Reading this just sparked an "aha" moment for me about my daughter (a high school senior). When my kids were younger I had no problem following their passions and letting those led our learning paths. It has gotten harder with expectations of getting into/going to college (which she wants) and I've struggled for the past few years trying to figure out how to check the necessary boxes but still maintain curiosity and love of learning. But I had a conversation with her last night about a project she is very passionate about - designing and creating a new cosplay outfit to meet the requirements of a professional group she wants to join. This was not part of our learning path for this year, but you've made me realize that it should be. It's her passion, she is learning an enormous amount in so many areas working on it. Why should it be relegated to her limited "free time" when what I want to do is legitimize following passions and doing meaningful work? Thank you for the inspiration.
I’m so pleased to read this, thank you. Sounds like a perfect balance to support her to fulfil that project whilst still focusing on her requirements for college.
May your curiosity and exploration bring bountiful results. I hope that many are inspired to engage the questions and issues you so carefully and thoughtfully bring forward. I do learn so much from your careful observations, and so importantly self-observations that you share. For me, I hand found that self-reflection on my own biases, expectations, and frankly, psychol-emotional infections from cultural conditionings, often forcefully imposed, through subtle and no so subtle power-over means, is necessary to clearly see children and assess environmental appropriateness. The more honest and courageous I am in these personal self-reflections, the more I release residue inhibiting aspects of my childhood. This opens me to participate profoundly with the children in their field of knowing. When I do so in a nurturing way, I grow exponentially into ever deeper fields. This has been the biggest surprise for me--that I deepen self knowledge through nurturing a child's field of knowing. I guess I should have suspected it, given interconnectedness, but not in this life changing way. It gives lie to those who believe family is a "cost center" or a drain, or in any way inhibits.
Hi Gem, you write: “If there’s one thing I’m taking into next month, it’s this: learning doesn’t begin when we record it. It begins the moment a child starts living.”
This is true and is also a reflection of development.
Many, too many, children cannot read, write or master simple arithmetic because these functions have not fully developed, often despite good intelligence.
Yes, exactly — and I think this is part of what I’m becoming increasingly interested in. If development unfolds in its own rhythms, then perhaps we need to become much more curious about what is happening developmentally before we interpret difficulty with reading, writing or arithmetic as a problem to be fixed.
The fact that a child can have good intelligence but not yet have a particular function fully developed feels important. It makes me wonder how much our systems ask children to demonstrate skills before the underlying developmental work is ready to support them.
Reading this just sparked an "aha" moment for me about my daughter (a high school senior). When my kids were younger I had no problem following their passions and letting those led our learning paths. It has gotten harder with expectations of getting into/going to college (which she wants) and I've struggled for the past few years trying to figure out how to check the necessary boxes but still maintain curiosity and love of learning. But I had a conversation with her last night about a project she is very passionate about - designing and creating a new cosplay outfit to meet the requirements of a professional group she wants to join. This was not part of our learning path for this year, but you've made me realize that it should be. It's her passion, she is learning an enormous amount in so many areas working on it. Why should it be relegated to her limited "free time" when what I want to do is legitimize following passions and doing meaningful work? Thank you for the inspiration.
I’m so pleased to read this, thank you. Sounds like a perfect balance to support her to fulfil that project whilst still focusing on her requirements for college.
May your curiosity and exploration bring bountiful results. I hope that many are inspired to engage the questions and issues you so carefully and thoughtfully bring forward. I do learn so much from your careful observations, and so importantly self-observations that you share. For me, I hand found that self-reflection on my own biases, expectations, and frankly, psychol-emotional infections from cultural conditionings, often forcefully imposed, through subtle and no so subtle power-over means, is necessary to clearly see children and assess environmental appropriateness. The more honest and courageous I am in these personal self-reflections, the more I release residue inhibiting aspects of my childhood. This opens me to participate profoundly with the children in their field of knowing. When I do so in a nurturing way, I grow exponentially into ever deeper fields. This has been the biggest surprise for me--that I deepen self knowledge through nurturing a child's field of knowing. I guess I should have suspected it, given interconnectedness, but not in this life changing way. It gives lie to those who believe family is a "cost center" or a drain, or in any way inhibits.
Couldn’t agree more with all that you’ve written. Thank you, Ba.
Hi Gem, you write: “If there’s one thing I’m taking into next month, it’s this: learning doesn’t begin when we record it. It begins the moment a child starts living.”
This is true and is also a reflection of development.
Many, too many, children cannot read, write or master simple arithmetic because these functions have not fully developed, often despite good intelligence.
Yes, exactly — and I think this is part of what I’m becoming increasingly interested in. If development unfolds in its own rhythms, then perhaps we need to become much more curious about what is happening developmentally before we interpret difficulty with reading, writing or arithmetic as a problem to be fixed.
The fact that a child can have good intelligence but not yet have a particular function fully developed feels important. It makes me wonder how much our systems ask children to demonstrate skills before the underlying developmental work is ready to support them.