We used to ask ourselves why our children were so smart. Was it heredity or environment? Now we are forced to move it ahead a generation. Why is my granddaughter so smart?
Once you get past the subjective humor of the statement you need to actually ask yourself what makes the difference in children. As we go out we are more tuned in to watching babies and children and we notice that there are a large number of them that seem to have already tuned out of the learning process. I remember when I used to arrive at school and walk past children sitting, leaning against the wall and staring at nothing. In the town I used to be a teacher we had at least seven libraries. This was a town of about 130,000 people. In addition to that there were thrift stores that sold books for almost nothing. And they would sit and stare. Their brains were already shutting down.
Even allowing for parental exaggeration, our kids were bright. I can already see it in my granddaughter. I think one contributor is the constant stimulation of adults. It was a rare event when an adult was not interacting with the child. Sometimes she would have three adults giving her attention. I don’t mean bribing her and giving her everything she wanted. I mean talking to her, playing games, repeating words, showing her the bumps on the walls and the top of the doors.
I have seen so many children given a bottle and propped up in a bed. They are dumped in a play pen and allowed to cry for hours. Over time I think a lot of bright children start to slow down and dim their potential.
Raising children is a lot of work and so many today are born into homes where the mothers (and probably the fathers) need to spend time tweeting and posting, primping and buffing and deciding whether they look good in the blue or the pink.
Bless the children.
homo unius libri
It's a shame what some children are put through. Many aren't just ignored, many are abused in sundry ways.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I am amazed at how many make it through.
DeleteGrace and peace