Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Teaching Children

Teach children what they would learn, not what you would teach them.

10 comments:

  1. Marty, I tend to agree with you -they should never be forced. Yet, there are times they fail to appreciate the consequences of their whims.

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  2. Some things need to be learned; safety, ethics, etc,
    Let them choose the rest.

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  4. Oops made a typo. I think kids should learn about what they want to learn about and that parents should teach by example, not an agenda.

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  5. The best motivation for a subordinate is to make sure that he/she "perceives" himself/herself to be owning the project. Likewise for kids, to make sure that they "perceive" it is something they could learn and enjoy learning.

    Tao's way of action without (perceived) action (from outside). Needless to say the difficult part is "to make sure".

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  6. I think both are equally important

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  7. I don’t know…
    We are mirrors for children, and they need good examples to follow. Character, values and virtues have to be learnt, rather than simply acquired. Then, yes, it is up to us to teach and inspire them with these qualities and not just expect them to learn for themselves.

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  8. This one is right up my alley, Marty, being an educator myself. I appreciate the sentiment behind it - our new curricula are designed to put the children more at the center of the learning process, which is a great place to start. Learning is driven much deeper when we are mindful of their needs and the bodies of knowledge they already come to us with. I think the idea has some limits, however - at some point, adults need to decide what to teach. I don't know of very many children who would choose to work on tricky social skills like manners and the collaborative process unless they are given the skills to do so by someone in their sphere of influence.... Experience on the playground talking! :)

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  9. Your aphorism is so true, Marty, that really is the best way to teach children. (Oh, but the nuns would never hear of that LOL!) :)

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