A few days ago I was on public transportation here in Philly, overhearing a conversation two young children were having. The conversation went from the regular happenings in school, to who was running for president. The children must have been in the second grade or so.
What was most troubling was the fact that their mother was ostensibly weary of the conversation and promptly ordered an end to the their conversing.
When children and caregivers engage in conversations like the one these children were having, they build interpersonal skills, listening skills, schema (background knowledge), and create opportunities for authentic learning.
The children check each others' facts and perhaps learn something from the others involved in the conversation. Parents have the chance to gauge what learning has taken place in school and even set the stage for what could happen later that evening, sitting and watching the news together.
Such conversations are prime opportunities for true out of school learning.
I regret that these children on that bus that day did not have the opportunity to develop that conversation further.
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