12/08/2022
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
Hello Friends!
Have you heard of the saying - “The Over-Protective Parent?”
I guess you have, and I am assuming you know the ripple effect of that kind of parenting in our society.
Similarly, there are parents who are ‘bibliophilic,’ and in a bid to ensure their children emerge with good grades out rightly bombard them with academic work with little or no room for them to explore life aside in book and outside the school. Although well meaning, but a narrow approach to learning.
Education is holistic, and there are diverse ways children learn a thing. In the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, “I would have our children visit national shrines, know why we love and respect certain men of the past; I would have them see how courts function, what juries are, what a legislative body is and what it does.”
Parents are the foremost teachers of their children and they play a greater role in their education and development. So, no matter how busy you are deliberately make out time in this summer holiday to take your child/ward on a tour or hiking, visit parks, museum, zoo, sports centres, recreational centres, beach, courts sessions, legislative plenary, cinema, embark on collaborative activities like planting a flower, tending pets etc. and allow them to explore life and nature with little or no interference. This allows for creativity, stimulates thoughts, intensifies curiosity and arouses the quest for continuous learning.
In summary, give your child the opportunity to learn something unique about life in this summer that he/she may not learn in school or in text. Not everything can be taught and impacted. We also learn by experience.
© Harrison Oguogho
