Little eyes are always watching, little ears are always listening! Imitation happens every day at farm school. The role of purposeful work for the young child is important. Through imitation, learning takes place. They have a natural desire to copy what they see. At the farm, it’s important that the children help us with tasks throughout the day. Cleaning up after snack time, washing hands, placing laundry in the laundry basket, feeding the animals. When participating in these activities, the children are learning real life skills that will carry with them as they grow.
When I went to college, I was baffled by the number of girls in my freshman dorm that didn’t know how to wash their own laundry or how to cook a simple meal. This was the mid to late nineties, folks. It was sad to me. These young women couldn’t take care of themselves and their basic needs. We should all desire that our children grow up confident and knowledgeable and able to take care of themselves. Basic life skills.
Modeling the behavior and skills to be a human being. Right human behavior. It’s what is important. If you haven’t done so, ask your little one to help unload the dishwasher, put wet clothes in the dryer, set the dinner table. Purposeful work. You’ll probably find that they are far more capable of these tasks then you might think.
