Posted July 29, 2023

Kids are learning all the time. Just because they haven’t been in a classroom doesn’t mean they shut their minds off. Kids of every age learn best by trying ideas to see if it works. If it doesn’t, they try something else (just like a scientist). This learning process leads to permanent knowledge because it is their discovery.

When we teach and announce they will be tested on it, students play the game of remembering the answer just long enough for the test. Actually telling (teaching) kids stunts the learning process. Has your kid ever said “I can do it myself!” Pick up on that! They are telling you they want to figure it out themselves.

John Holt, the godfather of the homeschooling movement said, “School is a place where kids learn to be stupid.” He is saying the system forces kids into a learning path that is pretty rigid and usually to the level of the slowest in the room. I can attest to that as I was a teacher at Medina High School many years ago. I couldn’t take it. I love helping young people discover the world, but I couldn’t work in the “system”. I used to say “give me a dozen kids and I will guide them to be outstanding adults.” Please know that there are some wonderful teachers who get it. But they are working in a system that undermines many of their skills.

Kids naturally love to learn. Today they want to know everything about frogs. Where do they live, what do they eat, can they bite and are they slippery? To satisfy this intense curiosity may take a day or a week. Do you really want to stop inquisitiveness, that enthusiasm and say “it’s time for arithmetic”?

Play is perhaps the most powerful learning technique. As I watch and interact with the kids and parents at Discovery Park, I seldom answer their questions. I give them hints, suggestions, open new ideas.

I am blatantly biased about how kids learn. Before the school year starts, consider all the options available today. Yes, public schools are free (taxes) but there are also Montessori and Waldorf schools, homeschooling and even a concept called “un-schooling”.

You chose to bring these children into the world. Don’t turn them over to a stranger who will instill their values into them. If they learn to just do as they’re told and follow directions, they may spend the rest of their lives on an assembly line or sitting in a cubicle. They need to know how to figure things out on their own, how to spot propaganda and lies, how to work with money, how to build solid friendships, how to live independently and not in your basement. How are they going to learn these essential, lifelong skills?

I spoke to a retired father this week who was very concerned about our educational system. I asked him what woke him up to this issue. He said “I saw a crossing guard guiding High School students across the street.”

Last summer, I spoke with a retired school superintendent who had been to a local gas station and one of his former graduated students couldn’t make the correct change to give back. How did we fail this kid he questioned?

The change is never going to start at the top. YOU have to take control of the situation. You love your kids. Every kid learns in a different way – a different pace. You know it, you can see it. Schools can’t adapt to your child’s learning style.

Not Back to School Days Coming...

August 31st and September 8th
(details soon)

That’s what good play is all about.

No directions, nobody telling you that
“you can’t do it that way”.

It’s pure discovery!