sure my teachers tried their best, I even had someone work with me during recess with flashcards trying to burn multiplication into my brain. I would do the flashcards all week and then when I came back after the weekend – gone. It was as though I had never seen the cards before. The only ones that seemed to stick were the ones that rhymed. 6 x 6 = 36 Math was really my biggest problem. And since both of my parents had dropped out of school at an early age neither of them could really help. They also seemed to have no expectations of me. A 50% was almost as good as an 80% it really made very little difference. I remember wanting so badly to make them proud but once I realized it didn't matter either way I think I stopped trying.

Strangely enough in my grade twelve year I found myself in a bad situation. I had to pass every single class I was taking in order to graduate. I wasn't sure if I could pull it off. Not only did I pass everything but I pulled off some of the best marks I'd ever acheived and I won a scholarship awarded to the "most improved grade twelve student". Me. I was pissed. How depressing to discover my hidden potential after all these years. I only needed a little motivation! This was however, a turning point. I began hairstyling school that fall and TaeKwon Do shortly after that. I was very successful at both. I am now a very established hairstylist and a Second Degree Black Belt. I realized I had a specific learning style. I had to apply what I was learning. Traditional school does not recognize different learning styles. They require everyone to learn the same way. Sit, listen, learn. I learn by physically doing.

Now that I have Audrey it is very important to me that she doesn't have the same negative experiences that I had with school. I intend to pay attention to her interests, encourage and support her and stand up for her to anyone who is trying to bring her down. We are going to read to her, sing and play instruments for her and expose her to as many positive learning tools we can. And then we'll pray that she picks up at least some of it.