Should we honor our children’s right to curiosity, their right to not only choose what they want to learn, but from whom they want to learn it?
No human right, except the right to life itself, is more fundamental than this. A person’s freedom of learning is part of his freedom of thought, even more basic than his freedom of speech. If we take from someone his right to decide what he will be curious about, we destroy his freedom of thought. We say, in effect, you must think not about what interests and concerns you, but about what interests and concerns us.
John Holt, child advocate and supporter of school reform thinks so. Read more about natural learning here and when you’ve finished, please comment and tell us your thoughts!
I think it is very important to honor a kid’s rights. But as a parent we have the right to protect our children if they aren’t understanding and misusing their rights.
Yes! I agree!
This is such an interesting topic. I definitely agree with allowing children to learn more about the things that interest them.
This is very intriguing. So, if the child is learning this way do they still learn the basic reading, writing, and math along the way? I love this view, though!
It’s amazing how many different ways the the “basic” skills can be learned!