"Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire."
- William Butler Yeats
Stuart and I agree with this belief wholeheartedly. We don't focus on trying to teach Nicholas how to "fill his pail" by memorizing information that he can recite back. Sure it sounds impressive for a young child to be able to recite the capitals of all 50 states or list the names of all the books of the Bible in order. However, we prefer to "light his fire" by encouraging Nicholas to explore his imagination and find passion in experiencing life. We believe it is important to instill a love of learning in a child's early years and help them to find joy in reading, imagination, creating, and seeking out new experiences. We love it that Nicholas always wants to know why things happen the way they do, how machines work, and what happens if he does such and such.
In terms of education, I prefer to follow Einstein's thinking in which he said that there was no point in wasting time memorizing facts that he can easily look up. I've read that he didn't even bother to memorize his own phone number! Einstein had more important things to focus his attention on. Yes, some facts are good to know and some things need to be memorized. Nicholas knows his phone number, address, the Lord's prayer, and we are working on the Pledge of Allegiance. But I don't think education should focus on memorization especially when there is such a wealth of information accessible in just a matter of minutes over the Internet.
Think about your own education for a moment. For myself, I learned a lot of facts while I was in school but since they were not facts that interested me at the time I quickly forgot them. How productive was that? Fortunately I also learned the "how and why" of the things I studied. Although I may not be able to list the various battles of the Civil War and the dates and commanders of each of them, I can explain the key issues that prompted the Civil War, the general progress of the war, and what the Reconstruction period after the war was like. Isn't that more important in understanding America's history and applying it to today's economy, military, and sociology than being able to recite the date of a specific battle? Understanding the "how and why" of things is often so much more important, and particularly more interesting, than the mere dates and facts.
Inevitably as someone finds passion in a particular area of interest, they will learn and remember dates, facts, etc. but they do so because of their passion and from simply being so absorbed in that subject matter rather than from having to sit there and force themselves to memorize the details. I pray that Nicholas continues to seek out new experiences, to find joy in learning about the world around him, and that he finds his true passion in life.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
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