I suggest that if you're involved with very young children in any way that you don't provide solutions.
What young brains are geared up for is solving problems.
They are highly skilled at making sense of the world - they teach themselves language in order to understand and talk to us.
They will thrive in creating things themselves and making things up.
The worse thing one can do is stick them in front of telly or provide them with gimmicky toys that do things electronically. This surely switches off that inquisative nature which encourages them to do and solve things/problems themselves.
Children at this age need difficulties - not easy solutions.
My favourite 'toy' for three year olds is a pile of stackable/ foldable cardboard boxes. You can cut holes in them and they can decorate them with you and create their own houses.
Please don't lets produce a load of Zombies that have little initiative and confidence in themselves.
They need loads of challenges with as little help given as possible.
Life ahead is going to be a nightmare (global warming, no jobs, fighting over resources) so let's help them develop the best skills to cope with difficulties at an early age.
The above deals with children's behaviour with things. Another very important area is dealing with other humans, disappointments and frustrations. They are going to be faced with plenty of these in their life to come . . . . .
What do you think?
1 comment:
Quite right.
Apart from personal experience as a teacher of young children, I know this from my own childhood. Nothing electronic and no power points in the house. Not that we had anything to plug in. Few toys, even at Christmas. But I soon learned how to draw, paint, sew, make things out of whatever was around. A dolls house out of a shoe box, with furniture out of matchboxes. Fairies out of Michaelmas daisy flowers (matchsticks stuck through for arms and legs). Outdoor play - hop-scotch, whip and top, old washing line for skipping. Empty tins and string to make 'telephones'. Make-believe stories to enact, little concerts to put on, write poetry, dream dreams...
I sometimes wonder if eventually, the way things are going environmentally, everyone will be thrown back to using our own mental and imaginative resources. Will that be such a bad thing?
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