Hi.
Got here by randomness.
I do not mean any offense, I’m genuinely curious and skeptical about this idea.
What do kids show interest in knowing? Does this not promote ignorance in some level?-Alina
Hi Alina, thanks for asking. Kids show interest in all kinds of things! From birth, they are interested in learning whatever they need to know to survive and thrive in their environment. They learn to eat, to recognize their parents, to communicate feelings of discomfort and joy. They learn to pick up small objects with their fingers, to throw a ball, to walk… and the most complex of human activities: to use language. They learn all this simply by LIVING with other humans who do all these things and who respond to their child with care and interest themselves. The incentive is mastery, and the curriculum is anything and everything around them!
On the contrary, ignorance is born when children are taught to forget that they are capable of learning. When we tell them over and over again that they will “never learn” if they don’t sit still, if they don’t listen to the teacher, if they don’t work at it… when we tell them that learning is DIFFICULT and has to be SCHEDULED or else they’d never want to do it… when we tell them that they will “amount to nothing” if they don’t finish school… we are telling them that they cannot do anything or be anything without somebody else teaching them how, when, and what to learn.
Fortunately, not every child accepts that message. Some escape with their sense of self still somewhat in tact, with their creative potential as an individual not totally squashed. But how much better if they didn’t have to suffer and survive? If instead they remained supported as confident learners from the very beginning and thrived?
Because when children are TRUSTED to learn as they do best, and are provided opportunities to freely and safely explore their world WITHOUT strict timelines, rigid expectations, or one-size-fits-all curriculums — and WITH input from trustworthy, knowledgable sources such as parents and community leaders, then they will continue to do as they have since birth: learn everything they need to know to thrive in their world — and hopefully make it an even better place.
Only in very special circumstances is external assistance needed to make the learning process go smoothly. Unfortunately, as more is learned to help these children, educators have begun to find power in assuming that the anomoly is the norm, and that all children who don’t fit their ideal are on a spectrum of learning disorder. Much like the medical establishment assumes that first-time moms are “high-risk” until they’ve “proven” that their pelvis is capable of birthing a baby. But I digress…
I'm a mom, a wife, a knitter, a gardener, and often a crazed lunatic. (But I try not to let that show on my blog. I said try.) I blog at http://crunchychristianmom.blogspot.com.
