Learn from the Learner
From the desk of Amanda…
The State Employees Credit Union where I bank has a play area for kids. Genius, right? But what I ‘m writing about is what I learned about my role as a parent and teacher by watching my daughter play there this week.
I was in one of the nearby offices talking with a banker while my daughter played. When I got finished she said, “Mom, can you help me with this?” It was a play table covered with plexiglass. Inside, the bottom was painted blue and it was filled with sand and plastic aquatic animals. Clearly, it was supposed to do something.
I noticed some words on the table that said, “Play from the bottom.” I read the words to my daughter. She immediately responded with, “OK. I gotta’ figure this out.” She got on her hands and knees and crawled under the table to have a look. She searched for buttons, handles, knobs…anything that might solve the problem.
When that didn’t work, she crawled out, stood up and asked, “How do you take these off?” (pointing at the screws holding the plexiglass on the table). “Maybe that’s how it works.” She started trying to open the table.
At that point, I told her I thought the animals inside might be magnets and it looked the magnet to pull the animals around in the “pond” was missing. She still wanted to figure it out—to understand it. She responded with, “But mama, I have GOT to play with this thing. We need to figure it out.”
In that moment, I didn’t realize what I was seeing. I was in a hurry. We had lots of errands to do. It was 104 degrees outside. I was hot, tired, and yes, a little cranky. I just wanted to get my “to do” list finished so we could get back home to be in the air conditioner for good.
But what I was seeing was the natural desire of children to learn, to problem solve…to figure things out. We don’t “teach” children to walk. We don’t “teach” children to talk. We don’t “teach” children much at all. Instead, we share information, we model for them, and we guide them. And then they practice. They fail. They try something else. They fail some more and practice some more and then eventually, THEY figure it out. This is how learning happens.
Take some time in the coming weeks to watch children learn. It’s hard work for them. And by watching them learn, we can learn a lot about teaching and parenting.
