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Thursday, April 14, 2011

L is for learning

As I watch the kids grow up and begin their education adventure I have begun to reflect just how much they are learning and how quickly they learn it. Lucy has come on so much quicker than her siblings and is as street wise as them already because she has them to copy, Heather on the other hand is probably still one of the more immature six year old's in her class, of course she is one of the youngest being summer born but even so I have noticed a gap. Perhaps more telling is that she seems to have done as well and sometimes actively strives to close it. She has started asking me if she looks trendy (already!) and is more aware of the things she chooses to play with and talk about, often referencing her friends as an endorsement, peer pressure already weaving its spell.

I have studied with the OU on and off for about 7 years now and have learnt many things, some of which have surprised me! Yesterday I received an e-mail inviting me to visit the social sciences Facebook page, I did and what's more I liked it. While I have always been interested in philosophy and psychology I never thought that economics, politics or just the science behind why we do things would interest me as much as they are doing, to the extent I want to work to find out more about them. I still have an interest in the law and teaching and the fact that I read and write as much as I do show they are still my main passion but even so I find myself being drawn to subjects that when I was at school I labelled boring and wouldn't have gone near at all unless forced!

Perhaps it is just a part of mellowing with age or growing up but I am finding there are huge areas of knowledge which I know nothing about, I can't really answer many geography questions and my map reading school are legendarily bad, I can't play an instrument well and the fact that Heather and Matthew seem to be picking it up so easily have put me to shame. Perhaps it is time for a second childhood, an opportunity to pick up new knowledge and maybe even the skill to play a few tunes on the piano. It's never too late to learn.

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