“Early childhood education is the key to the betterment of society."
- Dr. Maria Montessori
When I was four, I showed a keen interest in learning how to read. I loved books, making me an eager student. Using the Hear, See, Say technique with "I’m Reading… All by myself!” my mother taught me how to read. Every day we would sit with the books and flashcards, sounding out the letters, putting the letters together to form words, and practicing the alphabet. This set me off on a grand adventure that has led to my interest in the early education of children and the importance of literacy to society.
If you search “curiosity and children”, you will find several articles related to their natural curiosity. Children are born learners! Every single moment, from birth onward, they are learning! Every new experience, both good and bad, is creating connections within the brain and leading to the person that your child will be when she or he grows into adulthood. For this reason, it is important that we encourage and cultivate the natural curiosity of our young learners!
How do we do this? How do we help to stimulate this natural eagerness to learn?
One way, is to listen to and observe what our children gravitate toward when they are playing, then provide them with opportunities to explore those interests!
My interest in learning how to read and becoming independent enough to read on my own was encouraged by my mother teaching me. My desire to learn was cultivated by her teaching me how to read. Learning to read led to learning how to write which led to a desire to write creatively eventually leading to my writing this blog post!
My mother was not the only person who had an influence on my reading habits, my love of reading, and my interests in writing. There were several people throughout my life that played an active role in my desire to learn, read, and write! There were teachers, friends, and relatives that recognized my interest in learning. They didn't have to do much to encourage me, either. Simply asking questions, and being genuinely interested, about interests can encourage a child to continue exploring and learning!
With that in mind, here are some of the key moments throughout my education as a small child that have followed me throughout my life!
My grandfather gave me Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank for Christmas when I was ten. He told me that it was one of the most important books he had ever read. My step-grandmother searched countless bookstores for books from the Dear America series because I was interested in history. My great-aunt Peggy went over my school assignments with me and played writing games with me. My great-aunt Sandra, who lives in Wisconsin, would take my siblings and me, to the library to check out books while we were visiting on vacation. My third-grade teacher, Mrs. Root, always asked about my story writing and introduced me to the works of Laura Ingalls Wilder. I won my first writing contest because of Mrs. Root. Finally, Mr. Trent Heckman, my freshman English teacher, gave me the best creative writing advice I have ever received: "Sarah, poetry doesn't always have to rhyme."
When we think of teaching we often think that there is a lot involved. Lesson planning, studying, lectures, etc. The truth is, however, that there are many small things we can do every day to encourage and teach our children. Each of the people I mentioned above taught me, without doing anything extraordinary. Just being there to encourage my natural curiosity and show me how to follow it.