One of the core ideas of John Holt’s approach to education is that children are good at learning. John asserted in the early sixties, often and clearly, that children are natural learners and that adult interference in their attempts to learn, often through uninvited teaching, inhibits children’s learning. This idea continues to be met with skepticism as most adults believe not much is going on with babies and young children; they are considered to be silly giggle machines incapable of clear, deep thought. Indeed, I must admit my dismay as I read more and more from both homeschoolers and schoolteachers that they worry how children aren’t ready for kindergarten or that they must formally teach children how to talk and walk. Why is it that the more educated we become as a society, the less we trust our innate abilities to learn? Further, with so much emphasis being placed on getting children “ready for school” at ever-younger ages—preschool playgroup consultants could become a new market—I applaud every parent who decides to let their children play instead being plugged into an early enrichment program.
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Posted under Current Events, Education
