The crazy thing about self-directed learning
Hey there!
If you read this you’re most likely a parent and want your child to learn freely (Great decision by the way! hehe)
If you’re not, then read ahead and instead of answering the following questions yourself, you can ask them your parents or at least imagine asking them…
Did you actively and precisely teach your baby …
how to roll over?
how to grab things and take them to her mouth?
how to pull herself up to standing?
how to walk?
how to make sounds with her throat, babble, speak?
how to use a pen, spoon, brush, toy etc?
The list is endless and I think you get the point. Even if you helped a bit, whether because your child asked for it or you made the decision yourself, your baby did about 99% of the tasks herself and 100% of the learning because nobody can learn for somebody else.
Everything your baby does has a purpose.
Your baby might not be consciously aware of it but her instincts tell her to do something for a very good reason: She’s learning and understanding the world around her. Can you see how the questions I asked are in the order of what babies usually learn first and then next? They’re learning one thing; when they’re ready, they learn the next, once they’ve seen you handle an object often enough, they try it themselves in a clumsy way until they get it more or less right and with a bit of practice they pretty soon get the hang of it. Babies and toddlers know what they need to do in order to learn.
Take bringing objects to her mouth as an example:
Mouthing serves as a crucial method for infants to acquire knowledge. Similar to observing and touching, mouthing plays a pivotal role in your baby's exploration of their surroundings, as their mouth serves as the central component of their tactile system. Through mouthing, babies gain insights into sensory attributes such as shape, density, texture, and taste. Remarkably, by the age of 6 months, babies assimilate more information through their mouth than any other sensory channel. It is important to note that your baby's inclination towards mouthing not only signifies a healthy means of discovery but also indicates advancements in their physical and cognitive development. The act of grasping and subsequently bringing an object to their mouth necessitates the coordination of their visual and motor skills.
With this in mind you can see how babies, from the moment they’re born, are practicing self-directed learning?
Isn’t that crazy? I don’t think it’s crazy…
What’s actually crazy is that we think that this would ever stop and that we have to start teaching them things when they turn a certain age.
When you start teaching toddlers and children you’re interfering and crippling they’re natural sense of learning, their instinctual ability to know what to do to learn anything that is part of their world.
Every child asks for help or has questions sometimes. It’s part of their learning and important for us to grant this help and either give answers or support them in finding them. But that’s about enough of ‘teaching‘ you need to do. Just what the child asks for, not more.
You help a child more with less... get it?
Because, as crazy as it might sound to you, self-directed learning is what humans do from day 1 and what they will continue doing when they grow. Even when it comes to things like learning how to read, write, calculate, ride a bike, ah, I can’t be asked to make this a super long list ;-) You know what I mean…. ANYTHING they learn by self-directed learning. And I repeat, asking questions and for help is part of the child-led learning process.
Where can you find self-directed learning working for you and/or your kids? Post your comment below.
Yours
Sylvia
