February 8, 2014

Olympics opening ceremony’s teachable moments

I’m delighted to be blogging daily with the awesome #OlympicMoms team (through February 24th). Also kinda proud I managed to stay awake for my first assignment and watch every minute of last night’s opening ceremonies. I loved the magic of it!

Troika

Unlike some of my colleagues who’ll be encouraging parents to prepare healthier foods, play with our kids more and exercise daily in order to jump-start a year of health and wellness within our families, my angle on the Sochi games: tips and teachable moments to help your child expand his mind and his character. Which brings me to Tip#1 of the XXII Olympiad: If you really really want to stay up late for something special, take a nap. Bonus tip: This works for kids too!

For most people the Olympics are about bringing home the gold for your country, but for this bibliophile and history geek, it’s a golden opportunity to learn about the culture of the host nation. Want to stretch your child’s mind and your own as well? Take some of these Russian cultural “learning prompts” from the Opening Ceremonies. Team up with your child for an internet scavenger hunt. Have fun learning together!

What is a troika?
What are the letters and sounds of the cyrillic alphabet?
What made Peter the Great so great?
Find a poem by Pushkin and read it together.
Find video from the Russian Ballet. Compare the dance “moves” to that of “hip hop.”
What’s the story of Swan Lake? Find some the music, close your eyes then share what you “saw.” Get some paper and crayons/markers, continue listening to Swan Lake or chose the Nutcracker or something by Mussorgski or Rimsky-Korsikov (ah those Russian composers!) and draw whatever moves you.
Bonus: Where in the world is Timor-Leste?

One teachable moment from last night. Everyone’s talking about the light failure of the 5th snowflake to transform into the 5th Olympic ring. Russian TV interrupted its broadcast and seamlessly inserted footage from the rehearsal where the lights performed perfectly, apparently so Russian viewers at home would only see a flawless performance. This got me thinking about what we teach our kids about making mistakes (and learning from them) vs the need to be perfect every time.