Be Ready for Spontaneous Teaching Moments
How a father’s inside joke with his kids turned into a scientific method experiment, then a lesson in learning, integrity, and service, and how, in the end, the joke was on us.
Kids love treats, right? I think that’s why my kids are so tickled by their father’s love for a good cappuccino. As we travel around, wandering and worldschooling, sampling the wonders of regions from Siberia to Southeast Asia, Tasmania to Taiwan, the kids chuckle every time Chris measures a country’s merits by its ability to produce a good espresso with a foamy top. Turns out, dads love treats too.
To be a great teacher, you want to be ready for spontaneous teaching moments.
How does a laugh over coffee turn into a lesson in learning, service, and integrity? The world is your classroom, and class convenes unexpectedly. At any moment, you may be inspired to teach a lesson about the pillars of resilience—when the phone bill arrives, at the grocery store, after hearing the evening news, or while reading a bedtime story. Learning to recognize and utilize those moments, especially when they align with your children’s interests (like the pursuit of a delicious cappuccino), will transform teaching your children from an exercise in compulsory boredom into a delightful experience of curiosity.
In our case, the inspiration for a teaching moment came at the breakfast table. Chris and I were wondering, hypothetically, what knowledge we’d bring to the world in the 15th century if we could travel back in time, and we decided on the scientific method. “Do you know what the scientific method is, kids?” Only one kid did and just marginally. It seemed like an important concept to teach, but how? My gaze drifted past Chris’ cup, inside of which was my latest attempt at the world’s best homemade cappuccino (given the unconventional supplies of my Cambodian kitchen). An idea flashed its spark: let’s design a scientific experiment to make the best cuppa joe for Papa!
When inspiration strikes, don’t wait; follow the spark!
Then and there, we brainstormed all the variables that go into a homemade Cambodian cappuccino and used them to come up with questions. Which brand of coffee will be better, the cheaper or more expensive one? What is the best brew time? How much coffee/milk powder should we use? Is it better if we add cocoa powder, coconut milk, ground cinnamon, or ground barley? I don’t know about your kids, but the Santillo Boys love to make ‘potions’ by mixing strange ingredients, and this experiment was starting to sound a whole lot like one of those concoctions!
When learning happens spontaneously, it feels natural, and it’s way more fun.
We wrote everything down and designed our experiment. Papa is going to drink a lot of coffee! Now, which variable to test first? Brand of beans made the most sense. So, being careful to control all other variables to the best of our ability, we used strainers, ceramic bowls, measuring cups, and a blender to create two identical-looking concoctions for a double-blind test. Not even the boys knew what the packages for ‘Weasel Coffee’ and ‘TriCoffee’ looked like, to keep clever advertising from affecting the results.
Let your enthusiasm be infectious.
When we presented our two beautiful cappuccinos, I couldn’t help but burst out into a crowing fanfare, and my eldest son, catching the spirit, sang right along. The moment of truth was upon us. Which would it be? A sip. Then another. A pause for reflection… Hands down, the Weasel Coffee was the winner!
Let curiosity be your guide. (Who said that?)
Chris was interested to know more about this ‘Weasel Coffee’ brand and did some research. Oops. As is often the case with curiosity, his learning led to some surprises and some more lines of inquiry to explore. It turns out that ‘Weasel’ is not just a cute name; it’s a mode of production. We just served coffee that was digested and excreted by civets, animals that look like a cross between a cat and a weasel. Well, we all got a laugh out of that tidbit (except for Chris)!
Seek connections to the bigger picture—tie your lessons back to learning, integrity, and service so that you can build your child’s future resilience.
I’d heard about this coffee, and the news wasn’t good. We watched a video to learn more. Wild civets are captured and caged, then fed a diet solely of coffee berries. Over several years of this life, they go insane. So while we found a wonderfully tasty kind of coffee for Papa, integrity demanded a discussion about the treatment of animals. What obligations do we have to other creatures on this planet? What actions should we take to have integrity with our principles?
On a happier note, I enjoyed pointing out that making coffee for Papa is a form of service—labor and gifts. And that was the moment to connect back to the overarching lesson that serving people is fulfilling, sometimes even fun, and will help all of us to build a resilient life. And learning, well, that connection is easy to see. We’re asking questions, seeking answers, and letting our curiosity light the way. The boys are absorbing not just how to find an answer to today’s question; they are practicing a method for finding any solution that they might seek in the future.
There is too much to know in this world. The goal is not to teach our children everything there is to know.
The goal is to teach them how to find the answers that they seek and cultivate the curiosity to keep seeking.
Tell us about a spontaneous teaching moment in your lives!
Thanks for reading, and keep on #ResilienceParenting!