What do you want to teach your children?

“Any seed of knowledge is just like those seeds from a single chilli. Ready to take root, inspire and expand the horizons of a young person. So speak with your child, play with them and share with them what you know, no matter how unimportant you think your own hard-earned knowledge is.”

With all the planning for a baby to arrive, it can be easy to forget about what you want your child to learn from you. It’s true that none of us knows everything (even though some people might think they do) but that’s not why it’s important to think about what impressions you want to make on your child. As parents, your child will always look to you as the source to most of its questions before they go to school, and often well into schooling. I guess the hope is, that your kids will always come to you for your wisdom.

I am fortunate in that I’ve done some limited teaching in the past, and from around 4-year-olds up to adults. Having taught English language classes to such a range of students has shown me that kids are the most adept learners – adults not so much. When I think about my soon-arrive newborn, I also think about all the ways they can experience, absorb and begin to understand the world around them. It is with this in mind that I have taken some shots of our new gardening projects. It is also an interesting parable for children and knowledge.

Peace lilies at home.

From just 1 chilli from my old plant, I have produced close to 100 new chilli plants. Each plant yielding a minimum of 20 chillies. That means conceivably, (if my wife didn’t love chillies so much and eat some) that after just 1 season, that single chilli, that turned into 100 plants, could create 200,000 chilli plants (or 2000 yummy chillis). Any seed of knowledge is just like those seeds from a single chilli. Ready to take root, inspire and expand the horizons of a young person. So speak with your child, play with them and share with them what you know, no matter how unimportant you think your own hard-earned knowledge is.

Some of our homegrown basil. Hopefully our new child will have green thumbs too!

After that more serious conversation about teaching a little one, here are some photos of the little garden. I hope to be able to make some “What’s in our backyard?” videos for kids early next year exploring the amazing world that exists just outside your door! Of course, remember to be careful too! Just in our yard here in Australia, we have had brown snakes, spiders (too many types to mention), a bandicoot, a bush turkey and even a goanna (and more besides!).

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s post, and the photos of the garden as well!