Children are amazing. They can hear the quietest whispers. They can smell things that we sometimes miss. They absorb the smallest details of everything.
God gave them these sensitivities for one reason: to learn. It’s a fact that children will learn regardless of how they are educated. They will soak up knowledge from everything that surrounds them.
Educational experts today will tell you that children should begin to learn as soon as possible. This is true. They should. But not through text books and forced education in a building that allows them no experience with the real world. Children should be presented with experiences that allow their minds to broaden and feel and exist in the world that was created especially for their senses to be developed in.
From the day we are born, we are learning. We look around and take in everything that we see, touch, feel, hear and taste. We learn from these things.
If something tastes bad or gives us a shock when our tongue touches it, we learn not to taste or do that again. If something hurts when we touch it, we learn not to touch it again. If something is loud when we drop it, we try not to drop it again. As the opposite if it feels soft, we want to touch it. If it tastes good, we want to eat all that is offered and then some. All learning experiences.
Today’s world is indoctrinated into believing that from birth, children must be prepared for schooling. What is missed is that children are already learning. Worksheets and a teacher standing at a blackboard are not necessary for education. Neither is a room filled with one to two adults and approximately 30 children.
What is needed, in my opinion, is a person that will allow a child to experience the wonderful things the world has to offer. The experiences that God intended for children to have in His world. A field trip to the park to beach to play in the sand and collect shells to count. A walk down the road to pick up pine cones and see what birds are flying by. Even examining a puddle after the rain can bring about a learning experience that a child won’t soon forget.
These are experiences my children and I have every day through homeschool education. Yes, we are lucky to be able to enjoy these things. Maybe you could too? Stop thinking about the educational path that society wants for children and begin to look at all the educational things to enjoy while they are still young and with you. Children grow up too fast to waste time doing anything else.
