I was watching a talk on Ted the other night when one of the talks really struck a chord with me. The lady was speaking of a very good friend who was part of a Native American Tribe. She said when the Elders of a tribe went to make a major decision that would affect the tribe today they would meditate on how the decision would effect 7 Generations to come as they understood while they a the stewards of the earth while they are here the future generations would inherit the earth from them and have to live with the decision that they have made today.
So, how does the decision of many parents today to educate their babies and toddlers impact the future generations to come. I have wondered about this over the past couple of days. I thought well the chance that my children will then go on to teach their own children is quite high as they will hopefully see the benefit of being taught to read and do maths early.
Will they have a deeper compassion and understanding for others as they have been exposed or taught 2nd or 3rd languages at home and therefore understand others from different cultures by being able to converse with them or at least understand what they are saying.
Will the emergence of these children whose parents have taught them at an early age push the government/child care centres to think about education in a completely new and different way. Could we teach children to read at a younger age and start them at age 3 instead of 5 and by the time formal schooling begins we could focusing on other things and therefore have children finishing school earlier and entering the workforce earlier? and if we can teach such a huge amount of information to the under 5 in a very short space of time does that mean there is more time for play, art and craft, drama, sport and music? Things that have been cut or reduced from the school curriculum as the academic load increases.(and also found to have a huge positive affect on the brain) If a child has time to pursue its own interests after the academic stuff is done then we are giving them a gift that lasts a lifetime and that is the love of learning rather than an obligation to learn.
I remember being at school having to read a book for English and it usually being some dry, boring book and then usually reading the comprehension questions first then skim reading the book to find the answers rather than really sitting down and enjoying the book or getting out of the book what the author intended.
I also think of what the future generations would be like if they could pursue what truly interested them because they had been given the chance to learn everything they could early and had techniques to learn quickly. What would those future generations be like and how much would they know the subject they were interested in? More than likely they would be experts.
As we speak today the first time we are given any real choice in what we would like to study is University or if we take an apprenticeship. By then because we have a huge amount of choice it is hard to know what to pursue because you might have alot of things you would like to try? If we gave children the choice and trusted in the fact that they would learn and gave them the freedom to learn by the time they are ready to leave school they would more than likely know what there interests are and are likely to follow them with a passion. Which would drop university drop out rates significantly and leading to a happier and more peaceful society.
Kimba
PS the above blog is my opinion and none of the above has been proven scientifically.
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