Editor’s Pick. Written by Sue Elvis.
My children follow their own interests when it comes to learning. This sounds rather indulgent, doesn’t it? Why should I let them direct their own learning? Hey, they’re only kids. How do they know what they need to know?
I stop and think about these questions for a moment, and then I remember something my youngest daughter Gemma-Rose said to me a while ago:
“You can’t make me learn anything I don’t want to learn.”
These weren’t the words of a defiant child. They were the observation of a rather astute eight year old.
“You can’t make me learn anything I don’t want to learn.” This reminds me very much of trying to make children eat. We can’t forcibly feed a child something they haven’t a desire for, however hard we try. In the same way, we can’t really stuff knowledge into a child’s head if she isn’t interested, though it might appear we can…
