RickScheibner.net

Cross-posted at LeaderTalk.org

Our kids love to play soccer.  Rain, heat, wind, you name it, nothing keeps those kids off of the soccer field every time they go outside.  I’ve even seen them try to get a game going on top of four inches of snow.  One of the great things about being a counselor at an elementary school is that I get to go hang out with these kids for a good portion of their recess times.  I have my own recess duty that I cover every day, but I also make it a point to catch up with the other grades throughout the week as well. 

This being my sixth year at my school, I’ve been able to follow our new fifth graders since they were in kindergarten.  When they were a lot younger, they played soccer like most little kids do.  They bunched up in a big group and chased the ball around the field the entire time.  Every once in a while, the group would get close to the goal and somebody would get lucky and knock the ball in.  Some time around their third grade year, they figured out that if they spread out, they could pass the ball to each other a little more efficiently and have a better chance of scoring a goal.  Now that they’re in the fifth grade, I see them actually trying some more advanced team concepts.  Passing the ball in a triangle, kicking to a strategic spot in a corner kick, things like that.  They’re doing what they see their dads doing and what they’ve been taught by their league coaches.  And with that many recess games under their belt, it’s paying off. 

I think education in general is like that.  We get what we need at school, but we pick up so much of our learning from elsewhere, too.  We don’t just learn reading at school, we see our parents and siblings reading, we get things from television and the computer, then take those concepts and put them to work again the next day at school.  It’s a learning cycle, and one that happens best with good teachers, consistent practice, and supportive parents and mentors around us.