Early Childhood Learning is the Recipe for Full of Life Adults

Kids never run out of questions. "why is this?", "why is that?"..and on and on. Kids have a huge appetite for learning. They care to know everything around them. But the tragedy is.... when they are in high school, more over in college, somehow they loose interest in many things.

Something happened between the time a kid was just baby, a toddler, or even preschooler to the time he/she is in a high school / college.

It seems to me that if parents and teachers simply provide enough freedom for kids to think for themselves, enough time for them to explore their world, to imagine, as Einstein once said that imagination is more important than knowledge, enough patience to let them make mistakes, and more over fuel their inborn appetite for learning, we have already succeeded the goals of early childhood education.

A French friend of mine told me that in France, he used to study in primary school from 8 am to 6 pm. He wondered why children needed so much time to study. Why could not they be outside kicking soccer balls, and exploring the world more often? I agree with him, there is a need for kids to be free. To explore. To experience real life outside classrooms. This is how they can get the context of why learning is wonderful. Why learning and gaining knowledge about the world is exciting and could be beneficial for them.

I believe there are three goals of learning in early childhood:

1. Develop mental abilities - memory, concentration, imagination, visualization
2. Develop a good attitude towards learning - why learning is fun, why learning is cool, confidence towards tackling complex problems
   
3. Develop as much interest in as many fields, and to find few things in life that they are passionate about - something that can spice up the rest of their life

If we did not achieve these three goals during early childhood learning, then we miss the golden opportunity of developing a life long learner adults who are full of life because of their abilities to enjoy the world around them.

A friend of mine who is doctor once told me that he dropped anything he was doing, when his daughter asked him about anything. He knew that if he did not attend to the little girl's curiosity at that moment, minutes later, the little girl may not be interested in it anymore. My friend wanted to make sure that her daughter's curiosity is never dampened.

When I was in primary school, my mom was always ready to tackle any difficult homework problem with me. She gave me a good example of the "can do" attitude toward handling difficult problems. She would never say that something is too difficult for her and that she cannot do it. She would always attempt to tackle the problem with me with positive attitude. Thanks mom!